Fromm Gold Grain Free Dry DOG FOOD Review

With a score of 4/10, Fromm Gold Grain Free is considered a high risk dog food according to our criteria. There are 5 recipes that average 25% protein and 37% 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 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. A processed food high in carbohydrates is often low in protein.  

This line loses significant ingredient quality points for excessive added vitamins, minerals and amino acids. 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.  

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 Gold 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, peas and chickpeas, 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 and alfalfa are known GMO foods found in several of the recipes. 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. 

Ingredient splitting also occurs in these recipes. This is a technique of splitting ingredients into sub-categories (such as peas, pea flour and pea protein) 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 animal 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.