Other Great Sites
BE IN THE KNOW
Stay informed! Make sure you sign up for new and updated foods, food recalls and important dog food and health information:
Lotus Pet Food, Inc. was founded in 2001 by a group of pet lovers. They also own the Centinela Feed and Pet chain in Los Angeles. Daron Matsuura is the president.
The company created its first pet food in 2003. They offer baked pet food options. Lotus manufactures its dry products in a bakery in Canada. They make wet foods in their own micro-cannery in California. They opened it in 2011.
The head office is in Torrance, CA.
Lotus produces 5 lines of dog foods. There are 2 lines of baked kibble. They’re made in Small Bites and Regular Bites. These are essentially the same product. We will only review Regular Bites. There are 3 lines of canned dog food. The Canned Stews and Loaf Recipes are reviewed here as one line, and Just Juicy on its own. The company discontinued its line of raw dog food.
These dog foods are moderate risk by our criteria.
Lotus’ dry dog food is oven-baked in small batches. Food is baked at 500 degrees. The internal temperature only reaches 160 degrees. It takes about 10 minutes to cook each batch of kibble. This preserves amino acids, vitamins, and antioxidants. Lotus makes its canned products in small batches. They don’t use processing aids like carrageenan, guar gum, or xanthan gum.
The company gives great detail about its sourcing. Green mussels, lamb and grass-fed venison are from New Zealand. Rabbit is raised on farms in Italy. Pork comes from farms in Iowa. Turkeys are from California. They source GAP-certified chicken (stages 3 and 4) from Minnesota. They use sea clams harvested along the California coast. Sardines are caught off the coast of Baja California. Salmon is farmed in Canada or wild-caught in the USA. Pollock is from Alaskan waters. The Marine Stewardship Council certifies the fish as sustainable.
Lotus uses North American-sourced non-GMO fruits and vegetables. Some ingredients have a high pesticide risk. If they used organic produce it would avoid pesticide risk and GMOs. Lotus doesn’t use corn, wheat, and soy (except for soy oil). However, several lines are very high in carbohydrates. These are from potato starch, sweet potatoes, rice, rye, barley, oats and peas.
Most of the fish products used are wild-caught. This is preferable as wild fish is more nutritious. It also has a better fatty acid balance than farmed fish. Lotus doesn’t provide the omega-6:omega-3 ratio. This is true of most companies. It’s a concern because AAFCO allows a very inflammatory ratio of 30:1. Diets rich in omega-6 fats can cause chronic inflammation.
The average score of each Lotus line is listed below. Click on any line to view the individual foods and scores.
Lotus Canned dog food is a moderate risk dog food by our criteria. Average protein in these recipes is 42%. But the recipes have high carbohydrates that average 23%. This is calculated on a dry matter basis. The line is highly processed. It is cooked which has several stages of heating. There are excessive vitamins and minerals. Recipes also include cheaper, inflammatory seed oil. There are high pesticide/herbicide ingredients in the top 5.
Lotus Just Juicy dog food is a moderate risk dog food by our criteria. The food has low carbohydrates averaging 7%. This is calculated on a dry matter basis. Average protein is 61%. The line is highly processed. It has several stages of heating. There are added vitamins and minerals. Recipes also include cheaper, inflammatory seed oil. There are high pesticide/herbicide ingredients in the top 5.
Lotus Regular Bites dog food is a moderate risk dog food by our criteria. The food has excessive carbohydrates averaging 41% as calculated. Average protein is only 24%. The line is moderately processed as it is baked. It loses 1 point for some heating. There are excessive vitamins and minerals. Recipes also include cheaper unnamed protein such as white fish, and plant protein. Ingredient safety suffers from using high pesticide/herbicide ingredients in the top 5. They also use rice which can be contaminated with arsenic.
Lotus has had no dog food recalls.
Stay informed! Make sure you sign up for new and updated foods, food recalls and important dog food and health information:
This site uses cookies to help make your experience more awesome. By continuing you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use.