Nood Dog Food

The Nood Dog Food Review: Tested & Evaluated 2024

Written By Eloisa Thomas | Canine Coach, Double M.A in Anthropology.
Edited & Fact Checked By Renae Soppe | B.A Journalism & Science. 
Last Updated: 10th January 2024

Are you looking to add some variety to your dog’s diet? Then you’ve probably heard about Nood dog food! This relatively new brand could be a pretty good option for mid-range budgets. Is it the right choice for your pup?

We teamed up with an independent team including veterinarians, canine nutritionists, and dog parents to test dozens of Nood foods to suss out the brand's tastiest and most wholesome varieties. After months of research and discuss, our experts have gathered everything you need to know to make the right choice. Here’s our ultimate Nood dog food review!

  • This Auckland-based dog food company started out as a way to offer high quality pet food at affordable prices
  • They have two different kibble recipes: chicken and salmon
  • Extra goodies include sweet potato, salmon oil, probiotics and mixed berries

Related: The Best Dog Food Australia.
Related: How To Choose The Right Dog Food?
Related: How Is Australia’s Dog Food Industry Regulated?
Related: What is AAFCO? The Association of American Feed Control Officials.
Related: What Is the Pet Food Industry Association of Australia (PFIAA)?
Related: AAFCO vs PFIAA: Dog Food Standards Comparison Australia.
Related: Understanding Guaranteed Analysis Levels in Dog Food.
Related: Real Meat vs Meat Meal.

Table Of Contents
Australia's Nood Dog Food Review
Taste 4/5
Ingredients 4/5
Protein content 5/5
Additives 5/5
Variety 3/5
Price 3.5/5
Do Not Buy If…
The Verdict
References

Quick Pick - Our Best Rated Dog Food

Petzyo Dog Food

Our Number 1 Pick - 
Petzyo Dog Food

  • Ethically sourced Kangaroo, Chicken or Salmon, sweet potato & superfood extras
  • Iron-rich & low fat proteins
  • Three Omega-3 and Omega-6 rich oils with a well balanced 11% fat content
  • Made in Australia
Check Current Price

Australia's Nood Dog Food Review

Nood - 3.5 Star Rating

  • Ingredients: Chicken, Poultry meal, Rice, Tapioca, Chicken fat, Digested animal protein (Poultry liver and Fish), Sweet potato, Salmon oil, Vitamins (Vitamin A, Vitamin D3, Vitamin E, Vitamin C, Nicotinic acid, Pantothenic acid, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B1, Vitamin B6, Folic acid, Biotin, Vitamin B12), Minerals (Zinc, Iron, Copper, Manganese, Iodine, Selenium), Salt, Dicalcium phosphate, Choline Chloride, Mixed berries (Blueberry, Cranberry, Raspberry, Strawberry, Mulberry), Green pea, Potassium chloride, Taurine, Methionine, Pumpkin, Carrot, Probiotic (Bacillus subtilis), Spinach, Natural mixed tocopherols
  • Named Protein First: Yes (all recipes)
  • Dog Food Type: Dry kibble and treats
  • Recipe Range: Cage-free chicken kibble and wild-caught salmon kibble. Three different dog treat options: chicken bites, salmon sticks and chicken jerky.
  • Suitable For: Dogs of all ages, including puppies
  • Cost: $$
  • Australian Owned: No (but New Zealand owned)

Nood Dog Food Review

Taste

Ingredients

Protein content

Additives

Variety

Price

Taste 4/5

Overall, the majority of our independent experts say their pups really like this food! Of course, it is still a kibble, so if you’ve got a picky eater you might need to spice it up a bit.

PRO TIP: If you have a picky eater at home, try adding yummy toppings to their bowl. Some extra goodies that have worked for our dogs are shredded carrots, cut up banana, a few pieces of boiled chicken/fish/meat, half a teaspoon of nut butter (less for small dogs), or just some homemade bone broth (without salt).

Nood dog food is palatable for most dogs but doesn’t go beyond what’s expected, so we’re giving the brand 4 out of 5 in this category.

Ingredients 4/5

Nood dog food has a pretty nice ingredient list, especially considering the price point. The first AND second ingredients are both named protein: chicken and poultry meal, so they make up the majority of the food. In third and fourth place we have rice and tapioca, which aren’t so exciting.

Related: Real Meat vs Meat Meal in Dog Food.

This brand started with a different recipe that didn’t include tapioca and had veggies instead of rice. However, this was quickly changed and as of December 2021, rice and tapioca are the main carbs in this kibble.

Our team of experts note that rice is a good carbohydrate source for dogs, but we aren’t so thrilled about tapioca. Tapioca is a starch that comes from the cassava root, and is a good gluten replacement in processed foods that need a binder (like kibble) [1]. This is definitely a much better option than wheat or cereal by-products, but it doesn’t provide much nutritional value.

Down the ingredient list we have sweet potato, salmon oil, named vitamins and minerals as well as berries, and some extra veggies.

Because we like almost all of the ingredients and the proportions are pretty nice, we’re giving this brand 4 out of 5 stars.

Protein content 5/5

This dog food has a named protein as the first and second ingredient, which is great news. The recipes available have whole chicken or salmon as the first ingredient, and then either poultry or fish meal to round it up.

I was thrilled to see that Nood boasts a whopping 26% guaranteed crude protein! That’s well above the minimum 18% recommended by the AAFCO [2]. And considering there are no legumes higher up the list, it’s likely the vast majority of that protein percentage comes from animal sources. This is a nice surprise, especially at this price point, and made me excited about feeding it to my active pup.

We also appreciate the 12% minimum crude fat content: lipids are essential to keep your dog’s body healthy and in food with little animal protein this can be difficult to reach. Nood adds chicken fat as well as salmon oil to bump up the good fats. As a bonus, there are no other lipid sources in the food, so those percentages come fully from animal sources.

Additives 5/5

Our team of independent experts appreciated that this brand has added a few nice extras to round up the nutritional profile of the food. There are, of course, the regular vitamins and minerals added, which make it a complete food for a balanced diet.

On top of these, all Nood recipes have choline as a prebiotic and B. subtilis as a probiotic. Our panel shares that these two components help to keep your dog’s tummy healthy and will improve their overall digestion, so they are really great to see.

Other goodies include taurine and methionine to support physiological health, mixed berries for extra antioxidants and salmon oil.

We couldn’t do an in-depth Nood Dog food review without mentioning their quality control protocols. This brand prides itself in performing 260 microbiological tests per week, 1,200 ingredient nutritional tests per month and 18+ hours of employee safety training per employee per year, as well as other consistent check-ups. [3] This ensures every Nood bag is identical, the kibble composition won’t change and your pup shouldn’t get an upset tummy whenever you open a new bag.

Lousy quality control is rampant in the Australian pet food industry since it’s largely unregulated [4], so having companies that seem to care about these issues is a step forward in the right direction. I would love to have the possibility of accessing these records, but unfortunately, this isn’t possible at the time.

As we really like these additives and extras, our independent panel of experts agreed to give Nood 5 out of 5 in this category.

Variety 3/5

This is a relatively new and small company, so the options available aren’t very wide. Nood offers two different kibble flavours: chicken and salmon, and they also have three different wet treats in their catalogue.

While I was sad to see that they don’t have puppy-specific recipes, their packaging clearly states the recipes fall in line with AAFCO’s regulations for all-stages dog food. They also propose owners a recommended amount for puppies, including large-breed pups, so your dog can be well-fed throughout their life.

Considering they don’t offer puppy-specific options, they don’t have smaller kibble for toy breeds, and you have to carefully portion out the food for large-breed puppies, our panel decided to take off 2 stars.

Price 3.5/5

This brand started out as an option to give customers access to high-quality food at lower prices. While this isn’t cheap, for the quality it’s very reasonably priced and can fit into a good dog food budget.

Another thing to consider is that, even though you can find Nood at Coles in Australia (it's one of their best supermarket dog food options), their website also features a store locator so you can double check if you local Coles stocks their products. 

As it’s in the mid-upper range price, our team agreed to give Nood 3.5 out of 5 in this category.

Do Not Buy If…

Overall, this is a great option for many dogs. However, our independent panel of experts note that it may not be every dog. You might want to keep looking if you:

  • Want Australian-sourced ingredients: Even though this is an Auckland-owned company, they are very clear about the origin of their products. They source ingredients from all over the world and then ship them to be manufactured in Thailand. If you’re looking for locally owned and sourced food, this isn’t the right choice.
  • Prefer to offer wet food: This review is based on their kibble recipes, and Nood has only recently started to offer a wet range of dog food. This might be a good option if you have a seriously picky eater or your dog just needs to have wet food, like in my household. However, we have not yet done a nutritional analysis on their wet food range yet. Of course, you can always try using a little unsalted homemade broth to moisten dry food if your dog likes the recipe but has bad teeth.
  • Have a dog that’s sensitive to poultry: Even though Nood has a salmon recipe, it has poultry fat in the ingredient list. Most dogs would be fine with this, but some pups with food allergies or sensitivities might need to avoid poultry altogether. If that’s your dog, this brand isn’t for them.

The Verdict

Every member of our independent research team really like this food within the kibble options available. Of course, it has some shortcomings (like tapioca high up the ingredient list), but the other ingredients are very nice and we love that there are no unnecessary additives.

Nood is one of the best supermarket foods! At a decent price point and with a fairly good ingredient list, it’s a pretty nice option if you don’t want to splurge on the premium (and pricier) options. And even for those that can spend more, this one is a good option to keep on rotation.

Want to read more dog food brand reviews? Check out the below:

References

  1. "Tapioca: Health Benefits, Nutrition and Uses". September 22, 2023. WebMD. Retrieved May 29, 2023. https://www.webmd.com/diet/tapioca-health-benefits-nutrition-uses#1
  2. "Understanding Pet Food". AAFCO Association of American Feed Control Officials. Retrieved May 29, 2023. https://www.aafco.org/consumers/understanding-pet-food/
  3. "About Us". Nood Pet Food. Retrieved May 29, 2023. https://noodpetfood.com/en-au/pages/about-us
  4. "How is the pet food industry regulated in Australia?". RSPCA Knowledge Base. Retrieved May 29, 2023. https://kb.rspca.org.au/knowledge-base/how-is-the-pet-food-industry-regulated-in-australia/
Author Image

Eloisa Thomas

Eloisa Thomas is Gentle Dog Trainers Canine Coach & Anthropologist.

With a double master's degree in Anthropology and awarded a Chancellor's International Scholarship to pursue a PhD in History at the University of Warwick (UK), she's well equipped to write well written and factual canine information that will actually help people understand their dogs better.

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