Halo Dog Food Reviews

Halo has 2 distinct product lines and has just added a freeze-dried line from another manufacturer. This new line is considered a low risk dog food with minimal carbohydrates, high protein, no added vitamins or minerals and minimal processing. It is Halo’s highest scoring food. 

Holistic is Halo’s premium brand and is considered a high risk dog food. Elevate is the base brand and is considered a moderate risk dog food. Both have high average carbohydrates and low average protein. Many of Halo’s recipes are grain-free but they substitute chickpeas, lentils, rice, barley, oats and tapioca which are high in starch. Excessive carbohydrate is an indicator of food quality as it can be used to reduce manufacturing cost. Foods that are high in carbohydrates can raise insulin, cause obesity and change to the gut bacteria.  

Both of Halo’s original lines have quality and safety concerns. And while the website, press releases and packaging state minimal processing, whole food ingredients and better sourcing methods are used, supporting information and certifications are limited. 

Both brands offer dry and canned dog food. Holistic uses whole animal protein sources but these foods are ultra processed which depletes nutrients and makes it necessary to add amino acids and excessive vitamins and minerals. The Holistic website states it doesn’t use animal meals as they are a “combination of non human edible remnants from slaughterhouses and fish processing factories.” And yet these are the main ingredients in the Elevate recipes. 

Elevate offers freeze-dried raw coated foods. The company confirms this is a kibble with a dehydrated product applied after the kibble process is complete. These are ultra-processed foods heated four separate times causing a major loss in enzymes, vitamins, amino acids and phytonutrients requiring added vitamins and minerals. Further, “raw-coated” is a marketing term and has no official definition according to the AAFCO.

The Holistic line uses the term OrigiNative Sourcing which is trademarked so it’s not a third party certification. It claims to work with animals raised naturally and without the use of antibiotics. The term “naturally” has no official meaning under AAFCO rules. And it should be noted that since 2017, all meat, poultry and dairy foods sold in the US are free of antibiotics, as required by federal law. And the Federal Department of Agriculture (FDA) prohibits the use of hormones in all pork and poultry products.

Halo’s Holistic line uses meat, poultry, and fish proteins that are third-party certified through Global Animal Partnership (GAP) and the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). GAP has 5 levels of certification. Holistic’s chicken and turkey have Level 2 certification meaning poultry is raised in an indoor environment, which is the case for most poultry raised in the US. The MSC certification for fish means they are wild-caught or from a sustainable fishery. This doesn’t stipulate that they’re fed a native diet as they’d get in the wild, rather than grains that they’d be fed in confinement.

Both Elevate and Holistic use several ingredients that are subjected to herbicides and pesticides. Holistic uses non-GMO vegetables but that doesn’t mean they aren’t sprayed. Choosing organic produce would ensure they’re non-GMO as well as having less herbicide/pesticide contamination. 

Finally, Halo doesn’t provide the omega-6 to omega-3 ratio for any of its foods. They’re not the only one not providing this, but it’s important to know since diets rich in omega-6 fats obtained through seed oils and factory farmed meat and poultry can cause chronic inflammation and disease. AAFCO allows a very high ratio of 30:1.

The Holistic brand is rather disappointing. The company has attempted to embrace sourcing of ingredients as a way to achieve the holistic mandate of its name but fails due to over-processing and ingredient choices. It would be preferable to use organically based ingredients and minimal processing like freezing, dehydrating or freeze drying for a more nutritional pet food.