Bil-Jac is a 77 year old company. Brothers Bill and Jack Kelly founded it in 1947. It continues to be a family-owned company. Bob and Jim Kelly are second generation. They manage the company today.
The company began by selling frozen dog food. In the 1980s, Bil-Jac added a dry line made by cooking and drying ingredients. They also produce a line of canned foods.
The company is based in Medina, Ohio. The company purchased the Beatrice plant in Berlin, Ohio. This was in 1987. It’s where they make the dry foods. They make the frozen and canned foods at their own plant near its headquarters.
The company has international distribution. They distribute to Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Panama, Costa Rica, Mexico, Canada, Israel and Australia.
For our Bil-Jac dog food review, we’ll look at the food ingredient quality and safety of each line of food. Our dog food reviews are based on these criteria.
IS BIL-JAC A GOOD DOG FOOD?
Bil-Jac produces 3 lines of dog foods. There is a cooked/dehydrated line of 14 recipes. The canned line has 8 recipes. Both of these lines are high risk by our criteria. There is a single frozen recipe, which is moderate risk by our criteria.
The line of wet dog food is their highest scoring line. It has average protein of 40% which is acceptable. The average carbohydrates are 24% which is high for wet dog food. Carbohydrates are from barley, tapioca starch, sweet potato, peas and potatoes. There is also dextrose which is a sweetener. It’s not needed in dog food and can add calories as well as affect gut health. Canned foods are highly processed. Cooked dog foods are moderately processed. Both cause a loss of some nutrients. There are also high pesticide and GMO ingredients.
The dry foods are dehydrated. Bil-Jac dehydrates its dry food at 160 degrees or less. Typical manufacturers dehydrate at 280 degrees.
Low temperatures should retain nutrients. However, all the dry recipes have added amino acids. Several canned recipes have added amino acids. The single frozen recipe has added amino acids. All the recipes have added vitamins and minerals. This is concerning. This often reflects high temperature processing or low quality ingredients.
The dry foods have average protein of 25%. This is quite low for a dehydrated dog food. Average carbohydrate is quite high at 38% as calculated. Bil-Jac states they use 25 pounds of fresh chicken to make a 30-pound bag of dog food. It’s notable that meat is dehydrated so the weight decreases. Additional ingredients that include carbohydrates, might make up the difference in weight. They state they use no fillers. But the recipes use corn meal, oatmeal, yams and peas. There is also inositol which is a sweetener. It can affect gut health. Sweeteners aren’t needed for dogs.
There is a single recipe in the frozen line. The protein level is 33%. This is low for a frozen food. The carbohydrates are excessively high at 45%. It uses 2 types of sugar, which are unnecessary in dog food. There is also dried beet pulp, brewer’s yeast, and cellulose gum. These are all waste products of the human food industry. They are often added as cheap sources of fiber. It’s preferable to see whole fruits and vegetables. They add fiber and phytonutrients. Bil-Jac doesn’t have fruits or vegetables in its recipes.
Bil-Jac developed low processing methods to retain nutrients. That’s why it’s unfortunate to see synthetic additives. They are focused on obtaining quality proteins. However, protein levels are lower than we see in many premium dehydrated, wet and raw frozen brands.
Bil-Jac includes the omega-6:3 ratio. They list a minimum which can have a wide variance. This ratio is always a concern. AAFCO allows a highly inflammatory ratio of 30:1.
BIL-JAC DRY DOG FOOD
Score: 4.4/10
Ingredient List For Puppy Select Dry Recipe: Chicken, chicken by-products (organs only source of arginine), corn meal, chicken by-product meal, dried beet pulp, oatmeal, menhaden fish meal, brewers dried yeast, monocalcium phosphate, salt, choline chloride, calcium carbonate, DL-methionine, sodium propionate (a preservative), L-lysine, vitamin E supplement, L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), zinc proteinate, zinc oxide, copper proteinate, vitamin A acetate, copper sulfate, niacin supplement, biotin, sodium selenite, d-calcium pantothenate, inositol, manganese proteinate, riboflavin supplement, thiamine mononitrate, vitamin B12 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), mixed tocopherols and BHA (preservatives), manganous oxide, cobalt proteinate, cobalt carbonate, vitamin D3 supplement, potassium iodide, folic acid, rosemary extract.
Bil-Jac’s Dry dog food is a high risk dog food by our criteria. There are 14 recipes that average 25% protein. They have high average carbohydrate of 38% as calculated. This is excessively high, especially for a dehydrated food. These foods rank low in ingredient quality. They have high carbohydrates, added vitamins, minerals and amino acids. They also contain inositol, a sweetener. This is a moderately processed food. It loses an ingredient safety point for some heating. They have high pesticide foods listed in the top 5 ingredients. There are also GMO crops in the top 5 ingredients.
Dry Benefits
- Made in house
- Probiotics
Dry Concerns
- High in carbohydrates
- Excessive added vitamins & minerals
- Added amino acids
- Sugar
- Moderately processed
- High pesticide/herbicide foods in top 5 ingredients
- GMOs in top 5 ingredients
- Glam ingredients
- Doesn’t specify farmed or wild-caught fish
View The Entire Review on Dog Food Reviews
BIL-JAC WET DOG FOOD
Score: 5.5/10
Ingredient List For Pate Platter With Duck & Pumpkin Recipe: Duck, chicken, chicken broth, tapioca starch, pumpkin, green beans, pea protein, natural flavor, salt, choline chloride, guar gum, potassium chloride, locust bean gum, vitamin E supplement, ferrous sulfate, vitamin B12 supplement, zinc oxide, vitamin A supplement, niacin supplement, calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, copper amino acid complex, biotin, manganese amino acid complex, riboflavin supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, sodium selenite, vitamin D3 supplement, beta-carotene, folic acid, potassium iodide.
Bil-Jac’s Wet dog food is a moderate risk dog food by our criteria. There are 8 recipes that average 40% protein. They have average carbohydrate of 24% as calculated. These foods rank low in ingredient quality. They have high carbohydrates, added vitamins, minerals and amino acids. They also contain dextrose, a sweetener. They have plant protein. Some recipes are highly processed in cans. Some are moderately cooked. It loses an ingredient safety point for heating. They have high pesticide foods listed in the top 5 ingredients. There are some GMO crops used. There is also natural flavor.
Wet Benefits
- Made in house
- High protein
Wet Concerns
- High in carbohydrates
- Excessive added vitamins & minerals
- Added amino acids
- Plant protein
- Sugar
- Highly processed
- High pesticide/herbicide foods in top 5 ingredients
- GMO crops
- Natural flavor
- Ingredient splitting
View The Entire Review on Dog Food Reviews
BIL-JAC FROZEN DOG FOOD
Score: 4.5/10
Ingredient List For Frozen Recipe: Chicken, wheat flour, beef tripe, chicken meal, beef liver, chicken liver, dried beet pulp, cane molasses, brewers dried yeast, phosphoric acid, choline chloride, fish oil, cellulose gum, DL-methionine, L-lysine monohydrochloride, citric acid and calcium propionate (preservatives), potassium chloride, eggs, dried lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried lactobacillus casei fermentation product, dried bifidobacterium animalis fermentation product, dried lactobacillus reuteri fermentation product, fructooligosaccharide, zinc proteinate, vitamin E supplement, L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), manganese proteinate, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, iron proteinate, inositol, niacin supplement, copper proteinate, sodium selenite, D-calcium pantothenate, copper sulfate, riboflavin supplement, vitamin A acetate, biotin, thiamine mononitrate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, vitamin B12 supplement, manganous oxide, cobalt proteinate, vitamin D3 supplement, cobalt carbonate, calcium iodate, folic acid.
Bil-Jac’s Frozen dog food is a high risk dog food by our criteria. There is 1 recipe that averages 33% protein. It has carbohydrates of 45% as calculated. This is excessively high, especially for a frozen dog food. It ranks low in ingredient quality. It has added vitamins, minerals and amino acids. It contains 2 types of sugar/sweetener. There is unnamed animal protein. It contains cellulose gum, a waste product. This is some moderate processing. It loses an ingredient safety point for heating. They have high pesticide foods listed in the top 5 ingredients.
Frozen Benefits
- Made in house
- Probiotics
Frozen Concerns
- High in carbohydrates
- Excessive added vitamins & minerals
- Added amino acids
- Unnamed protein
- Cellulose
- Sugar
- Moderate processing
- High pesticide/herbicide foods in top 5 ingredients
View The Entire Review on Dog Food Reviews
BIL-JAC DOG FOOD RECALLS
To date, Bil-Jac has not had any recalls or voluntary withdrawals.
Evaluation Criteria
These dog foods were evaluated and scored based on two criteria:
Are the Ingredients High Quality?
Here are some common low quality ingredients or markers we look for:
- Is there excessive carbohydrate content, which can cause gut imbalances?
- Does the food contain unnamed proteins, which are low quality?
- Does the food use cellulose (wood pulp) as a source of fiber instead of real food?
- Are there excessive vitamins and minerals added in place of real food nutrition?
- Are there excessive added amino acids or plant proteins instead of expensive meat protein?
- Does the food contain inflammatory processed seed oils?
How Safe Are the Ingredients?
Many ingredients come from unhealthy, inflammatory sources or are full of pesticides so we look for:
- How processed is the food?
- Does the food contain known genetically modified foods?
- Does the food contain ingredients known to be high in pesticides?
- Does the food contain natural flavor, which are often MSG or animal digest?
- Does the food contain rice, which is high in arsenic?
We evaluate each food by these criteria. We assign a score using the average of ingredient quality and safety. This is NOT a paid list and there are no affiliate links. Dogs Naturally partnered with DogFoodReviews.com to develop unbiased, objective criteria for dog owners. This will help them choose the best dog food on the market. You can view the full Evaluation Criteria at DogFoodReviews.com.
