Best-for · PetScored desk
Ranked by lowest population-level sensitivity risk. We do not diagnose individual dogs; the goal is to reduce the number of common trigger ingredients on the label.
Vets and pet parents use “sensitive” to mean a dozen different things. PetScored treats it narrowly: a recipe is sensitive-friendlier when it leaves common trigger proteins and fillers off the label. That covers chicken, turkey, egg, fish, legumes, soy, wheat, and corn — the ingredients most named in the adverse-food-reaction literature.
This list ranks every dog food currently in our beta scorecards by its Sensitivity Risk sub-score. A higher score means fewer common trigger ingredients high on the panel. That does not guarantee your dog will tolerate it; it does guarantee that fewer common triggers are present.
Our pick
Natural Balance
Common triggers on the label: fish.
Manufacturer and retailer sources support salmon as the first ingredient, adult maintenance AAFCO language, calcium/phosphorus, and calorie data. Limited-ingredient marketing is not scored separately from the actual label, and the 2021 Natural Balance dry cat-food Salmonella recall is disclosed as brand-level regulatory history, not a defect in this scored dog food SKU.
Runners-up
Common triggers on the label: fish.
Common triggers on the label: soy, wheat.
Common triggers on the label: chicken, turkey, fish.
Common triggers on the label: chicken, egg.
Common triggers on the label: chicken, turkey, fish.
Common triggers on the label: chicken.
Common triggers on the label: chicken, egg.
Common triggers on the label: chicken, egg, corn.
Common triggers on the label: chicken, egg.
Common triggers on the label: fish.
Common triggers on the label: chicken, corn, egg.
Common triggers on the label: chicken, wheat, corn.
Common triggers on the label: chicken, wheat, corn.
Common triggers on the label: chicken, legumes.
Common triggers on the label: chicken, legumes.
Common triggers on the label: chicken, wheat, corn, soy.
Common triggers on the label: chicken, turkey, egg, legumes, fish.
How this list is built
We weight the Sensitivity Risk dimension first, then break ties on Ingredient Clarity. We do not credit “grain-free” as a sensitivity feature — the evidence is contested, and grain-free recipes often stack legumes that show up in adverse-reaction reports.
Cuts
FAQ
We weight the Sensitivity Risk dimension first, then break ties on Ingredient Clarity. We do not credit “grain-free” as a sensitivity feature — the evidence is contested, and grain-free recipes often stack legumes that show up in adverse-reaction reports.
18 picks cleared the rubric bar for this list. 1 other scored brand was considered and didn't make the cut. We surface both for transparency.
No. PetScored takes no manufacturer money. The list is computed deterministically from the rubric and the public product data. The same inputs produce the same ranking every time. See /trust for the full posture.
Yes — but in defined ways. Adding a new scored product can change the ranking. A rubric version bump (see /methodology/changelog) can change it. A source-confidence update on an existing product can change it. We publish every change.