Pet Food Brand
Blue Buffalo
Acquired by General Mills in 2018. The Life Protection Formula, Basics LID, Wilderness, and Freedom lines include grain-inclusive and grain-free options. Blue Basics LID is the brand's limited-ingredient line for food-sensitive pets.
At a glance
- Parent company
- General Mills
- Founded
- 2003
- Headquarters
- Wilton, Connecticut, USA
- Made in
- USA
- AAFCO method
- Formulated to meet AAFCO nutrient profiles
- Typical price tier
- Mid-range
- Pet types
- Dogs, Cats
Product lines
Recall history
2017-02-06
Class IIBlue Buffalo Wilderness Rocky Mountain Recipe — beef thyroid hormone
2015-11-25
Class ICadet / Blue Buffalo Life Protection chicken jerky — Salmonella
Typical ingredients
Common across the brand's formulations — specific SKUs vary. Always scan the actual label.
Allergens these formulas typically include
Derived from the typical-ingredient list. If your pet reacts to one of these, check whether Blue Buffalo also offers a hypoallergenic or prescription line that excludes it.
Related guides
Common questions about Blue Buffalo
Who owns Blue Buffalo?
General Mills, since 2018. Blue Buffalo was founded in 2003 by the Bishop family and acquired by General Mills in April 2018 for $8 billion. It operates as a subsidiary under the General Mills pet-food division. The acquisition preceded Blue Buffalo's integration of DACVN-level nutritional expertise, though the brand maintains distinct formulations and marketing from General Mills' other food lines.
Has Blue Buffalo been recalled?
Several times. Most notable: February 2017 — Blue Wilderness Rocky Mountain Recipe Red Meat Dinner Wet Food, elevated naturally-occurring beef thyroid hormone. November 2015 — Blue Life Protection Formula Adult Chicken & Brown Rice, salmonella. March 2017 — Blue Wilderness, elevated beef thyroid hormone again. Full recall list with FDA enforcement URLs on the brand page.
What was the Blue Buffalo lawsuit about?
Multiple class-action suits. The best-known was Nestlé Purina's 2014 defamation and false-advertising counter-suit after Blue Buffalo's "Mom Nature" campaign. Blue Buffalo eventually admitted in court filings that some ingredients (including poultry by-product meal) had appeared in its products despite marketing claims to the contrary. Settled in 2015. Separate consumer class actions on ingredient labelling settled in 2016 for $32 million.
Scan a specific Blue Buffalo product
Brand-level typicals don't cover every SKU. Upload a photo of the actual food label and the scanner checks the ingredient list against your pet's allergen profile in a minute.
Scan a label →Factual brand reference sourced from FDA enforcement reports, AAFCO publications, and manufacturer disclosures. Not an endorsement or a ranking.