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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.
Ziwi Peak Air-Dried Lamb is a great quality dog food at a high price. This product has no controversial ingredients and zero artificial preservatives, colors or flavors. It has a relatively low amount of carbs compared to protein and fat and excellent quality meat and fat. Ziwi has a below-average number of recalls but was not very transparent when answering our questions. Overall, Watchdog Labs recommends this product.
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Learn what makes a great dog food and get expert advice on how to choose the best food for your dog.
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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 has well-balanced amounts of protein, fat, and carbs. Diets that are high in protein and fat, with moderate to low carbs, are ideal for most dogs.
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 40.70%
Min. Fat 38.37%
Min. Carbs 6.98%
Max. Fiber 2.33%
Max. Ash 13.95%
Max. Moisture 0.00%
Min. Protein: 35.0%
Min Fat: 33.0%
Min Carbs: N/A
Max Fiber: 2.0%
Max Ash: 12.0%
Max. Moisture: 14.0%
635 Calories per Cup
This product has a relatively high amount of calories. It’s important to understand how many calories you are feeding to prevent under or overfeeding. If your dog has fair to low activity levels, you may want to feed less than the labels recommend amount, since high-calorie foods like this are often feed to more active dogs who require a higher amount of daily calories. 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. Keep in mind, dehydrated and air-dried foods, like this one, usually have much higher calories per cup than other foods.
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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, Lamb Heart, Lamb Tripe, Lamb Liver, Lamb Kidney, Lamb Lung, New Zealand Green Mussel, Lamb Bone, Lecithin, Inulin from Chicory, Dried Kelp, Minerals (Dipotassium Phosphate, Magnesium Sulfate, Zinc Amino Acid Complex, Copper Amino Acid Complex, Iron Amino Acid Complex, Manganese Amino Acid Complex, Selenium Yeast), Salt, Parsley, Preservative (Citric Acid, Mixed Tocopherols), Vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid).
The average dog food we reviewed has 39 total ingredients, with 1 controversial ingredient. This product has 0 total controversial ingredients on the ingredients list.
Top 5 Ingredients
Dog food ingredients are listed in descending order of weight. So when looking at a dog food label, take a close look at the first 5 ingredients. They make up about 80% of the total weight.
Controversial Ingredients
Zero controversial ingredients in this dog food, very good.
Country of Origin
Ziwi Peak Air-Dried Lamb Dog Food is made in New Zealand. We recommend buying products manufactured in the USA, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, because of the stricter food safety laws in these regions and countries.
Meat & Fat Quality
This food is very clear about which animals its meat ingredients come from. On the label we see Lamb, Lamb Heart, Lamb Tripe, Lamb Liver, Lamb Kidney, Lamb Lung, and New Zealand Green Mussel - all of them transparently show the species they’re sourced from. There are no added oils, so the fats in the food come from the included animal and plant ingredients.
Artificial Preservatives
This product contains no controversial preservatives. 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 controversial because of their potential link to cancer and other serious health conditions.
Artificial Colors
Ziwi Peak Air-Dried Lamb Dog Food uses no artificial colors. That’s how it should be!
Artificial Flavors
Just like for artificial preservatives and colors, this product does great when it comes to artificial flavors. That means it doesn’t include them at all. Fantastic!
Ziwi Dog Food has a below-average number of recalls, compared to other brands we evaluated.
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?
Ziwi did not respond to the first or second email. A call was placed and the representative suggested that we consult their websites FAQ, and if the information was not found on the website then it’s because it’s not public information.
Does Ziwi Peak have a veterinary nutritionist on staff? If so, who are they?
Info was not found on their website.
Who formulates your recipes, and what are their credentials?
Info was not found on their website.
Do you test your products using AAFCO feeding trials? Why, or why not?
Info was not found on the website.
What country are your products manufactured?
New Zealand.
Can your manufacturing facilities be visited?
Info was not found on the website.
What quality measures do you use to assure consistency and quality?
Ziwi products are sourced and manufactured in New Zealand; and exported to over 19 countries. Because of our robust offering around the world, it is imperative that we exceed all international quality standards. Organizations who have certified our products include, but aren’t limited to, the following: New Zealand Ministry for Primary Industries, AAFCO, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, European Union, Japan, and Australia.
Does Ziwi Peak own its manufacturing facility? If it is another company, what company is it?
Info was not clearly stated on their website.
Do any parts of your product come from China?
Ziwi Peak does not and will not source any of our ingredients from China.
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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