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Please be aware that Hill’s is voluntarily recalling some canned dog food due to potentially elevated levels of Vitamin D. More information here.
AvoDerm Natural Lamb Meal & Brown Rice Formula Adult is low-priced dry dog food with average quality. This product has no controversial ingredients, including no artificial preservatives, colors, or flavors. The food has a high amount of carbs compared to its protein and fat - but excellent meat and fat quality. AvoDerm as a brand has an average number of recalls and the company was not responsive or open when answering our transparency questions.
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This dog food review was created by experts who love dogs. Find out more about our team and mission.
About Watchdog Labs
This food is high in carbs and low in protein and fat, making it less nutritionally balanced compared to other dog foods we evaluated. Carbohydrates are cheap so they keep the food’s cost low and they are nutritionally useful to dogs in the right amounts. However, high amounts of carbs can reduce the much-needed meat-based protein and fat content.
To evaluate dog foods, we first calculate out the moisture. This is called the “dry matter basis” and shows you only the solid ingredients in the food. These estimated “dry matter” numbers are different from the food label, but a better way to understand the real nutritional value of the food. We also calculate the carbs. Find out more
Min. Protein 23.33%
Min. Fat 12.22%
Min. Carbs 56.67%
Max. Fiber 3.33%
Max. Ash 7.78%
Max. Moisture 0.00%
Min. Protein: 21.0%
Min Fat: 11.0%
Min Carbs: N/A
Max Fiber: 5.0%
Max Ash: N/A
Max. Moisture: 10.0%
360 Calories per Cup
This product has an average amount of calories. It’s important to understand how many calories you are feeding to prevent under or overfeeding. Average calorie foods like this are typically best for fairly active dogs who need a moderate amount of daily calories. Based on your dog's current weight and activity level you may want to feed more or less than the recommended amount. It's helpful to know that weight loss foods often have fewer than 340 calories per cup, weight maintenance foods typically range from 340-380 calories, and high-activity dog foods are usually over 400 calories.
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Grain-Free Dog Foods
This is a grain-free dog food. The FDA is investigating a potential connection between grain-free diets and canine heart disease. There is not enough evidence yet to affect our ratings but we've created an article for you explaining the topic.
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Lamb Meal, Ground Brown Rice, Ground White Rice, Oatmeal, Rice Bran, Pea Flour, Chicken Fat (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Herring Meal (Source of Omega 3), Avocado, Flax Seed, Natural Flavor, Dried Tomato Pomace, Alfalfa Meal, Potassium Chloride, Salt, Kelp Meal, Vitamins (Choline Chloride, a-Tocopherol Acetate (Source of Vitamin E), L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (Source of Vitamin C), Biotin, Niacin, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate (Source of Vitamin B1), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Source of Vitamin B6), Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid), Minerals (Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Iron Amino Acid Chelate, Zinc Amino Acid Chelate, Selenium Yeast, Copper Amino Acid Chelate, Copper Sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Manganese Amino Acid Chelate, Calcium Iodate), Avocado Oil, Rosemary Extract, Sage Extract, Pineapple Stem, Papaya Extract, Dehydrated Lactobacillus Acidophilus Fermentation Product, Dehydrated Lactobacillus Casei Fermentation Product, Dehydrated Bifidobacterium Thermophilum Fermentation Product, Dehydrated Enterococcus Faecium Fermentation Product.
The average dog food we reviewed had 39 total ingredients, with 1 controversial ingredient. This product does not have any controversial ingredients, that’s great.
Top 5 Ingredients
Dog food ingredients are listed in descending order of weight. So when looking at dog food label, take a close look at the first 5 ingredients. They make up about 80% of the total weight.
Controversial Ingredients
The AvoDerm Natural Lamb Meal & Brown Rice formula does not contain any ingredients that we consider to be controversial.
Country of Origin
AvoDerm is manufactured in the United States. Because of the FDA and consumer standards, dog food products made in the US are expected to be of a higher quality.
Meat & Fat Quality
This product is looking good for meat and fat quality. It has 2 different meat meals, that are both naming the animal source they come from. Lamb meal is the first ingredient, and Herring Meal a bit further down on the ingredients list. For fats, chicken fat is listed which is a leftover from cooking chicken parts and is a popular fat source that provides Omega-6 fatty acids.
Artificial Preservatives
AvoDerm does not have any controversial preservatives in this formula. It’s good to know that not all artificial preservatives are bad. That’s because they serve an important purpose, which is to prevent food from spoiling. However, we consider 11 artificial preservatives as controversial because of their potential link to cancer and other serious health conditions.
Artificial Colors
AvoDerm does not use any artificial colors in their Natural Lamb and Brown Rice formula.
Artificial Flavors
AvoDerm also does not use any artificial flavors in this formula.
AvoDerm is made by a company called Breeder’s Choice which has an average amount of dog food recalls.
We love dog food brands that are committed to transparent business practices. If you make quality dog food you should be willing to openly talk about how it’s sourced and produced. That’s why we reached out to pet food companies, asking questions about all their brands and products. Each company had three weeks to reply to our messages.
How Easy Was it to Reach the Company?
Avoderm was contacted twice over a 3 week period. A response was given that they had forwarded the email to the correct department, but no follow up was received.
Does AvoDerm have a veterinary nutritionist on staff? If so, who are they?
No Response
Who formulates your recipes, and what are their credentials?
No Response
Do you test your products using AAFCO feeding trials? Why, or why not?
No Response
What country are your products manufactured?
No Response
Can your manufacturing facilities be visited?
No Response
What quality measures do you use to assure consistency and quality?
No Response
Does AvoDerm own its manufacturing facility? If it is another company, what company is it?
No Response
Do any parts of your product come from China?
No Response
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1242073/
https://oehha.ca.gov/proposition-65/proposition-65-list
https://petfood.aafco.org/Nutritional-Labeling
https://petfood.aafco.org/Labeling-Labeling-Requirements
https://petfood.aafco.org/Calorie-Content
https://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/ResourcesforYou/ucm047120.htm
http://dels.nas.edu/resources/static-assets/banr/miscellaneous/dog_nutrition_final_fix.pdf
http://www.acvn.org/nutrition-resources/
https://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/Products/AnimalFoodFeeds/PetFood/ucm2006475.htm
https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=FDA-2011-N-0922-0489
https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/ires/
https://www.nrdc.org/sites/default/files/safety-loophole-for-chemicals-in-food-report.pdf
https://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/pubhealth/roc/index-1.html
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8493816
Linda P Case, MS; Daniel P Carey, DVM; and Diane A Hirakawa, PhD, Canine and Feline Nutrition A Resource for Companion Animal Professionals, Mosby-Year Book, Inc.
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