Food scores are based on ingredient quality and safety. For more information, view our evaluation criteria.
With a score of 4.1/10, Fromm Four-Star Grain Free is considered a high risk dog food according to our criteria. There are 9 recipes that average 29% protein and 31% carbohydrate as calculated.
This line loses ingredient quality points for its high carbohydrate content. Even though these foods are grain-free they include peas, lentils, potatoes, sweet potatoes and chickpeas, which are high starch ingredients. Excessive carbohydrates are an indicator of low quality foods as they’re often used to keep costs down. Large amounts of starch can increase insulin levels, cause obesity and negatively impact gut balance. A processed food high in carbohydrates is usually low in protein.
This line loses significant ingredient quality points for excessive added vitamins and minerals. 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.
The line also loses ingredient quality points for plant protein, which is a low cost substitute for quality animal protein. Animal sources of protein are preferred because they contain a wider array of amino acids and are more digestible.
It doesn’t affect the score, but it’s good to see these foods include probiotics, however, they don’t guarantee the amount of CFU (colony forming units).
The ingredient safety scores for this line are low, with many concerns. Like all kibbles, Fromm Four-Star Grain Free is ultra-processed. The individual ingredients in dry dog foods are heated several times during processing, which can cause a significant loss of enzymes, vitamins, amino acids and phytonutrients. Processed foods are also linked to higher mortality rates in many species.
Most recipes use ingredients known for high pesticide or herbicide residues, like lentils, pinto beans, peas and chickpeas, often 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. Potatoes are a known GMO food found in several of the recipes and in the top 5 ingredients of 1 recipe. 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.
Finally, points are lost for natural flavor in several recipes to make processed food more palatable. But natural flavor is often either MSG or animal digest, which is a very low quality ingredient with limited safety studies.
All of these recipes contain glam ingredients. These are expensive or desirable ingredients like blueberries and cranberries that are often added to appeal to consumers but may be in minuscule amounts when they’re below the salt in the ingredient list. Salt is an ingredient added in small amounts so anything listed after salt has little or no nutritional value.
Ingredient splitting also occurs in these recipes. This is a technique of splitting ingredients into sub-categories (such as peas, pea protein and pea flour) to move certain ingredients higher or lower on the ingredient list. This is often used to disguise the amount of lower quality ingredients in the food and moves desirable ingredients, like proteins, higher.
These recipes don’t specify whether the fish is 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.
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