What kind of ingredient this is
lentils sits in the pulse / legume family. Pulses are the cheap protein-bulk ingredients (peas, lentils, chickpeas, fava beans) that grain-free formulations leaned on after the 2007 to 2018 reformulation wave. Sniff penalizes stacking when three or more pulse-family ingredients appear in the top 15.
Where lentils sits in the Sniff System
lentils carries a caution flag in the Sniff System. The methodology does not categorically reject it, but does penalize products where it appears in problematic concentrations, problematic combinations, or without offsetting positive ingredients.
Every methodology choice is published, citeable, and subject to revision when new evidence arrives. Read the full Sniff methodology for the formulas behind every score component, or file a correction if you think this position is wrong.
Similar ingredients in the catalog
Sniff's semantic graph clusters these ingredients near lentils by formulation profile. Each links to its own ingredient page.
Research mentioning lentils
2 cited claims in the Sniff knowledge base reference lentils.
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The FDA's 2022 investigation update detailed 1,382 reports of canine DCM from January 1, 2014, to November 1, 2022. These reports implicated diets with high proportions of peas, lentils, and other legume seeds.
Tier A · linked to dcm risk breed
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Pulse ingredients like peas and lentils contain 18-30% protein and high levels of fermentable fiber. Their use as primary ingredients in grain-free diets is a central focus of diet-associated DCM research.
Tier B · linked to dcm risk breed