Valu-Pak Dog Food Review 2024: Recalls, Pros & Cons

Review Summary

Introduction

If this is the first time you’ve heard about Valu-Pak, you’re not alone. Valu-Pak is one of the lesser-known dog food brands on the market. With its simple, no-frills packaging and low profile on large vendor sites like Amazon and Chewy, it fades into the background somewhat when compared with better-known brands.

What Valu-Pak lacks in market prominence, it makes up for in its to-the-point advertising, modest product selection, and emphasis on producing high-quality foods at a low price without all the fuss. For this reason, we give Valu-Pak an overall rating of 4.5 stars. If you’d like to learn more about Valu-Pak, this post shares all you need to know.

At a Glance: The Best Valu-Pak Food Recipes:

Valu-Pak Dog Food Reviewed

Who Makes Valu-Pak and Where Is It Produced?

Valu-Pak is a brand owned by SpecialityFeeds, Inc., which owns four dog food brands besides Valu-Pak. SpecialtyFeeds’ headquarters are in Memphis, Tennessee. SpecialtyFeeds was founded in 1960 and began as a small-scale Mississippi dairy farm. Today, SpecialtyFeeds manufactures its dog food in 20 U.S. states from its plant in Memphis.

Which Type of Dog is Valu-Pak Best Suited For?

Valu-Pak is best suited to active adult dogs and those who need a standard amount of protein in their diet (over 30% protein is considered high.) Several of Valu-Pak’s products are designed for active adult dogs, and most contain between 18% and 28% protein, though the Adult Athletes and Puppies formula contains 30% protein.

Which Type of Dog Might Do Better with a Different Brand?

Dogs on special diets, puppies, and senior dogs may do better with a different brand. Though Valu-Pak products are labeled as “suitable for all life stages,” including puppies, there aren’t any specific products just for puppies, seniors, or dogs with special dietary requirements.

If your dog has special dietary needs (weight control, etc.), speak to your vet to determine which brand they would recommend.

Discussion of the Primary Ingredients (Good and Bad)

For this part, we’re going to break down Valu-Pak’s most popular product, which is the Valu-Pak Free 28-20 formula. The numbers on the bag refer to the product’s protein and fat content, respectively. The ingredients for this formula are:

Chicken By-Product Meal, Pork Meal, Whole Grain Brown Rice, Whole Grain Sorghum, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols), Dried Green Peas, Dried Beet Pulp (sugar removed), Ground Flaxseed, Salt, Potassium Chloride, Calcium Carbonate, Hydrated Sodium Calcium Aluminosilicate, Choline Chloride, Ferrous Sulfate, Vitamin E Supplement, Zinc Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Sodium Selenite, Niacin Supplement, Biotin, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Calcium Iodate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Cobalt Carbonate, Folic Acid.

Chicken By-Product Meal

If your dog has a chicken allergy, this formula contains chicken by-product meal, so it is best avoided. In short, meat by-products are animal products that humans do not eat. By-products could include organs, fat, or bones. If you would prefer to feed your dog a diet with no animal by-products, you might want to look elsewhere.

Corn-Free, Gluten-Free, Soy-Free, Wheat-Free

Some dog parents choose to feed corn-free, gluten-free, soy-free, or wheat-free diets because they believe them to be healthier. According to PetMD, corn, soy, and wheat are not harmful to dogs, but they’re not the best choices for making up the base of the diet.

Controversial Ingredients

Some ingredients in dog food have caused controversy for various reasons. In some cases, ingredients are controversial for quality issues, and in others, the ingredients are believed to be potentially linked to health issues.

A Quick Look at Valu-Pak Dog Food

Recall History

We couldn’t find evidence indicating that Valu-Pak products have ever been subject to recalls. This is fantastic and really adds an extra layer of trust that dog parents can appreciate.

Reviews of the 3 Best Valu-Pak Dog Food Recipes

Let’s look closer at the three most popular and easy-to-find Valu-Pak products on the market.

1. Valu-Pak Free 28-20

This appears to be Valu-Pak’s most popular and best-selling product. The numbers refer to the protein and fat content—28% protein and 20% fat—which is a feature on all of Valu-Pak’s packages. It contains two types of meat in the form of chicken by-product meal and pork meal and contains no wheat, soy, gluten, or corn.

This recipe is formulated for active adult dogs and puppies from 4 weeks old and is labeled as suitable for “all life stages.” This is one of the characteristics we like most about Valu-Pak; we can’t imagine a simpler, more straightforward brand!

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2. Valu-Pak 24-20

This 24-20 recipe contains 24% protein and 20% fat. Unlike the “free” products, this one contains corn, gluten, and wheat, but no soy. It’s designed for active adult dogs and supports healthy skin and coats. The primary meat source comes from pork meal.

The reviews for this product that we could find were more mixed than those of the 28-20 formula. While some consider this a great food that helped their dog’s coat condition, others found it far too expensive.

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3. Valu-Pak 30-20 for Adult Athletes and Puppies

This 30% protein, 20% fat formula is Valu-Pak’s product for athletic dogs and puppies, which is why its protein content is higher than that of other products. Athletic dogs need more protein to support their muscle development and to help keep their energy up.

The primary protein source comes from chicken by-product meal. Unfortunately, this formula isn’t available on Amazon, but you can buy it from other online stores and vendors.

What Other Users Are Saying

Considering what other users make of a brand is critical to our research. Without knowing what people think, we can’t get a balanced perspective on how good a product is. For this reason, we’ve decided to share a few comments on Valu-Pak from online reviews.

Conclusion

Based on our research, we consider Valu-Pak a reliable dog food brand due to its lack of recall history and no-frills advertising. Both of these factors give us the sense that we can trust this brand, and we have a lot of respect for established, long-term brands with a clean history that value subtlety and honesty in their advertising. We also greatly appreciate Valu-Pak’s simplicity and how easy it is to choose a product from their humble selection.

Of course, no brand is perfect. Valu-Pak’s product selection may be too minimal for some, and it doesn’t use whole or fresh meat. Their stock is also limited on online vendors like Amazon, and Chewy doesn’t sell Valu-Pak’s products at all, so it can be tricky to track down. However, reviews for Valu-Pak products are, overall, pretty good, particularly for its 28-20 formula.

See Also:

• Just Right Dog Food Review
• FirstMate Dog Food Review