Veterinarian Gary Richter started Ultimate Pet Nutrition in 2018. Dr Richter is author of The Ultimate Pet Health Guide. The company appears to be based in Encino, CA.
The company produces dog food under the name Nutra Complete. They also produce supplements and treats. These are for dogs and cats.
In 2023, the company partnered with a new US manufacturing facility. Most products ship from their 2 warehouses. They’re located in Chatsworth, CA, and Memphis, TN. They ship to Canada, Puerto Rico, the UK, Denmark, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, and the British Virgin Islands.
The company contributes to the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association and Pets for Vets.
For our Nutra Complete 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 NUTRA COMPLETE A GOOD DOG FOOD?
Ultimate Pet Nutrition produces this line of freeze-dried dog foods. They are low risk by our criteria. The company offers 5 recipes. All recipes score 9/10 for ingredient safety by our criteria. Unfortunately, there are concerns about ingredient quality.
Recipes have average protein of 40%. This is what we expect in a minimally processed dog food. These recipes have average carbohydrates of 14%. Nutra Complete doesn’t use added grains. The recipes have sweet potatoes that raise the carb content. Several recipes are a a bit higher than we like to see. They lose points for this. Dogs have no nutritional need for carbohydrates. Foods high in carbohydrates can raise insulin and cause obesity.
The pork recipe is also higher in fat than protein. A high fat diet can cause unwanted shifts in gut bacteria populations. It can add unwanted toxins since fat stores toxins. Pork fat is high in omega-6 fatty acids, which are inflammatory. This is a better quality food. It’s not likely fat is added for cost savings. But it’s something to be aware of.
Nutra Complete recipes don’t have artificial preservatives. They don’t use fillers or meat by-products.
It’s good to see that recipes have a substantial amount of whole food ingredients. These are within the first 12 to 14 ingredients. But then there are added vitamins, minerals and amino acids. Recipes lose quality points for this. It’s preferred that nutrients come from whole foods. Vitamins from whole food sources include the full spectrum of cofactors. This makes them safe and bioavailable. A couple of added vitamins are acceptable. Five or more implies the food is of poor nutritional value.
All recipes are lightly processed. The only ingredient safety issue is there are foods with a high pesticide risk. Spraying poses a significant health risk to plants, animals and soils. Organic ingredients are pesticide-free and would eliminate this risk.
These recipes also have glam ingredients. They don’t lose points for this. They aren’t a huge offender. However, you’ll see a desirable ingredient like cranberry listed after salt. It appears in minuscule amounts. It contributes little or no nutritional value to your dog.
These products are manufactured, 3rd party tested, and packaged in the USA. They have domestic and imported components. There is no further information about sourcing.
Nutra Complete doesn’t provide the omega-6:omega-3 ratio. This is a concern since AAFCO allows a very inflammatory ratio of 30:1. Diets rich in omega-6 fats can cause chronic inflammation.
Nutra Complete Freeze-Dried
Score: 7.7/10
Ingredient List For Premium Beef Recipe: Beef, beef liver, beef kidney, beef bone (ground), flax seed, dried kelp, blueberry, carrot, sweet potato, spinach, broccoli, chicory, salt, cranberry, yeast culture, pumpkin seed, ginger, potassium chloride, taurine, zinc amino acid complex, inulin, diatomaceous earth, iron amino acid complex, vitamin E supplement, yucca schidigera extract, niacin supplement, copper amino acid complex, L-carnitine, manganese amino acid complex, D-calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, sodium selenite, vitamin A supplement, riboflavin supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, biotin, vitamin B12 supplement, folic acid, vitamin D3 supplement, mixed tocopherols (preservatives).
Nutra Complete Benefits
- Made in house
- High protein
- Light processing
Nutra Complete Concerns
- High in carbohydrates in 2 recipes
- Excessive added vitamins & minerals
- Added amino acids
- High pesticide/herbicide foods
- Does not provide omega-6:omega-3 ratio
- Glam ingredients
View The Entire Review on Dog Food Reviews
NUTRA COMPLETE DOG FOOD RECALLS
To date, Nutra Complete has not had any recalls or voluntary withdrawals.
Evaluation Criteria
We evaluate and score dog foods 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?
Each food is objectively evaluated by these criteria and a score is assigned using the average of ingredient quality and safety. This is NOT a paid list and there are no affiliate links. Dogs Naturally has partnered with DogFoodReviews.com to make sure dog owners have unbiased, objective criteria to help them choose the best dog food on the market. You can view the full Evaluation Criteria at DogFoodReviews.com.
