I AND LOVE AND YOU IRRESIST-A-BOWL DOG FOOD Review

I and Love and You’s Irresist-A-Bowl line is considered a low risk food, with an overall score of 7.5. It’s a cooked food with two recipes, made in partnership with holistic veterinarian Dr Angie Krause. The recipes can be fed as a complete and balanced meal, or as a topper. The line is labelled Product of Thailand and there’s no information about the facility that makes the food,. 

The line loses an ingredient safety point for moderate processing. Although it’s made to sound like a fresh “lightly cooked” food, the package notes that it’s “pour and serve” with no refrigeration needed until the package is opened. Heating foods causes some losses in active enzymes, vitamins, amino acids and phytonutrients. 

The Irresist-A-Bowl line also loses ingredient safety points for peas, an ingredient known to be high in pesticides/herbicide residues. Pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers pose a significant health risk to plants, animals and soils. Ingredients known for high resides are penalized, especially when they’re in the top 5 ingredients as they are in these recipes.  The company does state the produce is non-GMO, but non-GMO doesn’t mean pesticide-free.

The line is low in carbohydrates, averaging 13% calculated on a dry matter basis (meaning with moisture removed, for comparison with dry foods). The carbs in the food come from produce ingredients like carrots, pumpkin and peas. 

There are excessive added vitamins and minerals in the recipes, which reduces the ingredient quality score because it’s best that nutrients come from the whole food ingredients without the need for fortification.  

The recipes also contain a glam ingredient. These are healthy sounding ingredients listed below the salt on the ingredient list, in this case dried spinach and chicory pulp. Because they’re below the salt on the ingredient list, glam ingredients are present in such small quantities that they don’t provide any health benefits.  

It’s worth noting that unlike this brand’s other Iines there are no added probiotics in the Irresist-A-Bowl line. The website does mention there are prebiotics in the recipes. Prebiotics are soluble fiber foods that ferment in the colon and “feed” the good bacteria. This is contained in the chicory pulp ingredient, which again, is a glam ingredient present in very small quantities, well below the salt and near the very bottom of the ingredient list.

Finally, the food does not provide the omega-6:omega-3 ratio, which is a concern since AAFCO allows a very inflammatory ratio of 30:1.