Which Fromm Four Star Nutritionals Recipes Get Our Best Ratings?

Fromm Four Star Nutritionals Grain Free Dog Food receives the Advisor’s second-highest tier rating of 4.5 stars.

The Fromm Four Star Nutritionals Grain Free product line includes the 9 dry dog foods listed below.

Each recipe includes its AAFCO nutrient profile when available… Growth (puppy), Maintenance (adult), All Life Stages, Supplemental or Unspecified.

Recipe and Label Analysis

Fromm Four Star Nutritionals Grain Free Lamb and Lentil was selected to represent the other products in the line for detailed recipe and nutrient analysis.

Label and nutrient data below are calculated using dry matter basis.

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Ingredient Analysis

The first ingredient in this dog food is lamb. Although it is a quality item, raw lamb contains up to 73% water. After cooking, most of that moisture is lost, reducing the meat content to just a fraction of its original weight.

After processing, this item would probably account for a smaller part of the total content of the finished product.

The second ingredient is lamb meal. Lamb meal is considered a meat concentrate and contains nearly 300% more protein than fresh lamb.

It’s important to note that the next three ingredients included in this recipe are each a type of legume:

• Lentils
• Chickpeas
• Peas

Although they’re a mixture of quality plant ingredients, there’s an important issue to consider here. And that’s the recipe design practice known as ingredient splitting.

If we were to combine all these individual items together and report them as one, that newer combination would likely occupy a significantly higher position on the list.

In addition, legumes contain about 25% protein, a factor that must also be considered when judging the meat content of this dog food.

The sixth ingredient is dried egg product, a dehydrated form of shell-free eggs. Quality can vary significantly. Lower grade egg product can even come from commercial hatcheries — from eggs that have failed to hatch.

In any case, eggs are easy to digest and have an exceptionally high biological value.

The seventh ingredient is pea flour, a powder made from roasted yellow peas. Pea flour contains as much as 25% protein, a factor that must be considered when judging the meat content of this dog food.

The eighth ingredient is tomato pomace. This item is a controversial ingredient, a by-product remaining after processing tomatoes into juice, soup and ketchup.

Many praise tomato pomace for its high fiber and nutrient content, while others scorn it as an inexpensive pet food filler.

Just the same, there’s probably not enough tomato pomace here to make much of a difference.

The ninth ingredient is pork fat, a product from rendering pig meat.

Commonly known as lard, pork fat can add significant flavor to any dog food. And it can be high in linoleic acid, an omega-6 fatty acid essential for life.

Although it may not sound very appetizing, pork fat (in moderate amounts) is actually an acceptable pet food ingredient.

The next two ingredients are pork liver and lamb liver. These are organ meats sourced from named animals and thus considered beneficial components.

From here, the list goes on to include a number of other items.

But to be realistic, ingredients located this far down the list (other than nutritional supplements) are not likely to affect the overall rating of this Fromm product.

With 6 notable exceptions…

First, salmon oil is naturally rich in the prized EPA and DHA type of omega-3 fatty acids. These two high quality fats boast the highest bio-availability to dogs and humans.

Depending on its level of freshness and purity, salmon oil should be considered a commendable addition.

Next, flaxseed is one of the best plant sources of healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Provided they’ve first been ground into a meal, flax seeds are also rich in soluble fiber.

However, flaxseed contains about 19% protein, a factor that must be considered when judging the actual meat content of this dog food.

In addition, chicory root is rich in inulin, a starch-like compound made up of repeating units of carbohydrates and found in certain roots and tubers.

Not only is inulin a natural source of soluble dietary fiber, it’s also a prebiotic used to promote the growth of healthy bacteria in a dog’s digestive tract.

We also note the use of taurine, an important amino acid associated with the healthy function of heart muscle. Although taurine is not typically considered essential in canines, some dogs have been shown to be deficient in this critical nutrient.

Since taurine deficiency appears to be more common in pets consuming grain-free diets, we view its presence in this recipe as a positive addition.

This recipe also includes sodium selenite, a controversial form of the mineral selenium. Sodium selenite appears to be nutritionally inferior to the more natural source of selenium found in selenium yeast.

And lastly, although the vitamins and minerals added to this product are not detailed sufficiently here to permit us to judge their quality, we’re reassured to find a detailed list of naturally present nutrients on the company’s website.

Nutrient Analysis

Based on its ingredients alone, Fromm Four Star Nutritionals Grain Free Dog Food looks like an above-average dry product.

The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 32%, a fat level of 20% and estimated carbohydrates of about 40%.

As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 32% and a mean fat level of 19%. Together, these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 41% for the overall product line.

And a fat-to-protein ratio of about 60%.

Which means this Fromm product line contains…

Above-average protein. Above-average fat. And below-average carbs when compared to a typical dry dog food.

Even when you consider the protein-boosting effect of the pea products, flaxseed, chickpeas and lentils, this looks like the profile of a kibble containing a notable amount of meat.

Our Rating of Fromm Four Star Nutritionals Grain Free Dog Food

Fromm Four Star Nutritionals Grain Free is a dry dog food using a notable amount of named meat meals and egg as its dominant source of animal protein, thus earning the brand 4.5 stars.

Highly recommended.

However, it’s unfortunate the company chose to include so much plant-based protein in its recipe. Otherwise, we would have been compelled to award this product a higher rating.

Fromm Dog Food Recall History

The following automated list (if present) includes all dog food recalls related to Fromm through November.

• Fromm Dog Food Recalled Due to High Levels of Vitamin D (10/3/2021)
• Fromm Dog Food Recall of March 2016 (3/18/2016)

You can view a complete list of all dog food recalls since 2009 here.

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More Fromm Brand Reviews

The following Fromm dog food reviews are also posted on this website:

• Fromm Dog Food Review
• Fromm Family Classics Dog Food Review (Dry)
• Fromm Family Heartland Gold Dog Food Review (Dry)
• Fromm Four Star Nutritionals Dog Food Review (Canned)
• Fromm Four Star Nutritionals Dog Food Review (Dry)
• Fromm Gold Coast Dog Food Review (Dry)
• Fromm Pate Dog Food Review (Canned)