From Franny Syufy,
Your Guide to Cats.
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When I was first approached to review a new quality natural cat food product, I was pretty enthusiastic at the concept of a wholesome line of cat food intended for marketing in stores like Walmart, KMart and grocery store chains. Indeed, when I received a sample bag of The Goodlife Recipe food for cats, my cats eagerly scarfed it up. The bag is attractive, and advertises "with real chicken, brown rice, and garden greens" on the front, along with "no artificial flavors or preservatives - no fillers - taste guarantee." Sounds pretty good, right?

Taking a Closer Look at Ingredients

The back of The Goodlife Recipe bag identifies the 6 key ingredient groups, which makes Goodlife "naturally balanced" within its food group pyramid. Those groups, reading from the top of the pyramid down, are:

• Natural nutrient-rich vegetables
• Vitamins and Minerals
• Real natural chicken
• Healthy oils
• Natural whole grains
• Antioxidants

So far, so good. Note, however, that the protein content hovers toward the middle of the pyramid - this in a product for obligate carnivores. Furthermore, imagine my chagrin when I finally found the full list of ingredients hidden in the fold of the side of the bag:

Ground corn, chicken by-product meal, corn gluten meal, animal fat, chicken, whole grain brown rice, natural poultry flavor, dried peas, dried beet pulp, wheat flour, rice, brewers dried yeast, salt, potassium chloride, wheat gluten, choline chloride, titanium dioxide, calcium carbonate, dried spinach, dried tomatoes, dried carrots, skim milk powder...and a long list of vitamins and minerals.

Without the first four listed ingredients (by weight), I might be tempted to buy this food. However, in the climate of massive pet food recalls, when I first tested the food, the inclusion of wheat gluten gave me pause for concern.

Please note that the complete list of ingredients can be found on the product's web site, but it may take some searching on your part. I am forbidden by the Mars, Inc., legal policy to "deep-link" directly to the listed ingredients.

Mars, Inc. and the Pet Food Recall

In fairness, right off the bat, I'll mention that at the time I originally reviewed The Goodlife Recipe, its web site had a disclaimer right at the top of its main page that it was not part of the pet food recall or 2007, and that the FDA had "validated" the safety of foods not on the recall list. Only history will tell how effective that "validation" was.

On April 19, 2007, Royal Canin USA, a division of Mars, Inc., voluntarily withdrew eight varieties of its dog and cat varieties which may have been contaminated by rice protein concentrate imported from China by a third party. Royal Canin USA's FAQ indicates that it will no longer use Chineses suppliers for any of its vegetable proteins.

Royal Canin South Africa also recalled dog and cats foods because of melamine-contaminated corn gluten from China.

The Bottom Line

Since I normally review "premium" cat foods, which I feed my own cats by policy, my rating of The Goodlife Recipe is 2.0, compared to those foods. The large quantity of corn, and the placement of chicken by-product meal well ahead of "chicken" simply does not qualify this food as a premium food, in my opinion.

It should be noted that my cats age the entire bag of this food prior to the original recall notice. They subsequently tested out fine at my local veterinary clinic, despite having been also fed pouch foods actually recalled.

I hope that Mars Inc. broadens Royal Canin USA's new policy of refusing to import Chinese vegetable proteins to include all its pet food products. Until such time, I simply cannot recommend this food, particularly in light of the availability of so many truly premium cats foods.