Product May Have Been Discontinued
Unable to Locate Complete Label Info
On Company Website¹

Freshpet Select Stews receives the Advisor’s mid-tier rating of 3.5 stars.

The Freshpet Select Stews product line includes the 2 tubbed dog foods listed below.

Each recipe includes its related AAFCO nutrient profile when available on the product’s official webpage: Growth, Maintenance, All Life Stages, Supplemental or Unspecified.

• Freshpet Select Stews Grain Free Beef and Pumpkin [M]
• Freshpet Select Stews Grain Free Chicken Recipe [M]

Freshpet Select Stews Grain Free Beef and Pumpkin Recipe was selected to represent both products for this review.

The first ingredient is beef broth. Broths are of only modest nutritional value. Yet because they add both flavor and moisture to a dog food, they are a common addition component in many canned products.

The second ingredient is beef. Beef is defined as “the clean flesh derived from slaughtered cattle” and includes skeletal muscle or the muscle tissues of the tongue, diaphragm, heart or esophagus.²

Beef is naturally rich in all ten essential amino acids required by a dog to sustain life.

The third ingredient is pumpkin, a nutritious addition high in complex carbohydrates, beta-carotene and dietary fiber.

The next ingredient is chicken. Chicken is considered “the clean combination of flesh and skin… derived from the parts or whole carcasses of chicken”.³

Chicken is naturally rich in the ten essential amino acids required by a dog to sustain life.

The fifth item is beef liver, an organ meat sourced from a named animal and thus considered a beneficial component.

The sixth ingredient is lentil flour, a powder made from roasted peas or lentils. Lentil flour contains as much as 25% protein, a factor that must be considered when judging the meat content of this dog food.

The seventh ingredient includes eggs, which are easy to digest and have an exceptionally high biological value.

The eighth ingredient is spinach. Due to its exceptional vitamin and mineral content, spinach exhibits a remarkably high nutrient Completeness Score⁴ of 91.

The ninth ingredient is pea protein, what remains of a pea after removing the starchy part of the vegetable.

Even though it contains over 80% protein, this ingredient would be expected to have a lower biological value than meat.

And less costly plant-based products like this can notably boost the total protein reported on the label — a factor that must be considered when judging the meat content of this dog food.

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 Freshpet product.

With 4 notable exceptions…

First, we find pea fiber, a mixture of both soluble and insoluble dietary fiber derived from pea hulls. Aside from the usual benefits of fiber, this agricultural by-product provides no other nutritional value to a dog.

Next, sunflower oil is nutritionally similar to safflower oil. Since these oils are high in omega-6 fatty acids and contain no omega-3’s, they’re considered less nutritious than canola or flaxseed oils.

Sunflower oil is notable for its resistance to heat damage during cooking.

There are several different types of sunflower oil, some better than others. Without knowing more, it’s impossible to judge the quality of this ingredient.

In addition, carrageenan is a gelatin-like thickening agent extracted from seaweed. Although carrageenan has been used as a food additive for hundreds of years, there appears to be some recent controversy regarding its long term biological safety.

And lastly, this food contains chelated minerals, minerals that have been chemically attached to protein. This makes them easier to absorb. Chelated minerals are usually found in better dog foods.

Review of Freshpet Select Stews Dog Food

Based on its ingredients alone, Freshpet Select Stews Dog Food looks like an above-average wet product.

The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 38%, a fat level of 30% and estimated carbohydrates of about 25%.

As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 38% and a mean fat level of 30%. Together, these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 25% for the overall product line.

And a fat-to-protein ratio of about 80%.

Which means this Freshpet product line contains…

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

When you consider the protein-boosting effect of the lentil flour and pea protein, this looks like the profile of a wet product containing a moderate amount of meat.

However, with 54% of the total calories in our example coming from fat versus just 28% from protein, some recipes may not be suitable for every animal.

Bottom line?

Freshpet Select Stews is a grain-free wet dog food using a moderate amount of named meats as its dominant source of animal protein, thus earning the brand 3.5 stars.

Recommended.

Freshpet Dog Food Recall History

The following list (if present) includes all dog food recalls since 2009 directly related to Freshpet. If there are no recalls listed in this section, we have not yet reported any events.

• Freshpet Dog Food Recall of June 2022 (6/20/2022)
• Freshpet Dog Food Recall (6/14/2021)

You can view a complete list of all dog food recalls sorted by date.

More Freshpet Brand Dog Food Reviews

The following Freshpet reviews are also posted on this website:

• Freshpet (Brand Summary)
• Freshpet Dog Food Review (Rolls)
• Freshpet Nature’s Fresh Dog Food Review (Pouch)
• Freshpet Nature’s Fresh Dog Food Review (Refrigerated Rolls)
• Freshpet Select Meals Dog Food Review (Pouch)
• Freshpet Vital Balanced Nutrition Dog Food Review (Refrigerated Rolls)
• Freshpet Vital Grain Free Dog Food Review (Pouch)
• Freshpet Vital Grain Free Dog Food Review (Refrigerated Rolls)

Notes and Updates