Now Fresh Wet DOG FOOD Review

With a score of 6.8/10, Now Fresh Wet dog food is considered a moderate risk dog food based on our criteria. There are 5 cooked recipes that average 46% protein and 14% carbohydrate as calculated on a dry matter basis. These are both good levels to see in a wet dog food. However, 2 recipes have 17% carbohydrates which is a bit higher than we like to see in wet dog food and caused a point loss.

The ingredient quality score drops due to the excessive amount of added vitamins and minerals needed to meet nutritional requirements in these recipes. This usually reflects poor quality or overly processed ingredients. Vitamin and mineral excesses, especially vitamin D and copper, can also result from added vitamin premixes, so it’s preferable that most or all vitamins and minerals come from real foods. 

Two of the recipes contain canola oil, which is a highly processed and inflammatory oil. It’s an inexpensive alternative to higher quality animal fats and oils.

On the ingredient safety side, these foods are moderately processed. Cooked foods are heated several times, which will cause losses in some active enzymes, vitamins, amino acids and phytonutrients. Processed foods are also linked to higher mortality rates in many species.

These recipes also have high pesticide ingredients. Crops that are spray-dried with Roundup contain more glyphosate/herbicide residue than other crops, even genetically modified ones. Glyphosate is an antibiotic that can kill beneficial gut bacteria and has been linked to cancer and other diseases.  

The concerns below don’t cost points but should be noted.

These recipes contain coconut oil, which has been shown to cause undesirable changes in the gut lining. 

These recipes don’t specify whether the fish ingredients are from farmed or wild caught fish. Farmed fish is less nutritious than wild caught fish and does not contain the same healthy fatty acid balance.  

Now Fresh doesn’t provide the omega-6:omega-3 ratio, which is a concern since AAFCO allows a very inflammatory ratio of 30:1.