Darwin’s Natural Selections Dog Food Review (Raw Frozen)

Darwin’s Natural Selections Dog Food is made up of six recipes with ratings which vary between 3.5 and 5 stars. The average rating of the whole range is earns The Advisor’s highest star rating of 5 stars.

The table below shows each recipe in this range including our rating and the AAFCO nutrient profile: Growth (puppy), Maintenance (adult), All Life Stages, Supplemental or Unspecified.

Recipe and Label Analysis

Darwin’s Natural Selections Chicken was selected to represent the other products in the line for detailed recipe and nutrient analysis.

Ingredients Analysis

The first ingredient in this dog food is chicken. Chicken is considered “the clean combination of flesh and skin… derived from the parts or whole carcasses of chicken”. ¹. Chicken is naturally rich in the ten essential amino acids required by a dog to sustain life.

The second ingredient is chicken necks (bone in). Raw chicken neck consists of muscle meat and bone and contains optimal levels of both protein and natural calcium.

The third ingredient is chicken gizzards, the gizzard is a low-fat, meaty organ found in the digestive tract of birds and assists in grinding up a consumed food. This item is considered a canine dietary delicacy.

The fourth ingredient is chicken liver. This is an organ meat sourced from a named animal and thus considered a beneficial component.

The fifth ingredient is chicken heart. Although it doesn’t sound very appetizing, heart tissue is pure muscle – all meat. It’s naturally rich in quality protein, minerals and complex B vitamins, too.

The seventh ingredient is organic lettuce. This green leafy vegetable is naturally rich in vitamins and minerals. In fact, lettuce boasts an exceptionally high nutrient Completeness Score ² of 88.

The eighth ingredient is organic squash. Squash is a nutritious addition high in complex carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and dietary fiber.

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 product.

Since this recipe contains a number of organic ingredients, we feel compelled to grant this line a more favorable status as we consider its final rating. That’s because organic ingredients must comply with notably more stringent government standards — standards which significantly restrict the use of any synthetic pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, hormones or antibiotics.

Nutrient Analysis

Based on its ingredients alone, Darwin’s Natural Selections (Raw Frozen) looks like an above-average dog food.

The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 58%, a fat level of 28% and estimated carbohydrates of about 4.8%.

As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 51% and a mean fat level of 30.5%. Together, these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 10.5% for the overall product line.

And a fat-to-protein ratio of about 61%.

Which means the Darwins’ Natural Selections product line has above-average protein, above-average fat and below-average carbs when compared to a typical raw dog food.

Darwins Dog Food Recall History

The following automated list (if present) includes all dog food recalls related to Darwins through March 2025.

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

Our Rating of Darwin's Dog Food

Darwin’s Natural Selections is a quality product for any pet parent looking for a raw diet option.

Highly Recommended

Compare Darwin's Dog Food

How does Darwin's compare with The Dog Food Advisor's most recommended brands?