The white bag test: five questions to ask before choosing dog food

Reading time: about 8 min

Imagine waking up one morning to find that every bag of dog food is completely white. No logos, beautiful pictures, gold “premium” lettering or promises that make one bag seem more valuable than another.

How would you choose food for your dog then?

In the first article in FendaF’s white bag test series, we looked at what terms such as “premium”, “lamb & rice” and “veterinary” mean on a label. Now we are turning the bag over and going a step further.

Because the ingredient list on the back does not give us the whole answer either.

Choosing good food involves more than finding ingredients we like. We need to know whether the food meets a dog’s needs, how its quality is checked and whether it suits the particular dog whose bowl is waiting at home.

That is why I have put together five questions to help you start assessing any dog food.

1. Is it a complete or complementary food, and who is it intended for?

The first question is not about the meat percentage at all. It is about the food’s purpose.

A complete food is intended to meet a particular animal’s daily nutritional needs when fed according to the manufacturer’s instructions and in an appropriate amount. A complementary food is intended to be used alongside other food and may not provide all the necessary nutrients on its own.

This distinction matters. A food may contain excellent ingredients, but if it has not been balanced as a complete food, we cannot assume that a dog could eat it as their only food for months or years.

Even with a complete food, we need to check who it is intended for and remember that nutrient utilisation depends on the individual animal. Is it for a growing puppy, an adult dog or an animal with a particular need?

For a large-breed puppy in particular, a high meat content is not enough. Energy, calcium and phosphorus levels, and their suitability for a growing body, also matter.

FEDIAF’s nutritional guidelines distinguish between the needs of different life stages and provide manufacturers with recommended nutrient levels.

My first question would be: is this a complete food for my dog’s life stage, or a product that needs something added to it?

2. What is actually in this recipe?

Now we come to the ingredients.

When the front of the bag says “lamb & rice”, it can suggest a simple recipe consisting mainly of lamb and rice. In reality, the food may contain several animal protein sources, different fats, plant ingredients and other additions.

That is why I would not look only at the first three ingredients.

Ingredients are generally listed by their weight when added. Fresh meat contains a lot of water, whereas dried meat contains much less. Their position on the list therefore does not, on its own, tell us how much protein the finished food provides or what its quality is.

I am interested in more specific questions.

Are the animal ingredients named specifically? Do I know which fat sources are used? Is the role of the plant ingredients clear? Which ingredients have been added for technological purposes? Does the manufacturer disclose enough information to allow a meaningful assessment of the recipe at all?

This does not mean that every unfamiliar ingredient is harmful.

Nor does an appealing ingredient list automatically mean a high-quality finished food. Nutrient availability, the balance of the recipe and consistency in production matter too.

At FendaF, for example, we compared five recipes in “Dog food ingredients, vol. 3”. It shows clearly why one ingredient or an attractive percentage may not tell the whole story.

My second question would be: do I understand the whole recipe, or am I judging it by just a few highlighted ingredients?

3. What do the analytical constituents and energy content tell us?

This is where assessing food becomes a little more numerical.

A dog food label usually lists analytical constituents such as crude protein, crude fat, crude fibre and crude ash. Moisture content is often shown too.

These figures are necessary, but they do not provide a complete picture of all nutrients on their own.

For example, a high protein percentage does not tell us whether the protein supplies the essential amino acids in the right proportions or how well they are absorbed and utilised.

Nor can we directly compare the protein percentages of dry and wet foods, because wet food contains much more water.

Let us take a simple calculation example.

In this illustrative example, the wet food has a lower protein percentage on the label, but a higher one on a dry matter basis.

This does not mean that wet food is automatically better. It shows why foods with different moisture levels need to be compared on a comparable basis. Otherwise, we are trying to compare potatoes with mangoes.

I am also interested in energy content. Two foods can differ considerably in kilocalories per kilogram, but the actual daily feeding cost also depends on portion size and the dog’s energy needs.

And when a dog has a health problem, we may need more information than the label is legally required to provide. For example, details about phosphorus, sodium, fatty acids or other nutrients.

My third question would be: do I have enough information to assess nutritional suitability, rather than simply comparing percentages on a label?

4. Who formulated the food, and how does the manufacturer control quality?

This is a question that tends to get pushed into the background when we are standing in front of a shop shelf.

We may read very carefully what a food contains, but how much do we know about who developed the recipe and how the manufacturer ensures that the next bag contains food of the same composition and quality?

The food selection guidelines from WSAVA, the World Small Animal Veterinary Association, recommend asking, among other things, who is responsible for formulating the food, what their qualifications are, how raw materials and finished food are checked, and what nutrient analyses the manufacturer makes available.

These questions are not only for large manufacturers. A small manufacturer should be able to explain its practices too.

At the same time, a certificate or a well-known specialist’s name does not automatically prove that every recipe is suitable for every dog.

And the reverse is also true: a lack of published research on a particular recipe does not, in itself, mean that the food is bad. We need to look at what information is available, what it supports and which questions remain unanswered.

For example, I would want to know whether the finished product is analysed, how raw materials are checked, what system is used to ensure microbiological safety and whether the manufacturer can answer more detailed questions about nutrient levels.

This applies to every brand.

My fourth question would be: can the manufacturer explain its quality through verifiable information and processes, rather than attractive promises alone?

5. Does this food suit my particular dog?

We may have found a food whose ingredients we like, whose nutritional balance is documented and whose manufacturer appears to have reliable quality controls.

But one question is still unanswered.

Does it suit my particular dog?

An active young dog, a quiet older dog and a dog with pancreatitis may have very different needs. Body condition, activity, health and the individual animal’s digestive tolerance also matter.

When assessing how well a food suits a dog, I would monitor weight and body condition, appetite, stools, skin and coat, and general well-being. These provide valuable information, especially when changes are followed over time.

But there is an important limit here.

A shiny coat and well-formed stools do not, on their own, prove that a food meets all long-term requirements for vitamins, minerals and amino acids.

Likewise, soft stools do not always mean that a food has a poor formulation. There can be many causes, from changing foods too quickly to health problems.

If a dog is eating a veterinary-prescribed therapeutic diet, we also need to consider its clinical purpose. For example, a hydrolysed diet may be needed for a properly conducted elimination trial. Changing it solely because of the ingredient list can compromise the trial’s results.

We have also discussed this in “Hydrolyzed protein dog food: is it always the best choice?”.

My fifth question would be: does the food match this dog’s actual needs, and what am I basing that assessment on?

The 30-second white bag test

When you are standing in front of the dog food shelf, you do not have to investigate all these questions fully straight away. Start with five.

This is an initial screen, not a final quality assessment. If you cannot find an answer to an important question, you do not necessarily have to reject the food immediately. A sensible next step is to ask the manufacturer for more information.

What does the white bag test actually change?

In my view, choosing dog food does not have to be a competition to see who can find the most appealing words, the fewest unappealing ingredients or the most eye-catching packaging.

Ingredients matter a great deal to me, and I am not giving up a critical look at them. But no ingredient list can replace an understanding of nutritional balance, production controls and an individual dog’s needs.

Nor does a familiar brand automatically mean quality, or an unfamiliar manufacturer automatically mean trouble.

The point of the white bag test is to set aside, for a moment, everything that shapes our first impression and ask: what do we actually know about this food?

If the manufacturer can answer our questions, the recipe meets the dog’s needs and the animal feels well, we have a much stronger basis for a decision than a single advertising slogan.

Because, in the end, the packaging does not eat the food.

Your dog does.

Sources and further reading

WSAVA. Guidelines on Selecting Pet Foods. Questions about manufacturer expertise, quality control, nutrients and assessing labels.

FEDIAF. Nutritional Guidelines for Complete and Complementary Pet Food for Cats and Dogs (2025). Recommendations on nutritional adequacy and different life stages for complete foods.

FendaF. Dog food label terms. Part one of the white bag test.

FendaF. Dog food ingredients, vol. 3. Examples of comparing recipes and ingredients.

FendaF. Hydrolyzed protein dog food. Distinguishing a clinical diet’s purpose from its suitability.

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