Food scores are based on ingredient quality and safety. For more information, view our evaluation criteria.
With an average score of 6, Farmina N&D Prime Dry dog food is considered a moderate risk food. It’s Farmina’s highest scoring dry dog food. There are 8 recipes that average 34.5% protein. The food averages 27% carbohydrate as calculated, which is lower than average for similar kibbles.
Sweet potatoes are a carbohydrate found in the top 5 ingredients of most of these recipes. Dogs have no nutritional requirement for carbohydrates but they are used for energy, texture and taste. Starch is also required for extrusion in dry foods. Excessive carbohydrate is an indicator of food quality as it can be used to reduce manufacturing cost. Foods that are high in carbohydrates can increase insulin levels, increase the risk of obesity and cause unwanted changes to the gut microbiome.
Apart from its carbohydrate content, this line loses ingredient quality points because it’s supplemented with more than 5 vitamins and minerals and several amino acids. This can indicate lower quality or incomplete ingredients. Vitamin and mineral excesses, especially vitamin D and copper can also result from added vitamin premixes, so it’s preferable that most or all vitamins and minerals come from real foods. However, it’s good to see that selenium is in the form of selenium yeast, the preferred form vs sodium selenite, which can be toxic.
It’s good to see that Farmina uses non-GMO grains, but many recipes contain alfalfa meal, and alfalfa is a known GMO crop. Non GMO doesn’t mean the foods are pesticide-free. Other ingredients appear to be conventionally farmed crops. which affects ingredient safety scores. Unless organic, crops like peas, spinach and apples can carry a high pesticide/herbicide residue, especially legumes like peas that are usually spray-dried with Roundup. Glyphosate is an antibiotic that can kill beneficial gut bacteria and has been linked to cancer and other diseases. So this line loses ingredient safety points for that reason, and for using alfalfa which is a known GMO.
Like all kibbles, this line also loses ingredient safety points because it is ultra-processed. Extruded foods are heated four separate times during production, which will cause major losses in some active enzymes, vitamins, amino acids and phytonutrients. Studies show that ultra processed foods are linked to a higher rate of all-cause mortality in humans.
It’s also worth noting that Farmina doesn’t state the omega-6:omega-3 ratio in their foods. While this is true of most foods, it’s unfortunate since AAFCO allows a very inflammatory limit of 30:1. The foods also contain herring or herring oil, but they don’t say whether the food is wild caught or farmed.
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