WE FEED RAW DOG FOOD REVIEW

We Feed Raw’s raw foods score 8.75 on average, making them a low risk dog food. 

The recipes are formulated to AAFCO All Life Stages standards. The foods are single protein recipes with meat, bone and organs. Beef, chicken, turkey and duck are sourced in the US. The beef is grass fed but not grass finished, and the poultry is all conventionally raised. Lamb and venison are pasture-raised, grass fed and grass finished from New Zealand.

The company states their meats are USDA certified human-grade and the foods are made in a USDA certified facility. According to AAFCO definitions, human-grade means the ingredients came from a USDA inspected meat-packing plant. The USDA labels foods as either “edible” or “inedible” for human consumption. So, when the meat leaves, it can be called human-grade, but this doesn’t mean it has been inspected to be human edible. Nonetheless, the company does source some better quality meat products … which makes it more disappointing that their duck, chicken and turkey are conventionally raised.  Conventionally raised poultry tends to have a high level of omega-6 fatty acids, which can have an inflammatory effect.

Because this is a raw, minimally processed food, the ingredient safety scores are perfect.  

On the ingredient quality side, several of the foods are surprisingly high in carbohydrates for a raw food with no produce. Overall the average carbs are calculated to be just under 14% on a dry matter basis (meaning with the moisture removed, for comparison with dry foods). But the lamb, turkey and beef recipes all lose points for more than 15% carbohydrates. However, it’s worth noting that the only way to calculate carbohydrates in dog food is by using the Guaranteed Analysis numbers. Protein and fat are provided as minimum values, so if protein and fat were in fact higher than the stated levels, the carbohydrate calculation would show a lower number. 

The fat percentage is lower than protein, which is desirable in a raw food. 

Another quality concern is the addition of excessive vitamins and minerals. Since there’s no produce in the recipes, the company adds these nutrients to meet nutritional standards. It is preferable that vitamins and minerals come from whole food nutrition, which makes the nutrients safe and bioavailable, so they’ve used an easy but not ideal way to achieve the AAFCO standards. One of the minerals is of particular concern, and that’s sodium selenite as the 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 company doesn’t disclose the ration of omega-6:omega-3 fatty acids, which is a concern because AAFCO allows a very inflammatory ratio of 30:1.

Click on any We Feed Raw food to view the individual food score.