Nutrish Super Premium Wet DOG FOOD Review

With a score of 4.6, Nutrish Super Premium Wet is considered a high risk dog food. There are 4 recipes that average 41% protein and 20% carbohydrate as calculated on a dry matter basis. 

These recipes have acceptable protein levels but the carbohydrate content is higher than expected in a wet dog food. The website states these foods are made without grain, corn or wheat, but recipes include peas, potatoes, tapioca and rice which are high starch, high carbohydrate ingredients. Dogs have no nutritional requirement for carbohydrates, but starch is required for extrusion in dry foods. Excessive carbohydrate is an indicator of food quality as it can be used to reduce manufacturing cost. Foods that are rich in carbohydrates can increase insulin levels, increase the risk of obesity and cause unwanted changes to the gut microbiome. 

The other recipes in this line also lose ingredient quality points because recipes are supplemented with an excessive amount of added vitamins and minerals. This can indicate lower quality or incomplete 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.  

It’s also worth noting that the line contains sodium selenite as a source of selenium. Dogs need selenium, and it’s usually added in very small amounts. However some research suggests that sodium selenite may be associated with potential toxicity, so selenium yeast is the preferred form of this mineral.  

Another ingredient quality concern is the use of plant protein, which is a less expensive substitute for animal protein. You want to see animal sources because they’re more digestible and contain a wider array of amino acids than plant based protein sources. These recipes contain fish oil, which is an unnamed animal protein that can be made from any type of fish. Unnamed animal ingredients are often a less expensive, low quality ingredient that can be made from rendered waste of many proteins. 

The ingredient safety score for this line is also low. These are cooked foods so they are moderately processed but that still costs points. Heat is involved, which will cause losses in some active enzymes, vitamins, amino acids and phytonutrients.  

The Chicken Muttballs recipe has an additional safety concern for foods in the top 5 ingredients known to contain higher pesticide/herbicide residues when spray-dried with Roundup. Roundup contains glyphosate, an antibiotic that can kill beneficial gut bacteria and has been linked to cancer and other diseases. 

Potato is a GMO crop that appears in the Beef Stew recipe. There are limited safety studies on genetically modified and Roundup Ready crops although they are lacking in nutrients compared to non-GMO foods. GMO crops also strip nutrients from soils, require increased pesticide risk and may be involved in bee die-off.

These recipes also contain natural flavor, rice, added color and menadione. Natural flavor is often animal digest or MSG, both low quality ingredients with limited safety studies. Rice is a concern as it can contain arsenic, which is linked to chronic health issues. Colors like caramel are added to foods to make them look more appealing to people. They are often used to hide the grey color of rendered ingredients and are linked to health issues. Finally, these recipes have menadione, a synthetic form of vitamin K that’s linked to immune system dysfunction, oxidative damage to cells, liver toxicity, and allergic reactions.

There is ingredient splitting in the Beef Stew recipe which doesn’t cost points but should be noted. This is the practice of splitting ingredients like peas into subcategories to make them appear lower on the list. This can also move more desirable protein ingredients higher. 

These recipes use fish oil but it doesn’t specify whether it’s 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. 

It’s also worth noting that Nutrish Super Premium Canned doesn’t state the omega-6:omega-3 ratio in these recipes. While this is true of most foods, it’s unfortunate since AAFCO allows a very inflammatory limit of 30:1.