Fromm Diner DOG FOOD Review

With a score of 5.9/10, Fromm Diner is considered a moderate risk dog food according to our criteria. There are 9 recipes that average 42% protein and 25% carbohydrate as calculated on a dry matter basis. It has the highest average level of protein in all of the Fromm lines.

However, this line still has higher carbohydrates than we’d like to see in a canned dog food so it loses ingredient quality points. The carbs come from grains and starches that include potatoes, barley, peas, rice, chickpeas and tapioca. Excessive carbohydrate is an indicator of low quality foods as it’s often used to keep costs down. Large amounts of starch can increase insulin levels, cause obesity and negatively impact gut balance.  

This line loses significant ingredient quality points for excessive added vitamins and minerals in all its recipes. This usually reflects poor quality or overly processed ingredients. Ideally, these nutrients should come from whole food sources. Vitamin and mineral excesses, especially vitamin D and copper, can also result from vitamin premixes.

It’s also worth noting that the line contains sodium selenite as a source of selenium. Dogs need selenium, and it’s usually added in very small amounts. However, some research suggests that sodium selenite may be associated with potential toxicity, so selenium yeast is the preferred form of this mineral.  

Several recipes use fish broth, which is an unnamed animal protein that’s often lower quality. You will want to see beef, salmon or chicken, not animal, fish or poultry. These recipes also include sunflower oil, which is highly processed and inflammatory as it’s rich in omega-6 fatty acids, which can cause systemic and gut inflammation.  

The ingredient safety score raises several concerns. Fromm Diner is a highly-processed canned dog food, causing a loss of ingredient safety points. Canned foods are heated before and during canning, which will cause significant losses in some active enzymes, vitamins, amino acids and phytonutrients. Processed foods are also linked to higher mortality rates in many species. 

Several recipes have ingredients know for high pesticide or herbicide residues in the top 5 ingredients. Pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers pose a significant health risk to plants, animals and soils. Foods with the largest reported amount of residue are penalized, including crops that are known to be spray-dried with glyphosate. 

Recipes also have potatoes, which is a GMO crop, in the top 5 ingredients. There are limited safety studies on genetically modified and Roundup Ready crops although they are lacking in nutrients compared to non-GMO foods. GMO crops also strip nutrients from soils, lead to increased pesticide risk and may be involved in bee die-off.

Rice is also used and costs ingredient safety points because of arsenic contamination. This is a significant concern with rice since it naturally absorbs arsenic that can contaminate the water it’s grown in. Arsenic is linked to chronic health issues. 

Finally, points are lost as natural flavor is used in several recipes to make processed food more palatable. But natural flavor is often either MSG or animal digest, both low quality ingredients with limited safety studies.

These recipes don’t specify whether the fish ingredients are farmed or wild caught. Farmed fish is less nutritious than wild caught fish and doesn’t contain the same healthy fatty acid balance. 

Fromm doesn’t state the omega-6:omega-3 ratio in their foods. While this is true of most foods, AAFCO allows a very inflammatory limit of 30:1. Diets rich in omega-6 fats can cause chronic inflammation and disease.