Beneful Incredibites Review 2024

If you’re looking for a Beneful Incredibites review, this is where you need to be. 

In this article, we reviewed Beneful Incredibites in-depth so that you can decide whether or not it is the right dog food for your canine. 

Out of all the dog foods on the market, this is one of the cheapest. Many dog owners purchase it as a budget option.

Each Beneful Incredibites dog food includes whole meat, as well as a variety of fruits and veggies. It is advertised as a completely balanced nutrition for your canine. 

However, it is cheaper for a reason ― Beneful dog food contains some controversial ingredients, like corn gluten and chicken by-product meals.

Below, we’ll take an in-depth look at Purina Beneful dog food, analyzing the ingredients and nutritional content. We’ve included a look at the customer reviews, and we’ll also provide you with some alternative options. 

Keep reading for all the information you need to know about Beneful dog food. 

Beneful Incredibites Overview

Beneful Incredibites is a smaller dog food line. They only include two different dry dog foods, as well as three different wet dog foods. 

This brand is designed to be a budget option for dog owners, first and foremost. Many of the products are much less expensive than much of the competition. 

Here is a shortlist of the current flavors they offer:

1. Purina Beneful IncrediBites for Small Dogs with Farm-Raised Beef Dry Dog Food
2. Purina Beneful Small Breed IncrediBites with Farm-Raised Chicken Dry Dog Food
3. Purina Beneful IncrediBites With Chicken, Tomatoes, Carrots & Wild Rice Canned Dog Food
4. Purina Beneful IncrediBites With Beef, Tomatoes, Carrots & Wild Rice Canned Dog Food
5. Purina Beneful IncrediBites With Salmon, Tomatoes, Carrots & Wild Rice Canned Dog Food

Many of their wet foods come in variety packs of some sort, and they sometimes even include other Beneful lines. For instance, it isn’t odd to see Beneful Incredibites paired with Beneful Medleys.

Most of their recipes have about the same ingredients. Usually, whole meat is included as the first, followed by various grain and veggie products. Each recipe focuses on a specific type of animal protein. 

We selected one product for an in-depth review, as many of their formulas are very similar to each other. Keep reading below for a look at our review of Purina Beneful IncrediBites for Small Dogs with Farm-Raised Beef Dry Dog Food.

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Recipe and Label Analysis

In this section, you’ll find a detailed look at a Purina Beneful dog food recipe. 

Purina Beneful IncrediBites for Small Dogs with Farm-Raised Beef Dry Dog Food

Ingredient List: Beef, Whole Grain Corn, Barley, Soybean Meal, Whole Grain Wheat, Chicken By-product Meal, Corn Gluten Meal, Beef Fat Preserved With Mixed-tocopherols, Rice, Egg And Chicken Flavor, Oat Meal, Calcium Carbonate, Natural Flavor, Mono And Dicalcium Phosphate, Salt, Dried Carrots, Dried Peas, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Iron Oxide (Color), Vitamins [Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin (Vitamin B-3), Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate (Vitamin B-5), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B-6), Vitamin B-12 Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B-1), Vitamin D-3 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement (Vitamin B-2), Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Vitamin K), Folic Acid (Vitamin B-9), Biotin (Vitamin B-7)], Minerals [Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite], L-lysine Monohydrochloride. 

* Bold denotes controversial items

Macronutrient Analysis:

• Crude Protein: 26%
• Crude Fat: 13.5%
• Crude Fiber: 4.0% 
• Moisture: 12%

Calorie Content: 404 kcal/cup

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Ingredient Analysis

This Purina Beneful dog food starts on a good note with farm-raised beef as the first ingredient ― a high-quality protein option for any canine. It provides the necessary protein, fat, and amino acids that your dog needs. 

As one of the more common ingredients in the dog food industry, it is likely to cause food allergies. But if your canine isn’t allergic to beef, there is little reason to avoid it. [1]

It is also important to note that beef’s appearance as the first ingredient can be deceiving. Whole beef has a lot of water content, so after it has been cooked down, you can expect it to weigh much less. 

Therefore, beef may not truly be the most plentiful ingredient on this dog food list ― especially after you remove the water. 

The next ingredient isn’t so great. Whole grain corn doesn’t provide much nutrition for dogs. Many dog food companies utilize it as a cheap source of calories, which seems to be its main use. 

Due to its lower nutritional content, we do not prefer corn as an ingredient in dog food. Many dogs are also allergic to corn, so it is not an “allergy-safe” ingredient like some companies advertise. [2]

The third ingredient is barley. We didn’t mark this ingredient as controversial, as it provides more nutrition than some other whole grains. However, it is still only modestly nutritional for dogs and mostly included to up the calorie content. 

It is also the third ingredient, which is slightly higher than we would like to see for a grain. Grains can be beneficial for dogs, but not when they make up so much of the food. 

Soybean meal is included next. There are several problems with this ingredient. 

Firstly, it is very high in protein, and this raises the overall protein content of the food. But this isn’t meat-derived, and may not be as biologically available to your dog as other sources of protein. 

You need to keep this in mind when looking at the overall protein content of this food. Much of it will be lower-quality due to the inclusion of this ingredient. 

Secondly, soybeans contain a very high amount of pesticides. And, simply put, we don’t want our dogs eating pesticides. [3]

The fifth ingredient is whole grain wheat. Wheat has many of the same problems as corn ― it simply isn’t nutritionally dense. 

It is often a cheap way for dog food companies to add calories. It appears that Beneful is using their fifth ingredient for just that. 

Next, you have another controversial ingredient ― chicken by-product meal. Chicken by-products are a bit complicated. They aren’t necessarily a poor ingredient for our dogs, though that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re a good ingredient. 

Chicken by-products are the parts of the chicken that are left over after the carcass has been processed. This usually includes things humans usually don’t eat, like the organs, feet, and beak.

Some of these chicken by-products are quite high-quality. As meat concentrates, they can include much more protein than whole meat, as a lot of the moisture has been removed. 

However, chicken by-products can also include items that hardly have any nutritional value, like feathers. You just never know what your dog is eating when it comes to by-products, which is why we consider them slightly lower-quality than whole meat. 

Corn gluten meal is included as the next ingredient. This corn derivative is very high in protein, so it is often used to increase the protein content. 

Sadly, this veggie-derived protein will not be as biologically available as meat-derived protein options. Therefore, your dog may not be able to use it as efficiently. [4]

But, it will raise the overall protein content of the food ― something you need to keep in mind when looking at the macronutrient content. 

The rest of the ingredients are very far down the list, and likely won’t affect the dog food very much. However, there are a few controversial ingredients that we would like to talk about. 

Iron oxide is one of these. This is an artificial color that adds a reddish tint to the food and doesn’t provide any particular nutritional benefit. 

We are disappointed anytime we see artificial color in ingredients lists. Your furry friend doesn’t care what color their dinner is, so there is little reason to add artificial color to any dog food. 

Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex is included very far down the ingredient list as a source of vitamin K. The AAFCO does not list this as a necessary vitamin that dogs need in their food, so its inclusion is a bit confusing. 

Furthermore, this particular form of vitamin K has been linked with all sorts of different problems in animals. There are other, higher-quality vitamin K nutritional supplements available, but these are often more expensive. Many dog food companies do not use them for this reason. [5]

There are also a few things missing from this dog food. For instance, we don’t see any sign of probiotics, which are important for your dog’s gut health. Your dog is primarily eating dog food, so they can’t get probiotics from any other source. 

Plus, the minerals included do not appear to be chelated. These are easier for dogs to digest and are usually associated with high-quality dog foods. [6]

Nutritional Analysis

Macronutrients are essential. Studies have shown that dogs thrive on a diet highest in protein and fat, with very few carbohydrates. [7]

Therefore, we should aim for our dog’s food to match this ratio. Sadly, most dog food today is far higher in carbohydrates than it needs to be. 

The particular Beneful dog food we reviewed above contains about 26% protein and 13.5% fat. These percentages are in the average range for most commercial dog foods, but they are still much lower than what your dog should optimally be eating. 

Dog food companies are not required to list the carbohydrate content. However, based on the lower protein and fat amounts ― and how much of the ingredients are carbohydrate-rich ― it is likely quite high.

You also have to consider that much of this food’s protein comes from veggies and grains.

This means that much of the protein may be low-quality. Therefore, even though it is average overall, the amount of meat-derived protein may be quite low. 

This food only contains a moderate amount of meat at the very least.

Overall, we can rate this food as about average in the nutrition department. It is very similar to other low-to-moderate-quality food on the market. The macronutrient content is okay, but it could be higher. 

Purina Beneful Incredibites Reviews

Overall, the customer reviews for Beneful dog food tend to be positive. Often, they talk about how much their dog loves it! 

While this food doesn’t seem to have the best ingredients, it does seem to be rather tasty. 

The added beef fat likely has something to do with this. Fat is delicious to dogs, so any added fat will improve the flavoring. This food also has natural flavors added, which may help it appease some pickier eaters. 

While Beneful Incredibites are designed for small dogs, people also seem to use them for their larger dogs. However, certain customers complained that the food wasn’t small enough, making it difficult for some smaller dogs to eat. 

One customer summed up what many of the reviewers seemed to think:

“Have tried many different dog foods, high-priced, low-priced, but this works best. Size is perfect for my smaller dogs. Calories are reasonable to help keep their weight down. All of my dogs like it & they are healthy & happy.”

You can read more Purina Beneful IncreiBites reviews on Chewy.

Purina Beneful Recalls

Purina Beneful has only had a single recall. It was also a voluntary one, and due to potentially inadequate vitamins and minerals. 

The company discovered, through their quality testing, that some of their Beneful wet food 10 oz. cans were missing some of the recommended levels of vitamins and minerals. A recall was issued promptly by the company.

Given the company’s long history, having only one recall is pretty good. Of course, the entire Nestle Purina company has more, but not in this specific line of pet food. 

Alternatives

Beneful is only average dog food. In fact, we would place it slightly on the lower-quality side. 

Beneful Incredibites is about 0.95 cents a pound. This is cheap, but some alternatives are around the same price. Many of these are better for your dog as well, despite not costing more.

Our Verdict

Beneful Incredibites is a budget pet food brand that is widely available in many different stores. Sadly, this brand features various controversial ingredients, including additives like corn gluten meal, soybean meal, and chicken by-product meal. 

While this brand is very inexpensive, we cannot recommend it for dog owners ― even if you’re looking for cheap dog food. Other cheap options feature higher quality ingredients for a similar price, like Diamond Naturals. 

With that said, this food does contain balanced nutrition. This food collection also hasn’t had many recalls, so it is likely quite safe for most dogs.