Fresh Is Best Review

Fresh Is Best is an independent dog food company started in 2000 by founder and president, Stacy La Point. The company is based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where it manufactures its own products. Fresh Is Best is a hands-on company that offers a quick response to inquiries about its products, often from the president herself. 

Fresh is Best offers freeze dried foods that are mixed and prepared in small batches. Its products aren’t warehoused, so they’re shipped out to online customers and retailers within Wisconsin.

This company offers a single line of 4 freeze-dried recipes that are grain-free and starch-free. They also offer a similar line of cat foods along with meal toppers and freeze-dried one-ingredient meat, poultry and fish treats.

Is Fresh is best FOR DOGS A GOOD DOG FOOD?

Fresh Is Best offers minimally processed, freeze dried dog food that ranks as low risk. These foods are high in protein with an average of 56.21%. Average carbohydrates are low at 12.59%. However, yams have been included in the lamb and chicken recipes and that elevates the carbs and causes the score to dip a bit.

The ingredient quality score of these 4 recipes is high. They use whole food ingredients that eliminate a lot of added supplements often needed to balance foods. That means the majority of ingredients, including amino acids, come from the ingredients. This is what you want to see in a raw dog food. The premix of minimal ingredients is from human food-chain suppliers in the USA that have rigorous testing policies, not China which supplies major companies. 

One thing that lowers quality points is the use of sunflower oil in the beef and lamb recipes. This is a seed oil that is highly processed and can be inflammatory. Seed oils like safflower, sunflower and flaxseed oil are rich in omega-6 fatty acids, which can cause systemic and gut inflammation. That’s why it’s important to know the omega-6 to omega-3 ratio. Fresh Is Best doesn’t provide this information but it’s certainly not the only company without this information. It’s important to know since omega-6 fats are inflammatory and AAFCO allows a very high ratio of 30:1. 

On the ingredient safety side, the only concern is the use of ingredients subjected to high pesticide use like kale, collard greens and apples. Stacy La Point confirms they source non-GMO fruits and vegetables, and use organic produce when available. Still, it’s not possible to determine when they are used unless all ingredients are certified organic. An organic designation ensures that foods are non-GMO as well as having limited pesticide/herbicide exposure. Pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers pose a significant health risk to plants, animals and soils. 

Information on the company website describes its meats as pastured, grass-fed, cage-free, crate-free, antibiotic-free and wild-harvested however, it’s difficult to confirm without third party certification. Additionally, these terms have no official meaning under AAFCO rules. 

That said, the company offers detailed information about the origins of its meat proteins. Beef, lamb and poultry are raised in the USA. It’s USDA inspected and passed for sale in the human food chain. Venison has 2 sources:  wild-harvested from the USA or pastured in New Zealand. Rabbit is all grass-fed and raised in Europe.

The company lists the types of fish it uses and that they’re wild-caught but these seem to be used in their one-ingredient treats. Wild caught fish are more nutritious and have a better fatty acid balance. A fish meal is included in the recipes so it’s hoped that it’s a combination of the same fish used in the treats, and that includes salmon, pacific whiting, smelt, shrimp and silverside minnows. 

The company goes a step further than most and explains that important nutrients like enzymes, probiotics and essential fatty acids are destroyed by exposure to heat, light and air. It recommends that they’re added separately. 

The average score of each Fresh Is Best food is listed below. Click on any food to view the individual scores.