Is Blue Buffalo made in the United States
Is Blue Buffalo Made in the USA? What You Need To Know
Blue Buffalo is a famous dog food brand with many recipes tailored for optimal canine health. There are tons of options in recipes, treats, and other supplements. If you have any kittiesthey even have quite a comprehensive cat food line.
But if you care about where your dog food company gets their ingredients, you might want to uncover the details. Blue Buffalo is in fact, proudly made in the USA. Lets learn more about this pet food company.
Blue Buffalo: About the Company
Blue Buffalo came about the same way as most dog food companies, from a place of passion. Commercial dog food at the time Blue Buffalo was formed seemed to be slim pickin and stuffed with all sorts of preservatives and artificial additives.
The Bishop family had an Airedale Terrier named Blue. Blue was an innovator, moving pets away from pet foods that had harmful fillers and artificial ingredients to create a healthy eating experience. Blue paved the way toward better nutrition for dogs to live their entire lifespan.
Since then, the company has grown exponentially, sharing its recipes globally. While Blue Buffalo is ever-expanding, they have pet food lines in both wet food and dry kibble. There are no fresh or raw options at this time, although they are very innovative and go along well with the times.
In fact, Blue Buffalo recently tossed around the idea of adding more wet food options to satisfy the market. So, we expect to see them come out with innovative pet food as time passes.
Rise in Availability
Blue Buffalo has recently expanded their availability, filling up shelves in pet stores and department stores across several countries. They aim to make their recipes available to pet parents of any variety for convenience.
You might find Blue Buffalo at your local Walmart, where you never did before. This is to be expected now as Blue develops broader markets. It tries to cater to the convenience of every pet parent, claws and wags alike.
Blue Buffalo Facilities
General Mills bought Blue Buffalo in April of 2018. The company headquarters remains in Wilton, Connecticut, but it also has other facilities across the States. The manufacturing plant is based in Richmond, Indiana, though they opened another in Joplin, Missouri in 2018 to expand.
They have a few different facilities to speak of. According to the Blue Buffalo website, all of their recipes are made in the United States. However, Blue Buffalo globally sources their ingredients, which means they work with a series of farmers and suppliers to obtain the ingredients they use in the dog food outside the United States. Blue Buffalo seems to source their ingredients with few recalls and deal with complaints responsibly.
The General Mills Worry
Blue Buffalo started as a small company in Wilton. When General Mills took over, it left a lot of questions for consumers. Will this company now outsource labor? Will they start getting shady with recipes or source ingredients from untrusted facilities for cheap labor?
According to Blues website, not much has changed since the General Mills takeover, but people still watch carefully.
Globally Sourced, Locally Manufactured
But where do they get the ingredients they use in their dog food?
Well, Blue has been under scrutiny before. In 2014, they admitted to using chicken byproducts. They claimed it was a mislabeling issue from their supplier, Wilbur-Ellis, in Texas. Since then, the issue has been resolved.
Some other manufacturers in the United States include:
- ANI-Vita Line
- CJ Foods
- Triple T Foods
- Tuffys
- Ainsworth
However, Blue sources ingredients globally, meaning they have partners from other countries to obtain items for their formulas. Their main website does not specify which countries or facilities.
In Conclusion
General Mills might have bought Blue Buffalo, but not a lot has changed. Although the food is made in the United States, many of the ingredients are sourced globally. While you can only get a limited amount of information from the companys actual website, you are encouraged to keep a watch.
We hope that Blue will keep its integrity and continue to add to its stellar reputation.
Featured Image Credit: bluebuffalo.com
Blue Buffalo Dog Food Review
Ingredients Analysis
The first ingredient in this dog food is chicken. Although it is a quality item, raw chicken contains up to 73% water. After cooking, most of that moisture is lost, reducing the meat content to just a fraction of its original weight.
After processing, this item would probably account for a smaller part of the total content of the finished product.
The second ingredient is chicken meal. Chicken meal is considered a meat concentrate and contains nearly 300% more protein than fresh chicken.
The third ingredient is brown rice, a complex carbohydrate that (once cooked) can be fairly easy to digest. However, aside from its natural energy content, rice is of only modest nutritional value to a dog.
The next ingredient is barley. Barley is a starchy carbohydrate supplying fiber and other healthy nutrients. However, aside from its energy content, this cereal grain is of only modest nutritional value to a dog.
The fifth item is oatmeal, a whole-grain product made from coarsely ground oats. Oatmeal is naturally rich in B-vitamins, dietary fiber and can be (depending upon its level of purity) gluten-free.
The next ingredient is pea starch, a paste-like, gluten-free carbohydrate extract probably used here as a binder for making kibble. Aside from its energy content (calories), pea starch is of only modest nutritional value to a dog.
The seventh ingredient is flaxseed, one of the best plant sources of healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Provided theyve first been ground into a meal, flax seeds are also rich in soluble fiber.
However, flaxseed contains about 19% protein, a factor that must be considered when judging the actual meat content of this dog food.
The eighth ingredient is chicken fat. This item is obtained from rendering chicken, a process similar to making soup in which the fat itself is skimmed from the surface of the liquid.
Chicken fat is high in linoleic acid, an omega-6 fatty acid essential for life. Although it doesnt sound very appetizing, chicken fat is actually a quality ingredient.
The ninth ingredient is tomato pomace which can be a controversial ingredient, a by-product remaining after processing tomatoes into juice, soup and ketchup.
Many praise tomato pomace for its high fiber and nutrient content, while others scorn it as an inexpensive pet food filler.
Just the same, theres probably not enough tomato pomace here to make much of a difference.
After the natural flavor, we find peas. Peas are a quality source of carbohydrates. And like all legumes, theyre rich in natural fiber.
However, peas contain about 25% protein, a factor that must be considered when judging the meat content of this dog food.
From here, the list goes on to include a number of other items.
But to be realistic, ingredients located this far down the list (other than nutritional supplements) are not likely to affect the overall rating of this Blue Buffalo Life Protection product.
With nine notable exceptions
First, this food includes pea protein, what remains of a pea after removing the starchy part of the vegetable.
Even though it contains over 80% protein, this ingredient would be expected to have a lower biological value than meat.
And less costly plant-based products like this can notably boost the total protein reported on the label a factor that must be considered when judging the meat content of this dog food.
Next, we find alfalfa meal. Although alfalfa meal is high in plant protein (about 18%) and fiber (25%), this hay-family item is more commonly associated with horse feeds.
We also note the use of alfalfa nutrient concentrate, a vitamin and mineral-rich extract made from alfalfa.
Even though it contains over 50% protein, this ingredient would be expected to have a lower biological value than meat.
In addition, pea fiber is a mixture of both soluble and insoluble dietary fiber derived from pea hulls. Aside from the usual benefits of fiber, this agricultural by-product provides no other nutritional value to a dog.
Next, garlic can be a controversial item. Although many favor the ingredient for its claimed health benefits, garlic has been linked to Heinz body anemia in dogs.1
So, one must weigh the potential benefits of feeding garlic against its proven tendency to cause subclinical damage to the red blood cells of the animal.
Additionally, dried yeast can be a controversial item. Dried yeast contains about 45% protein and is rich in other healthy nutrients.
Fans believe yeast repels fleas and supports the immune system.
Critics argue yeast ingredients can be linked to allergies. This may be true, but (like all allergies) only if your particular dog is allergic to the yeast itself.
Whats more, a vocal minority insists yeast can increase the risk of developing the life-threatening condition known as bloat. However, this is something weve not been able to scientifically verify.
In any case, unless your dog is specifically allergic to it, we feel yeast should be considered a nutritious addition.
This recipe also includes sodium selenite, a controversial form of the mineral selenium. Sodium selenite appears to be nutritionally inferior to the more natural source of selenium found in selenium yeast.
Taurine is also found in this product. Taurine is an important amino acid associated with the healthy function of heart muscle. Although taurine is not typically considered essential in canines, some dogs have been shown to be deficient in this critical nutrient.
And lastly, this food contains chelated minerals, minerals that have been chemically attached to protein. This makes them easier to absorb. Chelated minerals are usually found in better dog foods.
Nutrient Analysis
Based on its ingredients alone, Blue Buffalo Life Protection Dog Food looks like an above-average dry product.
The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 27%, a fat level of 16% and estimated carbohydrates of about 50%.
As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 26% and a mean fat level of 15%. Together, these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 51% for the overall product line.
And a fat-to-protein ratio of about 57%.
Which means this Blue Buffalo product line contains
Near-average protein. Near-average fat. And above-average carbs when compared to other dry dog foods.
Even when you consider the protein-boosting effect of the flaxseed, pea products, alfalfa products and dried yeast, this looks like the profile of a kibble containing a moderate amount of meat.
Who makes Blue Buffalo and where is it made?
Blue Buffalo is owned by U.S. food company, General Mills. All of the brands dog food products are produced in the United States.
Blue Buffalo owns and operates 2 manufacturing facilities. One is located in Joplin, Missouri and the other in Richmond, Indiana. The company also outsources a number of its other products to co-packers that are also located in America.
Where Is Blue Buffalo Pet Food Made?
Headquartered in Wilton, Connecticut, Blue Buffalo was founded in 2003 by Bill Bishop, who had one simple mission to makenatural and healthy food for dogs and cats. They make pet food of pretty much any style (wet, dry, treats) and for every life stage of dogs and cats, and have grown tremendously since starting. In 2017, they did well over $1 billion in sales. That caught the attention of the giant General Mills, who bought them in early 2018 for about $8 billion. With all that growth, we wanted to see if Blue Buffalo was cutting any corners in their production process. They started out local are they still made that way? Additionally, pet food manufacturers are historically vague when it comes to the ingredients in their recipes. So, where is Blue Buffalo made? We dug in to get the answers our verdict is below.
Verdict: Is Blue Buffalo Pet Food Made in the USA?
For major ingredients and production of their recipes, Blue Buffalo sources and produces all of that from either their own facilities or their partners around the United States. They often outsource production of their recipes to other U.S. manufacturers, which include: Ainsworth, ANI/Vita-Line, CJ Foods, Triple T Foods, and Tuffys.
For smaller ingredients in their recipes, Blue Buffalo is vague about their specific location of origin. There are minimal details on their website, product packaging, and we even tried calling them. The several representatives we spoke to could not give us a detailed breakdown of where their micro ingredients come from. So, we cannot say for sure which of their products are 100% made in the USA. Below, weve listed some of their popular products that we know source their primary ingredients and production process in the United States.
Popular Blue Buffalo Products
- BLUE Life Protection Formula
- BLUE for Cats
- BLUE Freedom
- BLUE Basics
Safety
On the safety side of things, Blue Buffalo ran into some trouble in the past around mislabeling ingredients. In 2014, they were sued by Purina, who claimed they used chicken by-products in their recipes instead of a more wholesome chicken meal. This claim turned out to be true, resulting in Blue quickly correcting their mistake and blaming it on a supplier that mislabeled some ingredients. If youre ever curious about what one of their ingredients means, they keep a full glossary of themhere.
Blue Buffalo has also had three major recalls in their history. The most recent recall was a voluntary one in March 2017 theirBLUE Wilderness Rocky Mountain Recipe Red Meat Dinner Wet Food for Adult Dogs had elevated levels of beef thyroid hormones, which caused adverse side effects for dogs (non-lethal). The other recalls were in October 2010 for elevated levels of Vitamin D in their products causing dogs to get sick, and the last recall in April 2007 for a rice protein they used being contaminated withmelamine.
So, Blue Buffalo doesnt really have the best track record with the safety of their products. Even though they produce all of their recipes in the U.S., there are tons of better options for your dog or cat. Weve done a bunch of research around American made pet foods you can find our recommendations below.
