What to look for in a brand: 

  1. Do they employ a nutritionist? 

  1. Yes, we currently employ a a PhD Companion Animal Nutritionist. James Templeman, PhD is on-staff with us full time.  

  1. Who formulates the diet(s)? 

  1. James Templeman (PhD, Companion Animal Nutrition).  

  1. What is the quality control process for ingredients and finished product? 

  1. Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures (SSOP's) 

  1. Approved Supplier Program  

  1. Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP's) 

  1. A Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Points (HACCP) program 

  1. Lot segregation 

  1. Our ingredients are sourced only from USDA inspected facilities, and/or facilities regulated by the FDA 

  1. Our manufacturing facilities are FDA, USDA and California SDA inspected 

  1. Regular testing to ensure AAFCO nutrient profiles continue to be met 

  1. Strict Test & Hold policy for salmonella, e coli, and listeria at a 3rd party food safety laboratory for all finished products 

  1. What kind of product research or nutrition studies have been conducted? Is it in peer-reviewed journals? 

  1. We’re working with the University of Illinois to facilitate sponsored research. Currently, 2 of 3 works are published in the Journal of Animal Science: 

  1. Standardized amino acid digestibility and nitrogen-corrected true metabolizable energy of frozen and freeze-dried raw dog foods using precision-fed cecectomized and conventional rooster assays 

  1. Standardized amino acid digestibility and nitrogen-corrected true metabolizable energy of frozen raw, freeze-dried raw, fresh, and extruded dog foods using precision-fed cecectomized and conventional rooster assays 

What to look for on a label: 

  1. Nutrition Adequacy Statement? 

  1. All our diets are formulated to meet AAFCO nutrient profiles by formulation & analysis of the finished product. Our PhD companion animal nutritionist uses advanced software to formulate these recipes to meet the nutritional levels established by the AAFCO Nutrient Profiles for the specific life stage. Additionally, our team conducts post-production nutrient analysis on the finished product in partnership with a third-party laboratory. As more data becomes available, we would be happy to provide it. 

  1. We routinely audit our balanced diets monthly at a third-party facility. While not required from a regulatory standpoint, we have enhanced our nutritional testing to include a Test & Hold program. This program allows us to consistently monitor values and ensure that our food-based, non-synthetic supplements are routinely delivering the targeted nutrient levels. In addition to the enhanced finished product nutritional testing, we have also increased the frequency of nutrient testing on raw materials to continuously validate that our natural, non-synthetic ingredients are delivering adequate and safe levels of required nutrients. 

  1. We completed digestibility studies to compare our frozen and freeze-dried formulas and both formulations had caloric digestibility over 90%. 

  1. Additional amino acid digestibility research is published in the Journal of Animal Science: Standardized amino acid digestibility and nitrogen-corrected true metabolizable energy of frozen and freeze-dried raw dog foods using precision-fed cecectomized and conventional rooster assays  

  1. Caloric information is provided both on our website and directly on each bag of food. Caloric values also can be provided by contacting our customer service team at [email protected] 

  1. Does the company provide immediate contact information such as phone number or email address? 

  1. Our customer service team can be reached at [email protected] or  (800) 742-1312. 

  1. Who makes the food? 

  1. All balanced formulas are produced by our own manufacturing facilities in California and Texas.