BJ’s Raw Mix DOG FOOD Review

With an average score of 9.6/10, BJ’s Raw Mix is a low risk dog food by our criteria. There are 7 recipes that average 53% protein and 10% carbohydrate. Six of these 7 recipes score 10/10 for ingredient safety. 

There’s a higher fat content in Bruce’s Mix with duck and rabbit. It affects the ingredient quality score. Not all dogs can consume a high fat diet. A high fat diet can cause unwanted shifts in gut bacteria populations. The body can store toxins in fat. Most fats, especially pork and poultry fats, are also high in omega-6 fatty acids. They can cause systemic, low-grade inflammation. 

Two recipes have higher carbohydrates than we expect to see in raw foods. However, there aren’t any added grains or starches. The carbohydrates are from whole food ingredients. 

It’s notable that these foods is that they have no added vitamins or minerals. This speaks highly of the quality of the whole food ingredients. They don’t need synthetic supplements. Additionally, these are raw foods. There is light processing that doesn’t affect their nutrition.

In terms of ingredient safety, the Premium Mix recipe has a few concerns. There are high pesticide ingredients, and alfalfa which is a GMO crop. Pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers pose a significant health risk. They affect plants, animals and soils. We will penalize foods with the most residue. This includes crops known to be spray-dried with glyphosate. GMO foods are a concern. There are few safety studies on them. They also lack nutrients compared to non-GMO foods. GMO crops also strip nutrients from soils. Increased pesticide need may contribute to bee die-off.  

It’s not mentioned whether the salmon is wild caught or farmed. Wild caught fish is preferred as it’s more nutritious and has a better fatty acid balance. 

It’s worth noting that BJ’s Raw doesn’t provide the omega-6:omega-3 ratio in their foods. They are certainly not the only brand omitting this information. It’s our hope that more brands will pay more attention to these fat ratios. Omega-6 fats are inflammatory and AAFCO allows a very high ratio of 30:1. 

Listed below are the average scores of each type of food. Click on any line to view the individual food and scores.