Primal was founded in 2001. The company produces raw frozen and freeze-dried foods and treats for dogs and cats. All of their frozen and freeze-dried foods and some treats are manufactured in their state-of-the-art facility in Fairfield, CA. They use third-party manufacturers to produce their goat milk, bone broth and treats.
For our Primal Pet Food 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 PRIMAL A GOOD DOG FOOD?
When evaluating ingredient quality and safety, scoring shows Primal’s 4 lines of 33 dog foods to be low risk foods.
Overall, the main concern is due to its use of seed oils in all recipes. Some recipes in each line also have more carbohydrates than other raw or freeze-dried dog foods.
However, Primal uses quality ingredients in their dog foods. They are all moderately or lightly processed. The foods are made in house with certified organic produce. Two lines contain probiotics with guaranteed CFUs. These are Pronto Freeze-Dried and Kibble In The Raw.
Primal dog food lines score well and average 8.7 to 9.5/10. Kibble In The Raw has the lowest score at 7.8/10. It has inflammatory seed oil. It also uses sorghum, a grain that contributes to high carbohydrates, and it’s also a high pesticide crop.
This doesn’t affect the score but should be noted. Coconut oil is in many recipes. It can be inflammatory which may harm gut health.
Like most other food manufacturers, Primal doesn’t state the ratio of omega-6:omega3. This is always a concern because omega-6 fatty acids are pro-inflammatory. AAFCO allows a very inflammatory ratio of 30:1.
Primal Raw Frozen
Score: 9.4/10
Package Ingredients For Primal Raw Frozen Pork Patties Recipe: Pork Hearts, Ground Pork Bones, Pork Livers, Organic Kale, Organic Squash, Organic Celery, Organic Pumpkin Seeds, Organic Sunflower Seeds, Organic Blueberries, Organic Cranberries, Organic Cilantro, Organic Ginger, Organic Apple Cider Vinegar, Montmorillonite Clay, Fish Oil, Organic Quinoa, Organic Coconut Oil, Organic Ground Alfalfa, Vitamin E Supplement, Dried Organic Kelp
With a score of 9.4/10, Primal Raw Frozen dog food is a low risk dog food by our criteria.
Primal’s Balanced Base dog food recipes include the Raw Frozen line of foods in 2 sizes (patties and nuggets, plus the Raw Frozen Pronto line in a “scoop and serve” size. These 3 Raw Frozen lines share the same recipe and are reviewed as one Raw Frozen category here. There are 15 products offered within these lines. They have average protein of 49%.
The recipes lose no points for ingredient safety, thanks to certified organic produce and no added vitamins and minerals.
Two recipes (Pork and Venison) lost points for higher carbohydrates. The carbs are mainly from the organic produce. Some use quinoa, a higher protein grain.
All the recipes except Turkey & Sardine lose ingredient quality points for unnamed fish oil. It’s also not specified as wild caught. The company states they use wild-caught sardines in the Turkey & Sardine recipe. Wild caught fish are more nutritious with a better fatty acid balance.
There are 2 additional concerns. There is the addition of coconut oil, which may be harmful to gut health. Finally, Primal does not provide the omega-6:omega-3 ratio. This is important since omega-6 fats are inflammatory. AAFCO allows a very high ratio of 30:1.
Primal Raw Frozen Benefits
- Made in-house
- Minimal processing
- Certified organic produce
- Low average carbohydrates
- No added vitamins and minerals
Primal Raw Frozen Concerns
- Moderately high carbs in 2 recipes
- Unnamed fish oil, not wild caught
- Contains coconut oil
- Omega-6:omega-3 ratio not provided
View The Entire Review on Dog Food Reviews
Primal Freeze-Dried
Score: 9.3/10
Package Ingredients For Primal Freeze-Dried Rabbit Recipe: Rabbit (with ground bone), Organic Kale, Rabbit Livers, Organic Squash, Organic Celery, Organic Pumpkin Seeds, Organic Sunflower Seeds, Organic Blueberries, Organic Cranberries, Rabbit Kidneys, Rabbit Lungs, Rabbit Hearts, Organic Cilantro, Organic Ginger, Organic Apple Cider Vinegar, Montmorillonite Clay, Fish Oil, Organic Rosemary Extract, Organic Quinoa, Organic Coconut Oil, Organic Ground Alfalfa, Vitamin E Supplement, Dried Organic Kelp, Zinc Sulfate.
With a score of 9.3/10, Primal Canine Freeze-Dried Nuggets dog food is a low risk dog food by our criteria. There are 8 recipes with an average of 45% protein.
The recipes lose no points for ingredient safety. This is due to minimal processing, the use of certified organic produce and lack of added vitamins and minerals.
With respect to ingredient quality, 3 recipes lose a point for having higher carbohydrates of 15% – 18%. The carbohydrates come primarily from organic produce. They also have quinoa, a higher protein grain. The Beef recipe loses a point for having fat that’s higher than protein.
All recipes except the Turkey & Sardine lose points for unnamed fish oil. This is lower quality and the type of fish should be named. The fish oil isn’t described as wild caught, and neither is the cod liver oil in some recipes. The website does state that the sardines are wild-caught.
There are 2 additional concerns. There is the addition of coconut oil, which may be harmful to gut health. Finally, Primal does not provide the omega-6:omega-3 ratio. This is important since omega-6 fats are inflammatory. AAFCO allows a very high ratio of 30:1.
Freeze-Dried Benefits
- Made in-house
- Minimal processing
- Certified organic produce
- No added vitamins and minerals
Freeze-Dried Concerns
- Higher fat than protein (Beef recipe)
- Unnamed fish oil
- Contains coconut oil
- Omega-6:omega-3 ratio not provided
- Moderately high carbohydrates in 3 recipes
View The Entire Review on Dog Food Reviews
Primal Pronto Freeze-Dried
Score: 8.7/10
Package Ingredients For Primal Pronto Freeze-Dried Balanced Base Pork Recipe: Pork (with ground bone), Pork Livers, Organic Kale, Organic Squash, Organic Carrot, Organic Apples, Organic Parsley, Organic Pumpkin Seeds, Organic Sunflower Seeds, Organic Broccoli, Organic Blueberries, Organic Cranberries, Organic Apple Cider Vinegar, Montmorillonite Clay, Dried Yeast, Fish Oil, Cod Liver Oil, Organic Coconut Oil, Organic Sunflower Oil, Organic Ground Alfalfa, Dried Organic Kelp, Liquid Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, Liquid Lactobacillus casei fermentation product, Liquid Lactobacillus reuteri fermentation product, Liquid Bifidobacterium animalis fermentation product, Vitamin E Supplement, Organic Rosemary Extract, Taurine.
Primal Pronto Freeze-Dried dog food is a low risk dog food by our criteria. It has an average score of 8.7/10. This freeze-dried “scoop, hydrate and serve” dog food scores lower than Primal’s other dog foods.
The average protein of 37.6% is also lower in this line. These recipes have higher carbohydrates in 2 recipes. There is very high fat in one recipe. Oils also affect the ingredient quality score due to fish oil. This is an unnamed animal ingredient that suggests lower quality. There is also sunflower oil. It’s a highly processed seed oil with a high level of omega-6 fatty acids. This can cause systemic and gut inflammation (even though the oil is organic).
All recipes in this line score 10/10 for ingredient safety. This is a minimally processed line. It includes certified organic produce, and has no added vitamins and minerals.
There are 2 additional concerns. There is the addition of coconut oil, which may be harmful to gut health. Finally, Primal does not provide the omega-6:omega-3 ratio. This is important since omega-6 fats are inflammatory. AAFCO allows a very high ratio of 30:1.
Primal Pronto Freeze-Dried Benefits
- Made in-house
- Minimally processed
- Certified organic produce
- Low carbohydrates (except 2 recipes)
- No added vitamins or minerals
Primal Pronto Freeze-Dried Concerns
- Higher carbs (Beef and Puppy recipes)
- Higher fat than protein (Lamb recipe)
- Unnamed fish oil
- Not specified whether fish oil is wild caught
- Contains seed oil
- Contains coconut oil
- Omega6:omega3 ratio not provided
View The Entire Review on Dog Food Reviews
Primal In The Raw Dog Food Review
Score: 7.8/10
Package Ingredients For Beef Kibble In The Raw Recipe: Beef (with ground bone), beef liver, sorghum, organic apple, beef tallow, egg, salmon oil, organic sweet potato, organic carrot, beef plasma, organic kale, organic spinach, montmorillonite clay, miscanthus grass, organic coconut, cod liver oil, dried yeast, vitamin E supplement, vegetable oil, organic ground alfalfa, inulin, dried organic kelp, liquid lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, liquid lactobacillus casei fermentation product, liquid lactobacillus reuteri fermentation product, liquid bifidobacterium animalis fermentation product, mixed tocopherols (preservative), taurine, green tea extract, rosemary extract.
Primal In The Raw dog food has a score of 7.8/10. It’s a low risk dog food by our criteria. There are 5 recipes with an average of 28% protein. They have high average carbohydrates of 32%. This is quite high for freeze dried dog food.
These foods are minimally processed which preserves nutrients. The recipes use certified organic produce. This removes the risk of pesticide residues or GMO foods. There are no added vitamins and minerals. This indicates high quality ingredients that don’t need added nutrients to meet AAFCO standards.
There are a few concerns. These recipes have high average carbohydrates and have high pesticide ingredients. This is due to the use of sorghum. Some studies also show that dogs fed a high carbohydrate content have changes to their gut bacteria. In addition, this is also a high pesticide crop in the top 5 ingredients, so points are lost.
The only other ingredient quality concern is the use of vegetable oil. It is highly processed and inflammatory. In addition, the source isn’t identified which can be a concern.
Primal doesn’t provide the omega-6:omega-3 ratio. They are certainly not the only brand omitting this information, but it’s our hope that more brands will pay more attention to these fats since omega-6 fats are inflammatory and AAFCO allows a very high ratio of 30:1.
Primal In The Raw Benefits
- Made in-house
- Minimal processing
- Certified organic produce
- No added vitamins and minerals
Primal In The Raw Concerns
- High average carbohydrates
- Unnamed fish oil
- Contains seed oil
Omega-6:omega-3 ratio not provided
View The Entire Review on Dog Food Reviews
PRIMAL DOG FOOD RECALLS
Primal Pet Foods has had several voluntary recalls.
July 2022: the company issued a voluntary recall of its Raw Frozen Primal Patties for Dogs Beef Formula with a best by date of 05/22/23 due to potential contamination with Listeria monocytogenes bacteria. This was the result of a positive result during a routine sample by the FDA.
December 2017: several formulas of freeze-dried dog and cat foods were recalled because the bone grind size “deviated from the ideal.”
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.e 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.
