FRESHPET SELECT Dog Food REVIEW

With a score of 5.8, Freshpet’s Select line is considered a moderate risk food. The line is calculated to average 17% carbohydrate and 43% protein on a dry matter basis. The carbohydrate content can vary quite a bit in this line, ranging from 11% to 28%, which is important to note since high carbohydrate foods can cause unwanted changes to the gut biome. With that said, this is a fairly average range for a cooked food. 

When it comes to ingredient quality, the foods in Freshpet’s Select line all lose points for excessive added vitamins and minerals. Vitamin premixes can be used to fortify low quality ingredients and can also cause dangerous toxicities, especially when too much copper and vitamin D are added. 

There are some foods in this line that contain pea protein – and in the top 5 ingredients. Plant proteins are an inexpensive and incomplete way to boost protein content in pet foods. The foods with pea protein in the top 5 ingredients include Freshpet Select Roasted Meals Grain Free Chicken Recipe With Garden Vegetables and the Small Dog Bite Sized Chicken Recipe. 

Some of the recipes also include unnamed animal sources, which are low quality, and dextrose, which is a sugary ingredient that’s often added to improve the taste of the food.

On the ingredient safety side, Freshpet Select loses most of its points for high pesticide ingredients (mainly peas, spinach and oats) that make an appearance in the top 5 ingredients of a few foods. Rice also makes an appearance in one or two foods and it is an ingredient that’s known to be high in arsenic. The Freshpet Select Grain Free Chicken Recipe With Spinach & Potato has the lowest ingredient safety score with both spinach (high pesticide) and potatoes (genetically modified and high pesticide) in the top 5 ingredients. The Select line also frequently features natural flavors ( with have limited safety data and can include animal digest and MSG, and carrageenan (a thickener that can cause gut irritation).  

Finally, it’s worth noting that the omega6:omega-3 ratio is not reported, which is unfortunate since AAFCO allows a pro-inflammatory ratio of 30:1 for omega-6:omega-3 fats.