Chunkers Dog Food Review
You may be tempted to buy Chunkers dog food from the shelves of Woolworths, Coles, or IGA, because the packaging makes out it’s better – and healthier – than it is.
But how healthy is Chunkers for your dog?
Do you want to know the truth?
Yes, I bet you do – so read on, and you’ll learn what Chunker’s is really made from.
What the marketing says
The front of a bag of Chunkers is a bit deceiving.
“Complete & balanced nutrition”… “Made with quality Australian meat”… and two happy and healthy looking dogs.
It looks good, right…?
It’s not hard to meet the minimum nutrient requirements to label a dog food “complete and balanced”, and Chunkers only meets the bare minimum for adult dogs – not puppies, senior dogs, or pregnant bitches.
Why don’t they tell you that on the front of the bag?
“Not complete and balanced for puppies, senior dogs, and pregnant dogs” – only adult dogs.
As for “quality meat”, that’s largely open to interpretation. Using the word quality on a pet food product has no legal or regulated definition. Your mullet’s quality, mate! (But is it really?)
Let’s cover the ingredients, as they do the real talking – and they’re usually more honest than the product marketing.
What the ingredients really say
Imagine wiping the marketing BS off the front of the bag, and replacing it with “Coloured wheat flour and potato starch sweetened with sugar, with preservatives 223 and 202, for your carnivorous pet“.
Would you buy that for your dog?
I know I wouldn’t, but you could really market it this way based on the ingredients!
Ok, so there’s not much sugar in Chunkers – not that’s it’s good for your dog in any amount – but you can bet wheat flour and potato starch as the 2nd and 3rd ingredients are significant, and likely outweigh the meat.
Even with meat listed first, keep in mind meat ingredients are mostly moisture. On the other hand, wheat flour and potato starch are dry powders with very little moisture.
The result: Remove the moisture from the meat – i.e. via cooking – and meat wouldn’t be nearly as much as you may think.
Important note: Chunkers use small print on the back of the bag which states the recipes are “formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles for adult maintenance”
What that means is it’s not complete and balanced for puppies, senior dogs, or pregnant bitches.
The nutrient profiles for adult maintenance are the easiest (or shall I say cheapest) for a pet food manufacturer to adhere to, and only some of the ingredients are needed to meet those minimum standards – that’s why the rest of the dog food is filled with wheat flour and potato starch as really cheap ingredients with barely any nutrition whatsoever.
Are you starting to understand why Chunkers is cheaper than other fresh or cooked foods in the supermarkets?
You probably know food colours aren’t great (they don’t even say what type of colouring is used), and it’s not as if your dog cares about the colour of their dinner.
The preservatives are more of a concern.
Preservatives 223 and 202 are sodium metabisulfite and potassium sorbate (if you care to know). 223 is worrying as it can destroy thiamine (Vitamin B1). Thiamine is essential for converting carbohydrates into energy and for normal nerve and heart function. Without it, your dog won’t be able to metabolise glucose properly, and this can lead to neurological and cardiac problems.
Keep that in mind, especially considering the carbohydrates in Chunkers from wheat flour and potato starch.
It’s not sounding good, is it?
Not many dog foods in Australia use preservatives like 223 and 202, or colours, or sugar for that matter. So why does Chunkers?
Not to mention wheat has shown to be very problematic when fed to dogs, potentially leading to weight gain, lethargy, hot spots, itchy skin, yeasty ears, and overall poor health.
Even with the affordable price, does Chunkers sound like a good dog food?
Do you think your dog deserves such a food?
Even as a treat?
Where to buy?
Supermarkets and some online retailers (you’ll find better dog foods at most online retailers)
Ingredients
The ingredients of Chunkers dog food (with beef, peas, and carrots):
Meat (Chicken, Beef), Wheat Flour, Potato Starch, Amino Acid, Vegetables (Peas, Carrots), Salt, Sugar, Preservatives (223, 202), Vitamins & Minerals (including Thiamine), Colour, Food Acid, Garlic.
Typical Analysis
Please note as a cooked food sold as a wet food there is no mention of moisture content, ash content, or even fibre content (which I expect is low). This means the typical analysis tells us very little.
Typical analysis of Chunkers dog food (with beef, peas, and carrots):
| Protein | 14% |
| Fat | 8.5% |
| Crude Fibre | Unknown |
| Carbohydrates * | Expect this to be higher than protein |
