Founded in 2010, Raw Bistro is a small brand manufactured in Cannon Falls, Minnesota. They appear to manufacture their foods in their own facility. They state their meats are all USDA inspected, human grade and that their beef is 100% grass-fed. Their produce is also organic, which is a nice feature that keeps the score high.
For our Raw Bistro dog food reviews we’ll look at each food line individually, based on the food ingredient quality and safety. There are 2 lines with 9 dog foods. Each dog food review was based on these criteria.
Raw Bistro Raw Dog Food Review
Score: 9.7/10
Package Ingredients For Raw Bistro Raw Grain-Free Bison Recipe: Bison, Bison Heart, Bison Kidney, Ground Bison Bone, Bison Liver, Organic Butternut Squash, Organic Broccoli, Organic Red Peppers, Organic Blueberries, Non-GMO Safflower Oil, Organic Kelp, Inulin (extract of chicory), Sea Salt, Zinc Amino Acid Chelate, Vitamin E Supplement, Manganese Amino Acid Chelate, Vitamin D3 Supplement
Using our evaluation criteria, Raw Bistro’s raw dog food line is considered a low risk dog food.
Ingredient Safety
No points are deducted for Ingredient Safety. The use of organic produce removes any concerns about foods with pesticide or herbicide residues or GMO ingredients.
Ingredient Quality
There are a couple of small concerns on the Ingredient Quality side.
Contains Seed Oil: Some of the Raw Bistro raw dog food recipes lose a point for safflower oil, which is a highly processed and inflammatory oil. It’s an inexpensive alternative to higher quality animal fats and oils. It’s worth noting the safflower oil is non-GMO, however.
Some Added Vitamins and Minerals: It’s not enough to cause any loss of points, but the recipes do contain a handful of added vitamins and minerals, which many other raw foods avoid. It’s preferred that foods derive their nutrients from whole foods, and the addition of some vitamins and minerals suggests there may be some lower quality ingredients.
Other Concerns
No points are deducted for these concerns, but they’re worth noting when evaluating the safety and quality of dog food:
Does Not Provide Omega-6:Omega-3 Ratio: Raw Bistro does not state the omega6:omega-3 ratio in their foods. While this is true of most dog foods, it’s a concern because AAFCO allows a very inflammatory limit of 30:1. Diets high in omega-6 fats can cause chronic inflammation and disease.
Coconut Oil: The recipes contain coconut oil, which, although organic in these recipes, has been shown to cause undesirable changes in the gut lining.
Benefits
Here are some benefits of Raw Bistro Raw dog foods:
High Protein/Low Carbohydrates: As with most raw foods, the protein content for Raw Bistro Raw dog food is a good level at 50% on a dry matter basis. The recipes average 8% carbohydrate, as calculated on a dry matter basis, which is minimal and what you expect in a raw food.
Minimally Processed: Raw foods are minimally processed so the food retains the nutrients in the raw ingredients.
Read more Raw Bistro Dog Food Reviews
Raw Bistro Dehydrated Dog Food Review
Score: 9.4/10
Package Ingredients For Raw Bistro Dehydrated Turkey Recipe: Ground Turkey (includes bone), Turkey Gizzards, Turkey Liver, Turkey Heart, Organic Spinach, Organic Yams, Organic Celery, Organic Cranberries, Organic Flaxseed, Organic Apple Cider Vinegar, Organic Coconut Oil, Sea Salt, Organic Kelp, Inulin (extract of chicory), Zinc Amino Acid Chelate, Vitamin E Supplement, Copper Amino Acid Chelate, Manganese Amino Acid Chelate, Vitamin D3 Supplement
Using our evaluation criteria, Raw Bistro Dehydrated dog food is considered a low risk dog food. Here are our concerns:
Ingredient Safety
Only one point is lost for Ingredient Safety, due to moderate processing involved in dehydrated food. Dehydrated foods are dried using heat which may cause loss of some nutrients.
The use of organic produce means there’s no concern about foods with pesticide or herbicide residues or GMO ingredients.
Ingredient Quality
There are a couple of small concerns on the Ingredient Quality side.
Contains Seed Oil: Some of the Raw Bistro raw dog food recipes lose a point for safflower oil, which is a highly processed and inflammatory oil. It’s an inexpensive alternative to higher quality animal fats and oils. It’s worth noting the safflower oil is non-GMO, however.
Some Added Vitamins and Minerals: It’s not enough to cause any loss of points, but the recipes do contain a handful of added vitamins and minerals, which many other raw foods avoid.
Other Concerns
No points are deducted for these concerns but they’re worth noting when evaluating the safety and quality of dog food:
Does Not Provide Omega-6:Omega-3 Ratio: Raw Bistro does not state the omega6:omega-3 ratio in their foods. While this is true of most dog foods, it’s a concern because AAFCO allows a very inflammatory limit of 30:1. Diets high in omega-6 fats can cause chronic inflammation and disease.
Coconut Oil: The recipes contain coconut oil, which, although organic, has been shown to cause undesirable changes in the gut lining.
Benefits
Here are some benefits of Raw Bistro Dehydrated dog foods:
High Protein/Low Carbohydrates: The protein content for Raw Bistro Dehydrated dog food is 50% on a dry matter which is a good level/. This line averages 8% carbohydrate, as calculated on a dry matter basis, which is minimal and a good level in a dehydrated food.
Moderately Processed: Dehydrated foods are moderately processed using some heat, so there can be some loss of nutrients from processing.
Read more Raw Bistro Dog Food Reviews
Is Raw Bistro a Good Dog Food?
When evaluating ingredient quality and safety, our scoring shows Raw Bistro’s 2 lines of 9 dog foods to be low risk foods. The Dehydrated line’s score is affected by moderate processing with heat.
That said, the recipes all lose points for safflower oil.
Some recipes are also a bit high in fat, but they’re still lower in fat than protein which is preferred in raw dog food.
There are additional concerns that don’t affect the Raw Bistro dog food reviews score, but they’re worth mentioning:
Does Not Provide Omega-6:Omega-3 Ratio: This omission is true of most foods. However it is a concern because omega-6 fatty acids are pro-inflammatory, and AAFCO allows a very inflammatory ratio of 30:1.
Coconut Oil: Contains coconut oil which, although organic in this case, has been shown to cause undesirable changes in the gut lining.
Raw Bistro Dog Food Recalls
To date, there have been no recalls of Raw Bistro dog foods.
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. We’ve 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.
