Food scores are based on ingredient quality and safety. For more information, view our evaluation criteria.
With a score of 5.8, Freshpet’s Vital line is considered a moderate risk food. The line is calculated to average 14% carbohydrate and 41% protein on a dry matter basis. The carbohydrate content can vary quite a bit in this line, ranging from 10% to 26%, 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 Vital 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.
Most of the foods either contain fish oil or seed oil. While it’s desirable to add a source of omega-3 fats to pet foods, fish oil is a low quality fat with unknown fish species. Salmon oil or a similar named oil would be a higher quality ingredient. Seed oils (such as flaxseed or sunflower oil) are highly processed and can be inflammatory.
Rounding out the ingredient quality score, some of the foods in the Freshpet Vital line score lower for pea protein. Plant protein is a cheap alternative to animal protein that is less complete in its amino acids. There are some foods in this line that also contain pea protein – but unlike some of Freshpet’s other foods, it’s not found in the top 5 ingredients.
On the ingredient safety side, the line scores OK, although there is some variability in score. Some foods lose several points for high pesticide ingredients (mainly peas, lentils and oats) in the top 5 ingredients. The Freshpet Vial 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.
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