What do people think about American Journey? https://www.chewy.com/american-journey-lamb-sweet-potato/dp/135817

 Dog Food Advisor gives it a 5 star, it's protein content is slightly higher than TOTW High Prairie and calories per cup is 60 more than TOTW HP.  Its cheaper per pound than what I'm paying now and I would have to cut the portions since it is a more calorie dense food - not something my padded puppy needs at the moment.

I asked the company about ingredients and where it was made and this was there response:

Thanks for giving us a bark! I'm more than happy to help answer any questions you have about American Journey.

The ingredients are sourced from a number of different places around the world, but mainly from the United States. Here are all of the ingredients that are sourced from outside of the U.S.

Canada:
Blueberries
Chickpeas
Deboned Salmon
Died Kelp
Flaxseed
Peas

New Zealand:
Deboned Lamb

Mexico:
Menhaden Fish Meal
Yucca Schidigera Extract

Belgium:
Fructooligosaccharides

Norway:
Pea Protein

Chile:
Salmon Oil

Thailand:
Tapioca Starch

The recipes are all produced in a facility in Kansas. While I'm unable to name the manufacturing facility (due to contractual obligations that prevent us from passing along proprietary information for other companies sharing the plants), I can assure you that the facility has rigorous quality systems in place to manage food safety risks, to provide safe products. The facility ha a current Hazard Analysis Critical Control Plan (HACCP) in place, received by SQF Level 3 certification, and performs continuous quality checks on the food. Chewy has tested all formulas to ensure it provides quality nutrients, good digestibility, and excellent taste.

Amy, from my understanding it does indeed have slightly higher Kcals, but equal in protein and less fat than TOTW High Prairie. It gets the 5 star rating because dog food advisor owns Chewy dot com, and from what I also have heard it is manufactured at one of the Diamond facilities. Now with that out of the way, lol, I would have been switching over, except it has flax seed in it and Sofie is allergic to it, so couldn't make the switch.

I thought Diamond had a facility in Kansas but then I looked it up and couldn't find it. But, Kansas seems to be a hotbed of dog food manufactures.

Nope - Chewy.com owned by CEO Ryan Cohen and Michael Day (CFO) and Dogfoodadvisor.com by Mike Sagman, retired dentist. Dogfoodadvisor DOES, however, receive a fee for each purchase made from Chewy.com that originates from a link from Dogfoodadvisor.

amymeme wrote:

I thought Diamond had a facility in Kansas but then I looked it up and couldn't find it.  But, Kansas seems to be a hotbed of dog food manufactures.

Diamond manufactures at their plant in Missouri.

Schell & Kampeter d/b/a Diamond pet foods settled a class action law suit in 2014 as a result of deaths from food manufactured by them and distributed through Costco.  Among the foods submitted as part of that claim are:

• Apex Chicken and Rice Dog
  
• Canidae Dog Dry Dog Food, All Life Stages
  
• Canidae Dog Dry Dog Food, Chicken Meal & Rice
  
• Canidae Dog Dry Dog Food, Lamb Meal & Rice
  
• Canidae Dog Dry Dog Food, Canidae Platinum
  
• Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover’s Soul
  
• Country Value
  
• Diamond
  
• Diamond Naturals
  
• Diamond Naturals Small Breed Adult Dog Lamb & Rice Formula
  
• Kirkland Signature Super Premium Adult Dog Lamb, Rice & Vegetable Formula
  
• Kirkland Signature Super Premium Adult Dog Chicken, Rice & Vegetable Formula
  
• Kirkland Signature Super Premium Mature Dog Chicken, Rice & Egg Formulas
  
• Kirkland Signature Super Premium Healthy Weight Dog Formulated with Chicken & Vegetables
  
• Kirkland Signature Nature’s Domain Salmon Meal & Sweet Potato Formula for Dogs
  
• Natural Balance Sweet Potato & Venison Dog
  
• Natural Balance Sweet Potato & Venison Dog
  
• Natural Balance Sweet Potato & Venison Dog
  
• Natural Balance Lamb Meal & Brown Rice Dog
  
• Natural Balance Sweet Potato & Bison Dog
  
• Natural Balance Sweet Potato & Bison Dog
  
• Natural Balance Vegetarian Dog
  
• Natural Balance Lamb Meal & Brown Rice Dog Large Breed Bites
  
• Natural Balance Lamb Meal & Brown Rice Dog Small Breed Bites
  
• Premium Edge
  
• Professional
  
• 4Health
  
• Solid Gold WolfKing Large Breed Adult Dog Food
  
• Solid Gold WolfCub Large Breed Puppy Food
  
• Taste of the Wild
  
• Wellness Complete Health Super5Mix Large Breed Puppy
  

That should give us a pretty good idea of what foods they were making - at least as of the settlement in 2014.

Did they ever make public what ingredient/contamination was killing dogs?

And with the Diamond lawsuit, they pulled all foods regardless if it was bad. I thought Salmonella was the issue, TOTW for example volunteered the pulling, but did not have the issue. Ainsworth manufactures certain flavors of Diamond foods, and not all, and Ainsworth was the issue plant. I called on 4 Health and there are 3 different companies making it.

Amy, the gsd forum decided to dig deep into this food, since they were advertising cheaper with high quality ingredients, indeed chewy and dog food advisor own, whether they admit it or not. One of the members there also got the exact reply from chewy as you received. To me it doesn't really matter, and stated that in my OP, that if your dog does well on TOTW, or 4 Health or any other Diamond products, I say feed it. I would if I could, but Sofie is allergic to chicken, and flax seed so I can not. If you would like the gsd link about the food let me know.

Sorry reread one of the posts and it was Blue not Diamond

" The more I poke around, the more I suspect that it's Simmons (a/k/a Menu). This is, of course, pure speculation -- which is what Chewy seems to be inviting here.

Simmons bought the Menu Foods plant in Emporia, KS, and they produce lots of private label foods. That's their market niche -- Authority for PetSmart, Ol' Roy for Walmart, lots of store brands, etc. T

Google "Menu foods recall" to see the history under the old ownership -- they were at the center of the 2007 melamine mess that affected dozens of brands. That was, of course, before Simmons bought them.

During that recall, we got a glimpse of how many brands Menu produced because they had to lift back the veil of secrecy. Here's the very old list:
Menu Foods Income Fund - Annual General Meeting

This more recent report claims to list some of the foods believed to be produced by Simmons:
https://halopets.com/pdf/StateDogFoodToday.pdf
It's an interesting list of high and low end -- Blue Buffalo, Nature's Variety.. and Ol' Roy. WHA?

Here's another list, dating back to 2012:
Who Makes What in Pet Food ? Truth about Pet Food

This new private label food for Chewy seems like it would fit in their product mix of store brands + some high end brands."