Best Dog Food With No (or Minimal) Ingredients from China – Quick Ranking
The Honest Kitchen was the company I alluded to above who was the target of the CCP’s attempt to bully them into submission, and thus I’ll name them the #1 dog food not made in China, not just because they stood up to China, but because their dog food is impressive on its own merits.
Most pet food is “feed grade”, meaning that food is produced under standards set for livestock and may contain “4D” meats (meat from animals that are dying, dead, diseased, or disabled). Normally, that’s not necessarily a bad thing–in the wild dogs aren’t going to be particularly picky about things like that. But in light of safety issues with pet food, especially given China’s terrible record, why not go for a higher grade if you have the chance?
And with The Honest Kitchen you do. Their dog food is human grade, meaning it uses only ingredients that would be accepted for humans, and it’s even made in a facility that meets the standards to produce human food. The ingredients list reads like a recipe on Epicurious–chicken, barley, potatoes, peas, carrot, parsley, bananas, and so on. The only unpronounceable words are the vitamins and minerals that are used to fortify the food, and thanks to the help of the CCP, we know that none of those are sourced from China–if you’ve read my article on vitamins, you’ll know that’s no small feat given how China has monopolized much of that industry, thanks to short-sighted corporations in America enabling them.
Yes, their food is pricier than the giant bag of kibble you buy in bulk. But you get what you pay for. A healthier, happier dog and complete peace of mind. If you consider your dog to be a member of the family and you have a little more disposable income, why not spend the few dollars day to feed him right?
The Honest Kitchen did have to modify their packaging to remove references to their ingredients not coming from China, if only to shut up the Twitter mob that the CCP and irresponsible journalists stirred up. But happily, they are not budging from their commitment to avoid China altogether. I admire this, and so should everyone who loves freedom and loves their dogs. And no, they are not racists and never were.
The Honest Kitchen has been based out of San Diego, California since its founding in 2002. Aside from its commitment not to do business with China suppliers, its founder Lucy Postins has shown remarkable integrity in how she runs the business, from refusing to do business with pet stores that support puppy mills to supporting charities. This is the poster child of businesses to support and celebrate, and the attacks on it from China-fueled social mobs is a clear sign they’re on the right track.
One thing I love about this site is reading the comments that come in. Every now and again there’ll be a CCP bot that comes in and flings abuse at me, but for the most part the comments are constructive, respectful, and sometimes incredibly helpful.
One such comment came from Marion, who turned me on to a brand called Open Farm. Open Farm was founded by Jacqueline Prehogan and Isaac Langleben in Toronto in 2014.
Their idea was a simple one: create a natural, nutritious dog food that’s ethically raised, ethically sourced, and absolutely transparent. See your yourself–they publish a list of every ingredient they use and where it comes from. And yes, there is not one mention of China anywhere.
I can’t tell you how refreshing this is after dealing with so many dog food companies who contort themselves to avoid answering simple questions. Of course, we know why those companies do that–it’s because as they reach a certain amount of popularity, they find that in order to please their investors or shareholders, they need to drive more profits, which means finding cheaper and cheaper suppliers.
At $80 for a 22 pound bag of food, it’s not cheap. But maybe it’s time we looked at dog food a different way. Assuming the bag lasts about 2 months for a 50 pound dog, that comes out to about $1.37 a day. If you consider the quality and selection of the ingredients and the nutritional benefits of the food (they work with a team of nutrition, animal science, and food manufacturing experts),
Open Farm has been seeing tremendous success, and they’ve been receiving a lot of investment from private equity firms. Let’s hope their investors don’t mess with the formula–literally–that these brilliant entrepreneurs came up with to set a new bar for responsible sourcing and manfuacturing.
Fromm is one of those brands you see all the time on most “best dog food not made in China” lists, and as with The Honest Kitchen they do come out and say upfront on their site that they refuse to source ingredients from China, despite the backlash and charges of racism that the Chinese Communist Party will no doubt stir up if they see it.
Fromm is a company that traces its history in the United States back over 100 years. Originally a ranch that bred silver foxes, it developed as an innovator in veterinary science and food production. It introduced its first dog food brand in the 1940s and ultimately evolved to become a leading producer of pet food, operating manufacturing facilities throughout Wisconsin.
Why haven’t a lot of people heard of Fromm? Put simply, by remaining family-owned there’s less pressure for them to squeeze every last penny out of their customers by impatient investors. So they can invest more of their profits into improving their product vs. spending it on endless marketing. And they don’t have investors breathing down their necks forcing them to use the cheapest suppliers. Those are statements that any brand owned by big conglomerates like Diamond, Smucker, Hills, Purina (Nestle) and Mars Petcare can’t make, and unfortunately those are the brands that are dominating shelves and online stores.
Fromm features a wide range of formulas specific to the nutritional needs of different kinds of dogs, including small breed adults, puppies, overweight dogs, large breed dogs, and many more.
Grandma Mae’s was founded in 2007. And no, it wasn’t a coincidence. After watching their customers go through so much pain, a group of independent pet store owners pooled their funds together to create a new dog food that would remain true to their principles. Today, they still state boldly on their Web site that none of their products contain ingredients from China.
Their Web site even goes into detail to explain how they deal with certain ingredients where China has completely monopolized the supply chain. Specifically, they explain that they don’t add Vitamin C, because dogs don’t need vitamin C supplements like humans do–they synthesize all the vitamin C they need in their liver. In other words, if you see a dog food brand that has supplemental vitamin C, chances are that was put in your your benefit, not for your dog’s. Similarly, China has all but monopolized the world’s supply of taurine, but while cats cannot synthesize taurine and do need it added to their diets, dogs absolutely can–and Grandma Mae’s food contains ingredients that will help your dog do just that.
Grandma Mae’s is officially sold only through independent pet stores, which is why you won’t see it on shelves of stores like Petco and Chewy (you may see it on Amazon if a local pet store is selling some of their stock online). This is another way to support your local community–buying from giant retailers or conglomerates means that more of your money goes to pay for overhead like investors, overhead like lawyers and marketers, and high paid executives. Buying an independent product from an independent store means that more money goes to your community. Remember that the only reason you’ve heard of a lot of the big brands of dog food is because they invest money in making sure you’re constantly bombarded with marketing, not necessarily because their food is any better.
Another big hat tip, this time to Cee who left a comment talking about Inukshuk Professional dog food. Inukshuk was founded as a specialized kibble that was designed to meet the intense nutritional requirements of Canada’s sled dogs. Since then, it’s become the food of choice for owners of dogs racing in the Yukon Quest, the Iditarod, and other extreme races. It’s sold on Chewy and also directly on their site.
Granted, you’re probably not having your dog pull a sled across a thousand miles of harsh winter weather. But what’s great about this food is that it’s so nutrient-dense that you don’t need to feed your dogs as much of it in order to meet their nutritional and energy needs, which means your bag of food will last much longer, something to keep in mind if you’re comparing prices.
Inukshuk isn’t necessarily for every dog; think of it as analogous to the kind of diet an Olympic athlete might eat to stay in top shape. If you’re raising an athletic or working dog with high performance needs, there are hardly any better foods on the market. That’s why this food is trusted not just by sled dog racing teams, but by police K9 units and breeders of strong, muscular dogs. According to their Web site, their ingredients are sourced mainly from local fishing and farming in the east coast of Canada, with the remainder all coming from North America. Their final product is made in Fredericton in the province of New Brunswick, Canada.
Merrick was founded in 1988, and have been one of those names you see over and over on lists of the best dog food made and sourced from the USA. They have rave reviews on Amazon for multiple diets, including their Real Chicken and Sweet Potato Recipe and their Healthy Grains Dry Dog Food with Real Meat.
However, from my outsider’s perspective there seem to have been some odd developments. Up to 2017 they put the phrase “All recipes are cooked in the USA using only the freshest ingredients grown by local farmers” in their press releases. But as of 2018, that phrase disappeared completely. Coincidentally, that was the year they were acquired by Purina, who claimed that the merger wouldn’t affect how they operate.
These day they avoid any references to any country on their site. I did read an answer to a customer question on an Amazon product page in January 2021 that said “We also do source one ingredient from China, which would be our Vitamin B.”. So that slippery slope may be starting as Merrick gets pressure from Purina to drop their US suppliers and turn to cheap China suppliers. Shame on them if that’s the case.
When I wrote to Merrick in August 2021, their response was consistent: Most of our ingredients are sourced right here in the US. However, due to a move by our Vitamin B supplier in 2018 over to China, we do get this one ingredient from China. We have had a really good relationship with this supplier over the years and they also remain our most consistent and quality supply of Vitamin B. Aside from this one ingredient, however, nothing else comes from China. While we cannot divulge specific levels in the food, as you go down the ingredient list, the less an ingredient will be in the food.
For some reason another customer service agent sent me a similar response the day later. It was probably a mistake on their part to send me two responses, but I was pleased that both responses were equally detailed, consistent, and felt like they were treating me as an individual.
While all our recipes are cooked in the USA and we strive to source the majority of ingredients locally, not all the ingredients come from our country (for example, lamb is sourced in New Zealand and rabbit from France).
We source one of our vitamin B from China; however, our trusted partner was originally located in the United States and moved their operations to China. As we trusted our partnership with them we continued to source our vitamin B with them. I can assure you each ingredient must meet our own rigorous quality standards. Ingredients are tested upon arrival, samples are tested throughout production and all pet food is tested before we release it for sale.
They did a few things right here. They were specific, transparent, detailed, and honest. While I would prefer that they could find a supplier of Vitamin B outside of China, their explanation seemed reasonable that they’re just continuing a relationship with a previous supplier.
I admit I’m skeptical that there won’t be a “slippery slope” here as other Purina brands that have completely sold out put pressure on Merrick to either change more of their suppliers to China or to push more suppliers themselves to selling out to China. That said, because Merrick seems honest and transparent that their exposure to China is limited to just that one ingredient, I figured I’d leave them on this list—for now.
It’s this kind of transparency that we need more of.This business of hiding which ingredients are from China is what got the industry in their mess in 2007, and the only thing that will prevent that from happening again is if consumers refuse to be fooled and take a stand.
Merrick also owns the Whole Earth Farms brand of pet food, another brand that used to say that they were made without any ingredients from China. But since the acquisition by Purina they’ve also changed their messaging to say “Cooked in the USA With The Earth’s Best Ingredients”. Seriously? Who in their right might can’t read between the lines and clearly see that “The Earth” eventually leads to “China”? If Whole Earth Farms had just a modicum of transparency, I’d have wholeheartedly recommended them.
That said, I’ll still recommend Merrick, but I’ll also be keeping an eye on them—and you should too. If you see them holding ground, keep supporting them. But if they startto weasel out of their original commitment by selling out to more China suppliers over time, please let me know if the comments and they’ll be off this list for good.
What Dog Foods are Made in China?
We believe there are dog food brands that sourced their ingredients from China like those manufactured by Nestle, Costco, Hill’s Pet, and more. However, some pet food products don’t have the word China on the label. But, these products may still contain China’s dog food ingredients as additives or supplements. Therefore, it is advisable to check with the manufacturer about the dog food ingredients.
Dog Food Brands That Are Made in China
Many product ingredients come from China. Aside from pet foods, many countries import substances for vitamins and supplements from them. Thus, it is tough to avoid brands and products without any components coming from China.
Pets eating commercial food products, like kibble and canned foods, get nourishment from the added supplements and vitamins. We cannot shun away from these pet foods since our dogs also need them. If only we can provide our pets with a fresh kill for their daily meals. However, some manufacturers look for sources that offer lower prices. And China is one of the countries that offer affordable pet food ingredients.
Below are some of the manufacturers, we believe, sourced their pet food ingredients from China as of May 2015 (source).
Take note that the following list is a few years old and might be outdated as of today.
So, if you think you are getting China-free dog food, you may have to think again. Always make an extra effort to find out the content of your pet’s food and supplemental diet. You can call the manufacturer to ask about the protein additives and glutens as ingredients. You may also want to ask the country of origin of these additives. And, if you can, feed your dog several different foods. This way, you won’t have much trouble removing a brand once recalled.
What dog food is not made in China?
Our dogs do not have any say over what dog food they get to eat. As pet owners, its our responsibility to choose a food that will provide our canines with proper nutrition. We also need to ensure that were selecting safe products that are sourced with good quality ingredients. Many pet owners have concerns about dog food made in China. So should you be worried?
With everything we know today about the Chinese pet food market, there is no reason for you to include any Chinese ingredients in your dog’s diet and put your pet at risk when there are many safe alternatives out there.
Since the mass commercial dog food recall back in 2007, many of us dog owners have been hyper aware of pet foods made or sourced in China. Is that hyper awareness justified or was this a once in a lifetime event? Lets take a look at 12 facts that you need to know about dog food made in China.
Please include attribution to TopDogTips.com with this graphic.
