ORIJEN Freeze-Dried DOG FOOD Review

Update October 2023: There have been minor changes to this line of dog food that include adding vitamins. The average protein content of these recipes remains the same at 38%, and the average carbohydrates are a bit higher at 12% (up from 10%) which is still an acceptable level for freeze dried dog food. The ingredient list continues to list 10-14 of the first ingredients as meat, poultry, fish and organs, followed by produce, as in the previous recipes. 

With an average score of 8.8/10, Orijen’s freeze-dried food lineup is considered a low risk dog food. The freeze-dried offering averages 12% carbohydrate, which is desirable. Excessive carbohydrate is in indicator of low quality foods as they are used to keep costs down. Large amounts of starch can increase insulin levels, cause obesity and negatively impact gut balance.

Orijen’s freeze-dried lineup scores well and features a wide variety of proteins. An update to this review notes Orijen has added 5 vitamins to its 3 recipes which causes a loss of points for adding 5 or more. It should be noted that 2 of the additional vitamins are B5 and B6, commonly obtained from meat and organs, despite having a lengthy list of animal, poultry and fish proteins and organs in these recipes. 

The ingredient safety score is high because the food is freeze-dried, which is minimally processed and most of the  enzymes, vitamins, amino acids and phytonutrients should be left intact. However, it does lose some ingredient safety points for known high pesticide  ingredients. And while many Orijen foods contain natural flavor, it’s thankfully missing from the freeze-dried line.

On the whole, it would be nice to see zero added vitamins and minerals since it’s desirable for micronutrients to come from whole food sources. It’s also worth nothing 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.