Identity Dog Food Review – Dogs Naturally

Jeremy and Trevar Petersen, industry veterans, launched Identity Pet Nutrition in 2018. They are third generation in the pet food sector, and come from rural Colorado. The company is fully owned by the Petersens. They don’t rely on private equity or external investors.

They also founded Wild Calling & Zoic branded pet foods.

The brand specializes in high-protein, wet pet food products. The company makes these foods in its own facility in Quebec, Canada. They are distributed in the US and Canada. The company’s business headquarters are in Denver.

For our Identity 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 IDENTITY A GOOD DOG FOOD?

Identity Pet Nutrition offers two lines of small-batch dog foods. They are Gently Cooked and Canned. Gently Cooked is low risk by our criteria. Identity Canned is moderate risk due to processing. Gently Cooked diets are kettle cooked and flash frozen. This preserves more nutrients.

The Canned line has 11 recipes. They have decent protein levels. There are high average carbohydrates (27%), despite low-carb ingredients. These recipes contain agar-agar, which is a fiber and a thickener but it’s low in carbs. Several recipes are high in fat. This is a problem due to potential inflammation from omega-6 fatty acids. Non-GMO ingredients are used. They’re not organic, posing potential pesticide risks.

The Gently Cooked line includes six high-protein, low-carb recipes. They don’t use added vitamins and minerals. However, two recipes have rice. Rice has potential arsenic contamination, plus a high carb content. Both lines use coconut oil, which may harm gut health.

Identity’s products are grain-free, gluten-free, legume-free, potato-free. They are also non-GMO. They’re made in small batches with locally sourced ingredients in Quebec, Canada. They claim to use sustainable farming practices. They don’t have certifications like GAP or MSC. It’s unknown whether their Atlantic salmon and herring are wild or farmed. Wild has a better fatty acid profile.

The company describes its dog food as human grade. Until earlier in 2023, it wasn’t a recognized term by AAFCO. AAFCO is the regulatory body that establishes guidelines for the pet food industry. AAFCO has new guidelines. They’ll require manufacturers to provide documentation proving all ingredients are human-grade. 

Identity Pet Nutrition doesn’t provide the omega-6:omega-3 ratio in its recipes. This is unfortunate since AAFCO allows a very inflammatory ratio of 30:1. 

Overall, Identity Gently Cooked dog foods are a good option. They score much better than their canned foods.

Let’s look at each line in a little more detail.

Ingredient List For NZ Lamb Recipe: Lamb, lamb broth, liver, carrot, agar-agar, dicalcium phosphate, potassium chloride, coconut oil, choline chloride, salt, zinc proteinate, vitamin E supplement ,L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, iron proteinate, copper proteinate, thiamine mononitrate, selenium yeast, niacin supplement, d-calcium pantothenate, vitamin A supplement, manganese sulfate, riboflavin supplement, manganese proteinate, vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin B12 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, calcium iodate, folic acid.

Identity Canned has 11 recipes that average 36% protein. They average 27% carbohydrates as calculated. They are a moderate risk dog food by our criteria. Points were deducted for ingredient quality. The recipes have high carbohydrates, added vitamins and minerals and high fat. These foods lose food safety points for being highly processed. They have high pesticide ingredients in the top 5.

Canned Benefits

Canned Concerns

• High in carbohydrates
• Added vitamins and minerals
• Contains coconut oil
• Highly-processed
• High pesticide ingredients in top 5
• Does not provide omega-6:omega-3 ratio
• Doesn’t specify farmed or wild-caught fish

View The Entire Review on Dog Food Reviews

IDENTITY GENTLY COOKED

Score: 8.6/10

Ingredient List For Pork Recipe: Pork, pork heart, carrots, spinach, butternut squash, apples, blueberries, organic coconut oil, turmeric, cinnamon, dried egg shell, sea salt.

Identity Gently Cooked has 6 recipes. They average 63% protein and 7% carbs when calculated on a dry matter basis. This calculation removes moisture for comparison with dry foods. This line scores quite well and is a low risk dog food by our criteria. This line loses food quality points for having higher carbohydrates in 2 recipes. These foods lose food safety points for being moderately processed. They also use rice, and have high pesticide ingredients in the top 5.

Gently Cooked Benefits

• High protein
• Low fat
• No added vitamins and minerals
• No added amino acids
• Moderately processed

Gently Cooked Concerns

• High carbohydrates in 2 recipes
• High pesticide ingredients
• Coconut oil
• Does not provide omega-6:omega-3 ratio

View The Entire Review on Dog Food Reviews

IDENTITY DOG FOOD RECALLS

To date, Identity 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.