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Smallbatch is a family-owned company founded in 2005 in San Francisco. The company has grown in size but still claims to maintain its original principles of using humanely-raised meats and organic veggies.
The food is manufactured in 3rd party facilities. A few years ago this resulted in the company’s raw foods being high pressure pasteurized without their knowledge. The situation has now been rectified and Smallbatch foods are not subjected to HPP now. The company states they’re closely involved in all food production, especially the raw and lightly cooked foods, where they are on site at the production facility.
Smallbatch offers three food lines: Raw, Freeze Dried and LIghtly Cooked. The average score of each Smallbatch ls line is listed below. Click on any line to view the individual foods and scores.
Smallbatch Raw Dog Food rates a 10 for all 7 foods in the line, with no points deducted for light processing or ingredient quality or safety. The is line averages over 52% protein on a dry matter basis (with the moisture removed), and the fat percentage is less than protein, which is desirable in a raw food. The foods are very low in carbohydrate, averaging 4% on a dry matter basis.
The quality of ingredients is high, with organic, non-GMO produce, and no added vitamin or mineral premix.
Smallbatch does source quality ingredients but the label uses unsubstantiated descriptions like “humanely raised and harvested” for their animal protein sources. These are purely marketing terms that have no legal meaning under pet food regulatory standards.
The company doesn’t state whether the salmon oil is from farmed or wild-caught fish. They also don’t provide the omega-6:omega-3 ratio, which is a concern since AAFC) allows a very inflammatory ratio of 30:1.
Smallbatch Freeze Dried Dog Food rates a 10 for all 6 foods in the line, with no points deducted for light processing or ingredient quality or safety. This line averages over 50% protein and the fat percentage is less than protein, which is desirable in a freeze dried food. The foods are very low in carbohydrate.
Freeze-dried raw foods maintain ingredient quality during processing and don’t suffer nutrient loss from freeze-drying. This makes freeze-dried foods a highly convenient alternative to raw frozen foods. The quality of ingredients is high, with organic, non-GMO produce, and no added vitamin or mineral premix.
Smallbatch does source quality ingredients but the label uses unsubstantiated descriptions like “humanely raised and harvested” for their animal protein sources. These are purely marketing terms that have no legal meaning under pet food regulatory standards.
The company doesn’t state whether the salmon oil is from farmed or wild-caught fish. They also don’t provide the omega-6:omega-3 ratio, which is a concern since AAFC) allows a very inflammatory ratio of 30:1.
Smallbatch Lightly Dog Food is rated 9.5 overall for the 3 foods in the line. Because the food is cooked, it loses an ingredient safety point for moderate processing. It’s worth noting that the “Lightly Cooked” description is accurate: these foods are cooked sous vide in a water bath at just 150F for 5 minutes. Although cooking usually causes some nutrient loss, it’s likely that this method means the loss of nutrients in this food is low.
The foods are very low in carbohydrate, with average protein of 55% on a dry matter basis (meaning with moisture removed). The foods all have a lower percentage of fat than protein, which is desirable in a raw food. There are no added vitamins or minerals (except vitamin E as a preservative). This suggests indicates higher quality ingredients because the nutrients comes from whole foods..
Smallbatch does source quality ingredients, but the label does use unsubstantiated descriptions like “humanely raised and harvested” to describe their animal protein sources. These are purely marketing terms that have no legal meaning under pet food regulatory standards.
The company doesn’t state whether the oil is from farmed or wild-caught salmon. Wild-caught fish is more nutritious than farmed and has a better fatty acid balance. 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.
Smallbatch has had two food recalls. The first was in March 2016 involving its Raw Duckbatch Sliders due to potential contamination with Salmonella and Listeria. The second was required by the FDA in May 2017 and involved two batches of raw Chicken dog and cat food for potential Salmonella contamination.
Stay informed! Make sure you sign up for new and updated foods, food recalls and important dog food and health information:
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