Dr. Harvey’s began 30 years ago by Dr. Harvey Cohen. He was a human practitioner in New York City. He changed direction in 1980. He pursued animal nutrition through diet. Now he produces Dr. Harvey’s pet foods from its own plant in Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey. The company works with a research and development team. They create recipes, base mixes, supplements and grooming products. These are for dogs, cats and birds.
For our Dr. Harvey’s dog food review, we’ll look at the food ingredient quality and safety of each line of food. Our dog food reviews are based on these criteria.
IS DR. HARVEY’S A GOOD DOG FOOD?
Dr. Harvey’s produces 3 lines of food that range from low to moderate risk. They are raw freeze-dried foods. They are minimally processed. But these foods contain high amounts of carbohydrates. This isn’t what you expect to see in raw, freeze-dried foods.
Recipes use USDA-certified freeze-dried chicken, beef, fish and whole foods. They supply naturally occurring vitamins, minerals and essential nutrients. However, most recipes have added vitamins and amino acids. This is not the typical pre-mix that many brands use. It’s preferable that vitamins, minerals and amino acids come from whole food ingredients.
Some of the ingredients are also GMO foods. These include potatoes, alfalfa and lecithin. GMO and Roundup Ready crops lack nutrients compared to non-GMO foods. GMO crops also strip nutrients from soils. They require increased pesticide. They may be involved in bee die-off. Other ingredients are known to be sprayed with pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers. These sprays pose a significant health risk to plants, animals and soils.
On the plus side, Dr. Harvey’s includes probiotics. It would be helpful to include a guarantee of the colony forming units (CFUs) as well. It’s also good to see that selenium yeast is used. Dogs need selenium, and it’s usually added in very small amounts. Selenium yeast is the preferred form of this mineral. Sodium selenium might be associated with potential toxicity.
Dr. Harvey’s doesn’t state the omega-6:omega-3 ratio in their recipes. This is true of most companies. It’s a concern because AAFCO allows a very inflammatory ratio of 30:1. Diets rich in omega-6 fats can cause chronic inflammation.
Dr. Harvey’s Allergy Diet
Score: 7.5/10
Ingredient List For Turkey Recipe: Turkey, flaxseed, carrots, broccoli, green beans, cabbage, pumpkin, sweet potato, chia seeds, butternut squash, spinach, tricalcium phosphate, turmeric, ginger, dandelion, inulin, zinc proteinate, iron proteinate, taurine, vitamin e supplement, copper proteinate, nicotinic acid, manganese proteinate, l-carnitine, vitamin A acetate, selenium yeast, D-calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin supplement, biotin, vitamin B12 supplement, vitamin D3 supplement, folic acid, bacillus licheniformis, bacillus subtilis, bromelain, papain.
Dr. Harvey’s Allergy diet is low risk by our criteria. It offers 2 recipes with average protein of 22% and average carbohydrate of 41.75% as calculated. It maintains a good score due to being freeze-dried. It is minimal processing. High carbohydrates cause the food to lose points for quality. Recipes have added vitamins and amino acids. It’s preferred they rely on whole foods for nutrients. However, there are no added minerals. These foods also have added probiotics. Some ingredients are known to contain higher pesticide/herbicide residues. This includes spinach. Fish is in some recipes. It’s not stated whether it’s farmed or wild caught which is more nutritious.
Allergy Diet Benefits
- Minimal processing
- No added minerals
- Contains probiotics
Allergy Diet Concerns
- High carbohydrates
- Doesn’t provide omega-6:omega 3 ratio
- Added amino acids
- Added vitamins
- Ingredients with high herbicide/pesticides in top 5
- Doesn’t specify farmed or wild-caught fish
View The Entire Review on Dog Food Reviews
Dr. Harvey’s Healthy Weight Diet
Score: 6.7/10
Ingredient List For Beef Recipe: Beef, egg, carrots, sweet potato, oats, broccoli, green beans, pumpkin, flaxseed, cabbage, chia seeds, celery, kelp, barley, tricalcium phosphate, apple, blueberries, turmeric, ginger, green lipped mussel, cinnamon, dandelion, fennel, inulin, eggshell, oyster, zinc proteinate, iron proteinate, taurine, vitamin E supplement, copper proteinate, nicotinic acid, manganese proteinate, L-carnitine, vitamin A acetate, selenium yeast, d-calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin supplement, biotin, vitamin B12 supplement, vitamin D3 supplement, folic acid, bacillus licheniformis, bacillus subtilis, quercetin, bromelain, papain.
Dr. Harvey’s Healthy Weight diet is moderate risk by our criteria. It has 2 recipes with average protein of 21%. There is average carbohydrate of 43% as calculated. This is excessively high for a freeze-dried dog food. It’s also high for a weight management dog food. It has minimal processing. These foods have added vitamins and amino acids. There are no added minerals. These foods include probiotics. There are ingredients known for having higher pesticide/herbicide residues. These recipes have added probiotics which is good to see. It’s unclear whether seafood ingredients are from farmed or wild caught sources. Wild sources have higher nutrient levels.
Healthy Weight Benefits
- Minimal processing
- No added minerals
- Contains probiotics
Healthy Weight Concerns
- High carbohydrates
- Doesn’t provide omega-6:omega 3 ratio
- Added amino acids
- Added vitamins
- Ingredients with high herbicide/pesticides in top 5
- Doesn’t specify farmed or wild-caught fish
View The Entire Review on Dog Food Reviews
Dr. Harvey’s Garden Veggies
Score: 7.5/10
Ingredient List For Whole-Grain With Beef Recipe: Beef, broccoli, green beans, carrots, pumpkin, oats, chia seeds, whole egg, parsley, barley, ginger, cinnamon, red clover, beets, spinach, tricalcium phosphate, blueberries, coconut, cranberries, inulin, eggshell, zinc proteinate, iron proteinate, taurine, vitamin E supplement, copper proteinate, nicotinic acid, manganese proteinate, L-carnitine, vitamin A acetate, selenium yeast, D-calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin supplement, biotin, vitamin B12 supplement, vitamin D3 supplement, folic acid, bacillus licheniformis, bacillus subtilis, bromelain, papain
Dr. Harvey’s Garden Veggies foods are low risk by our criteria. This line offers 4 recipes. Two recipes have grains. Two recipes are grain-free. These are minimally processed, freeze-dried foods. There is average protein of 25%. There are average carbohydrates of 39% as calculated. Carbohydrates are from fruits and vegetables. This keeps the level rather high. These foods have added vitamins and amino acids. There are no added minerals. There are some high herbicide/pesticide foods. These foods also have added probiotics which is good to see. Dr. Harvey’s doesn’t provide the omega-6 to omega-3 ratio.
Garden Veggies Benefits
- Minimal processing
- No added minerals
- Contains probiotics
Garden Veggies Concerns
- High carbohydrates
- Added vitamins
- Added amino acids
- Ingredients with high herbicide/pesticides
- Doesn’t provide omega-6:omega 3 ratio
View The Entire Review on Dog Food Reviews
DR HARVEY’S DOG FOOD RECALLS
To date, Dr. Harvey’s has not had any recalls or voluntary withdrawals.
Evaluation Criteria
These dog foods were evaluated and scored based on two criteria:
Are the Ingredients High Quality?
Here are some common low quality ingredients or markers we look for:
- Is there excessive carbohydrate content, which can cause gut imbalances?
- Does the food contain unnamed proteins, which are low quality?
- Does the food use cellulose (wood pulp) as a source of fiber instead of real food?
- Are there excessive vitamins and minerals added in place of real food nutrition?
- Are there excessive added amino acids or plant proteins instead of expensive meat protein?
- Does the food contain inflammatory processed seed oils?
How Safe Are the Ingredients?
Many ingredients come from unhealthy, inflammatory sources or are full of pesticides so we look for:
- How processed is the food?
- Does the food contain known genetically modified foods?
- Does the food contain ingredients known to be high in pesticides?
- Does the food contain natural flavor, which are often MSG or animal digest?
- Does the food contain rice, which is high in arsenic?
We evaluate each food by these criteria. We assign a score using the average of ingredient quality and safety. This is NOT a paid list and there are no affiliate links. Dogs Naturally partnered with DogFoodReviews.com to develop unbiased, objective criteria for dog owners. This will help them choose the best dog food on the market. You can view the full Evaluation Criteria at DogFoodReviews.com.
