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Primal Pet Foods Dog Food Reviews

Primal was founded in 2001. The company produces raw frozen and freeze-dried foods and treats for dogs and cats. All of their frozen and freeze-dried foods and some treats are manufactured in their state-of-the-art facility in Fairfield, CA. They use third-party manufacturers to produce their goat milk, bone broth and treats.

IS PRIMAL A GOOD DOG FOOD?

With an average score of 9.2/10 and average protein of 45%, Primal Dog Foods are considered low-risk dog foods. 

Primal’s Balanced Base dog food recipes include the Raw Frozen line of foods in 2 sizes (patties and nuggets, plus the Raw Frozen Pronto line in a “scoop and serve” size. These 3 Raw Frozen lines share the same recipe. The Freeze Dried dog foods include Freeze Dried Raw Pronto (a new line), plus Freeze Dried Nuggets. 

All Primal’s Balanced Base dog food recipes score 10/10 for ingredient safety. The company uses certified organic produce so there’s little risk of pesticide residue or GMO ingredients. The company states the recipes contain no synthetic vitamins. The lack of synthetic nutrients indicates better quality ingredients that don’t need supplementation to meet AAFCO nutritional standards. However, zinc sulfate is an added mineral in several recipes. 

Some recipes lose quality points for having higher fat than protein, in particular beef and lamb recipes. It’s preferable that raw foods contain a lower percentage of fat than protein.  Some recipes were penalized for higher carbohydrates, but it’s worth noting that carbohydrates come mainly from fruits and vegetables, not starch – despite quinoa in some recipes. The highest carbohydrate content is 21%, which is less than a dry food but on the high side for raw.  

The score for ingredient quality dropped across all lines (except for the Turkey and Sardine recipe) due to fish oil, which is an unnamed animal ingredient that is usually lower quality than oil from a specific named fish. It’s not mentioned whether the fish oil (or cod liver oil in some recipes) is farmed or wild caught. However, the company does state that the salmon and sardines are wild-caught. 

Several recipes lose quality points for sunflower oil. Even though organic in this case, seed oils are highly processed and are high in omega-6 fatty acids, which can cause systemic and gut inflammation. Organic seed oils are sometimes expeller-pressed which is preferable to solvent extraction, but the company doesn’t mention the extraction process. 

It’s good to see the company guarantees the level of probiotics in some (though not all) of its freeze dried recipes. Probiotic CFU are not guaranteed in the Raw Frozen recipes. 

No points are lost for this, but raw feeders should note that Primal uses High Pressure Processing (HPP) for its poultry based foods, but not on red meats. They also use a third party laboratory to test the finished product for select pathogenic bacteria.

All the recipes contain organic coconut oil, a concern because coconut oil has been shown to cause undesirable changes in the gut lining. 

Primal doesn’t provide the omega-6:omega-3 ratio. They are certainly not the only brand omitting this information, but it’s our hope that more brands will pay more attention to these fats since omega-6 fats are inflammatory and AAFCO allows a very high ratio of 30:1.

Raw Frozen Recipes

9.4
4 color scale
Average Score
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Primal Pet Foods Lamb Raw Frozen Patties Dog Food
9.4
4 color scale
Average Score
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With an average score of 9.4/10, Primal Canine Raw Frozen dog food is considered a low risk dog food. This line has a good level of average protein of 49%. 

All of the Primal frozen raw dog foods – Raw Frozen Patties, Raw Frozen Nuggets, and  Raw Frozen Pronto – share the same recipe, so they are all included in this review of Primal’s Canine Raw Frozen dog foods. 

The recipes lose no points for ingredient safety, thanks to certified organic produce and no added vitamins and minerals. 

Two recipes (Pork and Venison) lost points for higher carbohydrates, even though the carbs are mainly from the organic produce, with some quinoa, a higher protein grain.  

All the recipes except Turkey & Sardine lose ingredient quality points for unnamed fish oil that’s not specified as wild caught. The company does state they use wild-caught sardines in the Turkey & Sardine recipe. Wild caught fish are more nutritious with a better fatty acid balance. 

Concerns include coconut oil, which may be harmful to gut health, and an undisclosed omega-6:omega-3 ratio. Omega-6 fats are inflammatory and AAFCO allows a very high ratio of 30:1.

Primal Raw Frozen Benefits

Primal Raw Frozen Concerns

Freeze-Dried Recipes

9.3
4 color scale
Average Score
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Primal Pet Foods Chicken Freeze-Dried Nuggets Dog Food 
9.3
4 color scale
Average Score
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With a score of 9.3/10, Primal Canine Freeze-Dried Nuggets dog food is considered a low risk dog food. There are 8 recipes with an average of 45% protein.

The recipes lose no points for ingredient safety, thanks to minimal processing, the use of certified organic produce and lack of added vitamins and minerals.  

With respect to ingredient quality, 3 recipes lose a point for having higher carbohydrates of 15% – 18%. The carbohydrates come primarily from organic produce, plus some quinoa, a higher protein grain. The Beef recipe loses a point for having fat that’s higher than protein. 

All recipes except the Turkey & Sardine lose points for unnamed fish oil. This is lower quality and the type of fish should be named. The fish oil isn’t described as wild caught, and neither is the cod liver oil in some recipes.  The website does state that the sardines are wild-caught. 

Two concerns are the addition of coconut oil, which may be harmful to gut health; and failure to provide the omega-6:omega-3 ratio, since omega-6 fats are inflammatory and AAFCO allows a very high ratio of 30:1.

Primal Freeze-Dried Benefits

Primal Freeze-Dried Concerns

Freeze-Dried Raw Pronto

8.7
4 color scale
Average Score
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Primal Pronto Freeze-Dried Beef
8.7
4 color scale
Average Score
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This new freeze-dried “scoop, hydrate and serve” line of dog food scores lower than Primal’s other dog foods, with an average score of 8.7/10. The average protein of 37.6% is also lower in this line.

This line doesn’t lose ingredient safety points, as a minimally processed food with certified organic produce and no added vitamins and minerals. 

However, the line does lose ingredient quality points due to higher carbohydrates in 2 recipes, and very high fat in one recipe. Oils also affect the ingredient quality score due to fish oil, an unnamed animal ingredient that suggests lower quality, as well as sunflower oil, a highly processed seed oil with a high level of omega-6 fatty acids that can cause systemic and gut inflammation (even though the oil is organic). 

Coconut oil in all the recipes is a concern, along with a failure to provide the omega-6:omega-3 ratio. Omega-6 fats are inflammatory and AAFCO allows a very high ratio of 30:1.

Primal Pronto Freeze-Dried Benefits

Primal Pronto Freeze-Dried Concerns

Primal Dog Food Recalls

Primal Pet Foods has had one recent voluntary recall. Iin July 2022 the company issued a voluntary recall of its Raw Frozen Primal Patties for Dogs Beef Formula with a best by date of 05/22/23  due to potential contamination with Listeria monocytogenes bacteria. This was the result of a positive result during a routine sample by the FDA.  

Earlier recalls include:

In December 2017, several formulas of freeze-dried dog and cat foods were recalled because the bone grind size “deviated from the ideal.”

In March 2015, the company voluntarily recalled limited numbers of its Feline Turkey Raw Frozen Formula for suspected low thiamine levels. 

In May 2011, when some bags of Feline Chicken & Salmon Formula were recalled because of suspected salmonella contamination.

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