Primal Pet Foods Dog Food Reviews

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 Foods Dog Food Reviews we’ll look at each food line individually, based on the food ingredient quality and safety. There are 3 lines of 27 dog foods. Each dog food review was based on these criteria.

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

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. 

Using our evaluation criteria, Primal Raw Frozen dog food is considered a low risk dog food. 

Ingredient Safety

Primal Raw Frozen dog food loses no points for ingredient safety, thanks to certified organic produce, which removes concerns about high pesticide or herbicide residues or GMOs. 

Ingredient Quality

Raw foods are minimally processed so the original nutrients are retained, and there are no added vitamins and minerals, indicating better quality ingredients that supply appropriate nutrition. The line has decent protein averaging 49% on a dry matter basis. 

However, there are a couple of small concerns about ingredient quality:

Moderate Carbohydrates 

In the Pork and Venison recipes carbohydrates are a little high at 18.5% and 19.5% (as calculated on a dry matter basis) respectively. Carbs in this line are mainly from the organic produce, but there’s quinoa (a higher protein starch) in some recipes.  

Some recipes have the same percentage of fat as protein, but lower fat is preferred in raw foods. 

Unnamed Animal Ingredient

Primal uses an unnamed fish oil. It’s better to see oil from specific fish, like salmon or sardines, Also, it’s from farmed fish which is less nutritious than wild caught fish and does not contain the same healthy fatty acid balance. It’s worth noting that the Turkey & Sardine recipe does contain wild caught sardines, however.

Other Concerns

The recipes don’t lose points for these concerns, but they’re worth noting.

Does Not Provide Omega-6:Omega-3 Ratio

Primal does not state the omega6:omega-3 ratio in their foods. While this is true of most foods, AAFCO allows a very inflammatory limit of 30:1. Diets rich in omega-6 fats can cause chronic inflammation and disease.

Contains Coconut Oil

Research shows coconut oil (even though organic in this line), may be harmful to gut health.

Read more Primal Dog Food Reviews

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.

Using our evaluation criteria, Primal Freeze-Dried dog food is considered a low risk dog food.

Ingredient Safety

Primal Freeze-Dried dog food loses no points for ingredient safety, thanks to certified organic produce, which removes concerns about high pesticide or herbicide residues or GMOs. 

Ingredient Quality

Freeze dried food is lightly processed without applying heat, so the nutrients are retained, and there are no added vitamins and minerals in the recipes, indicating better quality ingredients that supply needed nutrition. There’s a decent level of protein, averaging 45% for the line. 

However, there are a couple of small concerns about ingredient quality. 

Moderate Carbohydrates

The carbohydrates vary in this line, but the Duck, Lamb and Venison recipes lose points for having 15%-18% carbohydrates as calculated.  While acceptable, this is slightly high for a freeze-dried food. However, the carbs do come mainly from organic produce, with quinoa (a higher protein starch) in some recipes. 

The Beef recipe has higher fat than protein. We prefer to see lower fat in freeze-dried foods. 

Unnamed Animal Ingredient

Primal uses an unnamed fish oil. It’s better to see oil from specific fish, like salmon or sardines. Also, it’s from farmed fish which is less nutritious than wild caught fish and does not contain the same healthy fatty acid balance. 

It’s worth noting that the Turkey & Sardine recipe does contain wild caught sardines, however. And the same recipe has added probiotics with guaranteed CFU, which is good to see. 

Other Concerns

The recipes don’t lose points for these concerns, but they’re worth noting.

Does Not Provide Omega-6:Omega-3 Ratio

Primal does not state the omega6:omega-3 ratio in their foods. While this is true of most foods, AAFCO allows a very inflammatory limit of 30:1. Diets rich in omega-6 fats can cause chronic inflammation and disease.

Contains Coconut Oil

Research shows coconut oil (even though organic in this line), may be harmful to gut health.

Read more  Primal Dog Food Reviews

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.

Using our evaluation criteria, Primal Pronto Freeze-Dried dog food is considered a low risk dog food.

Ingredient Safety

Primal Pronto Freeze-Dried dog food loses no points for ingredient safety, thanks to certified organic produce, which removes concerns about high pesticide or herbicide residues or GMOs. 

Ingredient Quality

Freeze dried food is lightly processed without applying heat, so the nutrients are retained, and there are no added vitamins and minerals in the recipes, indicating better quality ingredients that supply needed nutrition. There’s an acceptable level of protein, averaging 38% for the line. 

However, there are a couple of small concerns about ingredient quality. 

Moderate Carbohydrates

The carbohydrates average 12.4% as calculated, but the Beef and Puppy recipes lose points for having 21% and 19% carbohydrates as calculated.  While acceptable, this is slightly high for a freeze-dried food. However, the carbs do come mainly from organic produce, with quinoa (a higher protein starch) in some recipes. 

The Beef recipe has higher fat than protein, and we’d prefer to see lower fat in freeze-dried foods. 

Seed Oil

The recipes lose a point for sunflower oil, which although organic, is a highly processed seed oil that can cause systemic and gut inflammation. 

Unnamed Animal Ingredient

Primal uses an unnamed fish oil. It’s better to see oil from specific fish, like salmon or sardines. Also, it appears it’s from farmed fish which is less nutritious than wild caught fish and does not contain the same healthy fatty acid balance. 

Other Benefits

Probiotics

It’s good to see that Primal Pronto contains probiotics with guaranteed CFU (colony forming units.

Other Concerns

The recipes don’t lose points for these concerns, but they’re worth noting.

Does Not Provide Omega-6:Omega-3 Ratio

Primal does not state the omega6:omega-3 ratio in their foods. While this is true of most foods, AAFCO allows a very inflammatory limit of 30:1. Diets rich in omega-6 fats can cause chronic inflammation and disease.

Farmed Fish Ingredients

As mentioned earlier, the fish oil appears to be farmed and the recipes also contain cod liver oil that isn’t described as wild caught. Wild caught fish are more nutritious with a better fatty acid profile. 

Contains Coconut Oil

Research shows coconut oil (even though organic in this line), may be harmful to gut health.

Read more Primal Dog Food Reviews

Is Primal A Good Dog Food?

When evaluating ingredient quality and safety, scoring shows Primal’s 3 lines of 27 dog foods to be low risk foods. The Pronto Freeze-Dried line is considered the highest risk, 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.  

Overall, though, Primal uses quality ingredients in their dog foods and they are all minimally or lightly processed. The foods are made in house with certified organic produce. The Pronto Freeze-Dried line contains probiotics with guaranteed CFUs.

As mentioned earlier, concerns that don’t affect the score are the use of nonspecific fish oil as well as farmed fish and cod liver oil, as well as coconut oil which may harm gut health. Like most other food manufacturers, Primal doesn’t state the ratio of omega-6:omega3, which is always a concern because omega-6 fatty acids are pro-inflammatory, and AAFCO allows a very inflammatory ratio of 30:1. 

Primal Dog Food Recalls

Finally there have been several Primal dog food 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.”
• March 2015: the company voluntarily recalled limited numbers of its Feline Turkey Raw Frozen Formula for suspected low thiamine levels. 
• May 2011: when some bags of Feline Chicken & Salmon Formula were recalled because of suspected salmonella contamination.

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.