Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diets Green Pea & Duck Formula Review
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Review of Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diets
Green Pea & Duck Formula
This product is manufactured by Natural Balance Pet Foods. Natural Balance Pet Foods is a subsidiary of Big Heart Pet Brands. In addition to Natural Balance, Big Heart Pet Brands also owns Nature's Recipe, Milk Bone, Meaty Bone, Meow Mix, PupPeroni, Ally Cat, and several other brands.
According to our data, this Natural Balance recipe provides complete & balanced nutrition for the maintenance of adult cats. In other words, this formula is AAFCO approved.
Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diets Green Pea & Duck Formula is formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the AAFCO Cat Food Nutrient Profiles for the maintenance of adult cats.
Ingredient Review
We'll begin this review of Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diets Green Pea & Duck Formula with a detailed discussion of the ingredients.
The first ingredient is green pea. Green peas are starchy members of the legume family. Other than carbohydrates, peas are notably high in plant based protein and various vitamins and minerals.
The second ingredient is duck. Although duck is an excellent animal based protein source, raw duck contains more than 60% moisture. After cooking, the relative meat contribution of duck is dramatically reduced. Therefore, it's important to ensure that other meat sources are included within the first few ingredients to ensure the product derives most of its protein from meat.
The third ingredient is duck meal. Duck meal is produced by cooking duck using a process called rendering. The rendering process dramatically reduces the natural moisture of duck and thereby results in a highly condensed protein source.
The fourth ingredient is pea protein. Pea protein is produced by removing the starchy parts of peas. Pea protein is considered controversial because it provides a substantial plant based protein boost. This boost is undesirable because plant based protein is typically lower in biological value when compared to meat based proteins.
The fifth ingredient is canola oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols). Canola oil is a plant-derived oil from the seeds of canola plants. Although fat is an essential component of any diet, canola oil is controversial in pet food. Proponents claim that canola oil provides a better fat profile in comparison to other plant based oils. However, opponents claim that canola oil is typically produced with genetically modified rapeseed and that rapeseed oil has multiple adverse health affects.
Because ingredients are listed in order of pre-cooked weight, the remaining ingredients in Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diets Green Pea & Duck Formula are not as important as the first five ingredients.
However, collectively they still have a significant impact on the overall quality of the product. Therefore, we'll continue discussing the remaining ingredients in this Natural Balance recipe.
Next we have natural flavor, which is used to enhance the flavor of the food.
The remaining ingredients in this Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diets recipe are unlikely to affect the overall rating of the product.
Our analysis of the ingredients show that this product derives most of its protein from animal based sources. This is an excellent property because meat based protein contains all of the necessary amino acids required by cats. In our option, this is one of the most important properties to judge when reviewing pet food, therefore we believe this is an exceptional product in this regard.
Final Thoughts
In summary, we recognize that this product does not contain any artificial colors, artificial preservatives, or anonymous meat ingredients.
The official PawDiet rating for Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diets Green Pea & Duck Formula is 2.5 out of 5.
