Stella & Chewy's Frozen Raw DOG FOOD Review

With a score of 9/10, these foods are considered low risk, making this Stella & Chewy’s highest scoring line of dog food. There are 13 recipes that average 48% protein and 4% carbohydrate as calculated on a dry matter basis. 

These are frozen raw recipes that are minimally processed which protects from loss nutrients. They have a low level of carbohydrates obtained from fruits and vegetables rather than grains and starches, which is what we expect to see in frozen raw dog foods. But several of the recipes in this line are higher in fat then we’d like. Fat is a valuable macronutrient, but it’s relatively devoid of vitamins and minerals and high fat diets can lead to unwanted changes in gut flora. 

Like all of Stella & Chewy’s lines, there are added vitamins and minerals. This often indicates a lower quality food that’s lacking naturally occurring nutrients from whole food sources. 

It’s good to see that probiotics are included in these foods but the CFU amount is not guaranteed.

This line doesn’t lose any points for ingredient safety. One reason is because it’s a frozen raw food and has minimal processing. The other reason is because fruits and vegetables in all Stella & Chewy’s lines are organic. Organic ingredients are non-GMO and have much lower pesticide/herbicide risk than conventionally grown crops. 

But it’s worth noting that these recipes contain 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.  

The label does not provide the omega-6:omega-3 ratio, which is a concern since AAFCO allows a very inflammatory ratio of 30:1.