Adult Sensitive Stomach & Sensitive Skin Pollock Meal, Barley & Insect Meal Recipe Dry Dog Food, 12-lb bag
Graded by The Sniff System
Hill's Science Diet Adult Sensitive Stomach & Sensitive Skin is a dry food featuring pollock meal and insect meal, designed for adult dogs.
This formula offers quality carbohydrate sources that include fermentable fiber, which can be good for digestion. Pollock meal provides solid amino acid coverage for protein quality, and the fat sources are named and declared, indicating good quality.
Nothing concerning in the deck.
Good fit for adult dogs, especially those with sensitive stomachs or skin. Nothing serious working against it.
Summary written by The Sniff System from the data above. Same rubric, same drivers, expressed in English.
For Labrador Retrievers with suspected cutaneous adverse food reactions, a strict elimination diet trial must last a minimum of 8 weeks to reliably diagnose or rule out a food-based trigger. Good fit for adult Labrador Retrievers navigating skin allergies. The protein deck is limited to pollock meal and chicken fat. Zinc is essential for skin immunity and healing; the NRC (2006) established a recommended allowance of 20 mg of zinc per 1000 kcal ME for adult dogs at maintenance (NRC, 2006) .
Looking at this for adult Labrador Retrievers or Labrador Retrievers with skin allergies ? We are building dedicated pages for these combinations.
Auto-matched from this product's measurements (ingredients, life stage, calorie density) to a breed archetype. Not a substitute for vet input on your specific dog.
At 67/100, this formula lands in solid B territory. The lift comes from carbohydrate quality, worth 15 points to the final number: Quality carbohydrate sources with fermentable fiber. Secondary contribution comes from protein quality (+14 points). Reasonable protein quality. pollock meal delivers solid amino acid coverage. The 8-point gap to the A-tier line is concentrated in protein quality (14 of 27 possible). Full protein quality requires named-species named-cut proteins in the top of the deck (e.g., "deboned chicken" rather than "chicken meal" or "poultry meal").
Quality carbohydrate sources with fermentable fiber.
Reasonable protein quality. pollock meal delivers solid amino acid coverage.
Quality fat sources: named fat with declared fat sources.
No negative drivers crossed our reporting threshold.
- Top quartile for DMB protein in Hill's Science Diet's lineup (24.4%)
- Bottom quartile for crude fiber in Hill's Science Diet's lineup (4.4% DMB)
- Bottom quartile for protein quality in Hill's Science Diet's lineup (14.2/27)
Computed against the rest of our catalog. Percentiles refresh on each catalog update.
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$2.33/lb vs your seed's $5.42/lb (57% less) at a comparable score.
Surfaced from a vector similarity search across 3,491 scored dog foods. How this works.
Read why each ingredient is good or bad for dogs.
- 1pollock meal
Position 1: primary protein source. After cooking removes water, this may drop in proportional weight, but it anchors the recipe.
- 2cracked pearled barley
Pre-cracked pearled barley for better digestibility. Same whole-grain story.
Position 2. Pulse-family ingredient this high in the deck is a notable build choice. When stacked with other pulses in the top 10, matches the formulation pattern the FDA flagged in its diet-associated DCM investigation.
- 3dried black soldier fly larvae
- 4grainwhole grain corn
Whole corn with the kernel intact. Decent fiber and B vitamins, though it can crowd out meat in cheaper recipes.
Position 4: supporting grain. Smaller contribution to the carb deck.
- 5grainsorghum
Whole grain with a low glycemic index. Gluten-free, well-tolerated, decent fiber content.
Position 5: supporting grain. Smaller contribution to the carb deck.
- 6corn starch
Position 6: supporting grain. Smaller contribution to the carb deck.
- 7fatchicken fat
Despite the name, a high-quality energy source. Concentrated calories plus essential fatty acids like linoleic acid. See why →
Position 7: trace fat. Below the level that materially shifts the fat profile.
- 8protein plantpea protein
Concentrated plant protein. Inflates the protein number on the label without matching the amino acid quality of meat.
Position 8. Moderate inclusion. Contributes carbohydrate and some plant protein.
- 9soybean oil
Plant oil. High in omega-6, which is required but commonly oversupplied. Fine in moderation.
Position 9: trace fat. Below the level that materially shifts the fat profile.
- 10fiberdried beet pulp
Soluble fiber from sugar-beet processing. Sometimes treated as a filler, but it's actually one of the better fiber sources in kibble. See why →
Position 10: functional fiber for digestion or satiety.
- 11hydrolyzed chicken flavor
Hydrolyzed chicken used as a palatability enhancer. Real ingredient, tiny inclusion, no quality signal either way.
- 12corn protein meal
Concentrated corn protein. Similar in role to corn gluten meal, pads the protein number on the label without matching meat amino acids.
Position 12: minor grain inclusion.
- 13lactic acid
Natural acid used as a mild preservative and pH adjuster. Found in fermented foods too. Safe at typical inclusion.
- 14mineralpotassium chloride
Required mineral. Sometimes used as a salt substitute. Standard inclusion in complete diets.
- 15fish flavor
- 16supplementcholine chloride
Essential nutrient for liver and brain function. Standard inclusion in complete dog foods.
- 17fatflaxseed
Plant source of omega-3. Helpful for skin and coat, though dogs absorb omega-3 from fish more efficiently.
- 18mineralsalt
Sodium chloride. Required at small doses for normal physiology. Not a quality concern in standard amounts.
- 19supplementtaurine
Amino acid critical for heart health. Especially important in grain-free or pulse-heavy formulas where natural taurine precursors run thin.
- 20mixed tocopherols for freshness
- 21oat fiber
- 22othernatural flavors
Same as natural flavor. Usually hydrolyzed liver or broth, adds palatability.
- 23mineralferrous sulfate
Inorganic iron. Standard mineral source. Iron proteinate is the gentler, better-absorbed premium form.
- 24zinc oxide
Inorganic zinc. Cheapest mineral form on the market. Functional but less bioavailable than chelated alternatives.
- 25mineralcopper sulfate
Inorganic copper. Standard, effective at small doses. Premium formulas tend to use copper proteinate instead.
Showing first 25 of 34. Position 1-5 has the largest weight in the recipe.
19 of 25 ingredients have a curated note. Coverage grows over time.