Skip to content
In The Kibble
My dogs

Ingredient file // Legume

Fava Beans

A useful bean with an unresolved heart question

Fava beans are dried legume seeds that supply starch and plant protein to kibble. Dogs ate extruded fava bean diets in short trials, though higher amounts softened stools. The long-term heart question for legume-heavy diets remains open.

What it is
Dried fava bean seeds, sometimes dehulled and ground, used as a starch and plant protein ingredient.
Made from
Mature, dried fava bean seeds
Main job
Starch and plant protein
Typical amount
Not published
Watch for
Several legumes high on one label
Not the same as
Fava bean protein isolate

Our read // In our catalog

In 1 of every 146 foods we track

Share of foods that list it

1%

21 of the 3,068 foods with an ingredient list on file, from 8 brands. All dry dog food.

Each square is 1% of the catalog

Where it sits on the label

Median position 8. In the top five of 8 foods, so it is usually a supporting ingredient.

Top five List position, heaviest first

Above the salt

100%

Almost always listed before the salt, so there is more of it than a pinch.

Price per lb

Foods with it $2.68
All foods $3.25

Median of the cheapest bag price across 6 priced foods, 18% below the catalog. The price is the food's, not the ingredient's.

Who leans on it

38%

of the foods that list it are from Blue. 8 brands use it in total.

What it is

How it is made

Fava beans are harvested as a dry food and feed crop, not collected as a processing leftover. Mills clean the seeds and may remove their fiber-rich hulls before grinding them for kibble.5,6

  1. 01 // Source Mature beans Growers harvest the seeds after they mature and dry in their pods.
  2. 02 // Process Cleaned Mills separate the harvested beans from field debris before preparing them for feed.
  3. 03 // Process Sometimes dehulled Removing the outer hull lowers fiber and leaves a greater share of starch and protein.
  4. 04 // Process Ground Milling turns the dry seeds into flour that mixes evenly with other kibble ingredients.
  5. 05 // Output Beans or flour Whole or ground dry beans arrive at the kibble plant for mixing and extrusion.

What is in it

Composition, dry matter

45

% starch

The average starch share of whole dry beans. Fava beans supply substantial kibble structure and energy alongside their plant protein.

Starch 39.8-48.5%4
Crude protein 25.2-33.5%4
Crude fiber 7.1-11.2%4
Neutral detergent fiber 12.4-22.1%4
Crude fat 0.9-2.1%4
Ash 3.3-4.6%4

These ranges describe whole beans. Removing the hull lowers fiber and raises the protein and starch share, so a dehulled flour will differ from these figures.4,5

Why it is in the bag

What the manufacturer gets

  1. 01

    Builds the kibble

    Its starch cooks during extrusion, helping the dough bind and expand into dry pieces. The bean flour also contributes protein to the same recipe.4,6

  2. 02

    Adds plant protein

    Protein from fava beans contributes to the crude protein figure on the bag. Their methionine content is low, so the complete recipe needs other amino acid sources.4,5

  3. 03

    Replaces two inputs

    In an extrusion trial, dehulled fava beans took the place of some rice and corn gluten meal. One dry crop supplied part of both jobs.6

How much A feeding trial tested 10%, 20% and 30% dehulled beans; its authors advised staying at or below 20% for stool quality and acceptance.1

Our read // The claims

What the evidence supports

Strong: controlled studies in dogs agree. Some: small or mixed dog data. Thin: mechanism or lab work only. None: nothing, or the evidence points the other way.

  1. Critics say

    Fava beans raise protein without adding meat

    Evidence

    1. Strong
    2. Some
    3. Thin
    4. None

    Whole dry beans averaged 29% crude protein, all from plants. That protein counts in the bag's crude protein figure; the figure alone cannot tell an owner how much came from meat.4,8

  2. Brands say

    Fava beans are easy for dogs to digest

    Outruns the evidence

    Evidence

    1. Strong
    2. Some
    3. Thin
    4. None

    In a 12-dog crossover trial, dogs ate extruded diets containing up to 30% dehulled beans and maintained weight. Digestibility fell slightly, while stools softened and became more frequent. Easy digestion is too broad a promise.1

  3. Owners say

    Fava beans cause heart disease in dogs

    Outruns the evidence

    Evidence

    1. Strong
    2. Some
    3. Thin
    4. None

    FDA sees many legume-heavy diets in heart disease reports but has not identified the cause or singled out fava beans. An 8-beagle trial found no impaired heart function after 28 days, which cannot settle long-term risk.2,7

  4. Brands say

    Fava beans keep blood sugar steadier than rice

    Outruns the evidence

    Evidence

    1. Strong
    2. Some
    3. Thin
    4. None

    In an 8-dog crossover trial, the fava diet's glycemic index was 93.6 versus 95.7 for the rice diet, without a significant difference between them. The trial showed no blood sugar advantage for fava beans.3

  5. Owners say

    Fava beans cause favism in dogs

    Outruns the evidence

    Evidence

    1. Strong
    2. Some
    3. Thin
    4. None

    Favism is a documented human reaction to compounds in fava beans. In an 8-beagle trial of extruded fava diets, researchers found no hemolytic anemia after 28 days. Dog risk from ordinary kibble remains unshown.2,5

Straight answers

What owners ask

  1. Q01

    Is it just filler?

    No

    Fava beans provide starch that helps form kibble and protein that contributes to the recipe. The useful question is how much of the food's protein comes from beans rather than animal ingredients.4,6

  2. Q02

    Will they give my dog gas?

    Possibly

    The feeding trial measured softer, more frequent stools as the bean share rose, but did not measure gas. Watch your dog's stool after a food change instead of predicting tolerance from the label.1

  3. Q03

    Do dogs get human favism?

    Not shown

    Human favism depends on a particular enzyme deficiency. Dogs fed extruded fava bean diets in a short trial showed no hemolytic anemia. That finding does not test every bean variety or a lifetime of feeding.2,5

Who uses it

Brands, best sellers and the company it keeps

Top brands, by foods that list it

  1. Blue 8
  2. Hungry Bark 3
  3. By Nature 3
  4. Kirkland Signature 2
  5. Open Farm 2
  6. WholeHearted 1
  7. Pure Balance 1
  8. Blackwood 1

Usually listed with, share of the foods that list it

  1. Tapioca Starch 62%
  2. Lentils 48%
  3. Canola Oil 48%
  4. Turkey 48%
  5. Natural Flavor 38%
  6. Chicken Fat 38%
  7. Dried Chicken 38%
  8. Dried Egg Product 38%
  9. Dried Tomato Pomace 38%
  10. Chicken 33%
  11. Chicken Meal 33%
  12. Peas 24%

On the shelf

Foods that list it

21 foods in our reviews list it. Here are some of them.

Blackwood Small Breed Grain Free Turkey & Lentils Dry Dog Food28.9% proteinBy Nature Lamb & Turkey Meal Recipe Dry Dog Food32.2% proteinBy Nature Salmon & Menhaden Fish Meal Recipe Dry Dog Food32.2% proteinBy Nature Turkey & Duck Meal Recipe Dry Dog Food32.2% proteinOpen Farm Goodbowl Grass-Fed Beef & Brown Rice Recipe Dry Dog Food27.8% proteinOpen Farm Goodbowl Wild-Caught Salmon & Brown Rice Dry Dog Food27.8% proteinPure Balance Grain-Free & Poultry-Free Lamb & Fava Bean Recipe Dry Dog Food30.0% proteinRayne Nutrition Plant Based Plant-Based Dry Dog Food25.6% protein
Show 14 more Kirkland Signature Nature’s Domain Small Breed Salmon & Lentil Grain-Free Dry Dog Food27.8% proteinWholeHearted Grain Free Small Breed Beef and Pea Recipe Dry Puppy Dry Dog Food31.1% proteinKirkland Signature Nature’s Domain Puppy Formula Chicken & Pea Grain-Free Dry Dog Food30.0% proteinHungry Bark Superfoods with Turkey & Duck Grain-Free Dry Dog Food32.2% proteinHungry Bark Superfoods with Salmon Grain-Free Dry Dog Food32.2% proteinHungry Bark Superfoods with Lamb & Turkey Grain-Free Dry Dog Food32.2% proteinBlue Carnivora Adult Large Breed Woodland Blend Dry Dog Food42.2% proteinBlue Carnivora Adult Small Breed Woodland Blend Grain-Free Dry Dog Food48.9% proteinBlue Carnivora Adult Woodland Blend Weight Control Dry Dog Food48.9% proteinBlue Carnivora Adult Woodland Blend Grain-Free Dry Dog Food46.7% proteinBlue Carnivora Adult Coastal Blend Dry Dog Food46.7% proteinBlue Carnivora Adult Prairie Blend Dry Dog Food46.7% proteinBlue Carnivora Puppy Large Breed Woodland Blend Dry Dog Food44.4% proteinBlue Carnivora Puppy Woodland Blend Dry Dog Food51.1% protein

Our read // On the bag

Read every legume line before choosing

Fava beans in the middle of an ingredient list are a useful source of starch and plant protein. If fava beans sit near the front alongside lentils, peas or other pulses, read the recipe as legume-heavy. Check the nutritional adequacy statement and consider the whole food, especially if your dog has a heart diagnosis.

Sources

What we read

Checked October 1, 2026.

  1. 1 Evaluation of faba beans as an ingredient in dog diets: apparent total tract digestibility of extruded diets with graded levels of dehulled faba beans (Vicia faba L.) by dogs Journal of Animal Science, 2020 // Journal
  2. 2 The Effects of Fermentation of Low or High Tannin Fava Bean-Based Diets on Glucose Response, Cardiovascular Function, and Fecal Bile Acid Excretion during a 28-Day Feeding Period in Dogs: Comparison with Commercial Diets with Normal vs. High Protein Metabolites, 2021 // Journal
  3. 3 The Effects of 7 Days of Feeding Pulse-Based Diets on Digestibility, Glycemic Response and Taurine Levels in Domestic Dogs Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 2021 // Journal
  4. 4 Faba bean (Vicia faba), all cultivars Feedipedia (INRAE, CIRAD, AFZ, FAO), n.d. // Database
  5. 5 Faba bean (Vicia faba) Feedipedia (INRAE, CIRAD, AFZ, FAO), n.d. // Database
  6. 6 The Effect of Increasing Levels of Dehulled Faba Beans (Vicia faba L.) on Extrusion and Product Parameters for Dry Expanded Dog Food Foods, 2019 // Journal
  7. 7 Questions & Answers: FDA’s Work on Potential Causes of Non-Hereditary DCM in Dogs U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 2025 // Government
  8. 8 Reading Labels AAFCO, n.d. // Regulator
An ingredient on its own tells you very little. What matters is how much of it there is and where it sits in the list. That is why we weigh the top five rather than reacting to any single name further down. Back to the wiki

Keep In The Know,
Know What's In The Bowl

The In the Kibble newsletter. Useful emails for dog owners: what we find inside dog food, how to feed well, and a heads-up when a food is recalled.
DOUBLE OPT-IN // ONE CLICK TO STOP // NEVER SHARED