[Mike Sagman]

When comparing and rating raw dog foods here on The Dog Food Advisor, should dehydrated raw and freeze-dried raw dog foods be considered raw? Or dry?

So far, I’ve been considering raw frozen and freeze dried raw foods as truly raw. However, since nearly all dehydrated foods use a warm temperature forced air drying process, I’ve been classifying them as “dry” dog foods – even though they’re less processed than kibbles.

Are we being fair? How should we categorize and rate-freeze raw, dehydrated raw and raw frozen dog foods in future reviews?

Thanks for your opinions.

• This topic was modified 12 years ago by Mike Sagman.

[Alexandra]

Hi Dr. Mike,

I would be more inclined to call them dry. Having the moisture removed to me qualifies them as dry. I would even go so far to say that they aren’t even truly raw foods as they have been processed.

I guess if we keep analyzing, then where does that leave the HPP processed foods, Natures variety and Primal. I know not all of Primal’s are HPP, but that would be an additional process done to the food.

Raw frozen, by that are you meaning Darwin’s and Bravo, etc? I would say they are raw products, they retain their moisture, and aren’t exposed to heat. They would retain their optimal nutrition.

Maybe rate these foods separate from each other? A category for freeze dried, dehydrated, etc.

Given that these are all processed to some extent, are they truly raw? I know it’s splitting hairs, but Darwin’s adds vegetables, so that would be a process. Bravo and Primal also add them to certain lines. I guess, the bottom line is what the “accepted” definition of raw is. For me, it would be the moisture rich foods with the barest amount of processing.

[soho]

Dr Mike

Freeze dried / dehydrated should be distinguished from dry kibble. If you use moisture content as basis for dry or wet, freeze dried and dehydrated are dry.

You could call your categories;
Dry (kibble) or just kibble
Dry (freeze dried / dehydrated) or just Freeze dried / Dehydrated
Wet
Raw

[InkedMarie]

I would not call them raw if they aren’t. I’ve never fed a freeze dried but I think, years back, that THK called their food dehydrated raw but they don’t anymore. To ME, raw is just that, raw food, not cooked. For that reason, I’d think it should be dry, canned, frozen, freeze dried and dehydrated

[Anonymous]

I think Freeze-Dried should be categorized as raw. The general categories should have more to do with the presumptive quality of the nutrients remaining in the food after it has been processed. Dehydrated foods are processed at low heat, but it’s enough heat to kill enzymes in the food. Free-Dried foods are not exposed to heat, and therefore retains those enzymes.
The categories for raw could be Fresh Raw, Frozen Raw, Freeze-Dried Raw.

[Fabienne L]

Freeze-dried and Dehydrated pet food are NOT the same as raw non-hpp pet food. You may consider raw hpp, freeze-dried and dehydrated pet food as processed pet food. Yes, it is better than dry pet food, but it is still processed. Supplements should be added to this food! Recommended supplements include: vitamins, minerals, probiotics, milk thistle to name a few. Non HPP raw pet food is truly species appropriate pet food. Small Batch and Halshan are true species appropriate pet food. When comparing pet food you can see the differences in the ingredients. HPP raw and freeze-dried, such as Stella and Chewys and other pet food contain many added supplements in them. The list of ingredients is long! When you look at Small Batch the ingredients are simply simple, no added supplements. Pets gets the nutrition they need from the meat, organ meat and fruit and vegetable. I always suggest that pet owners (guardians) add probiotics and milk thistle to their non hpp raw pet food.

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