With the rise of globalization, many Americans are looking to purchase their products from US-based companies or preferably products that are made in the USA.
This trend is no different in the world of dog food, with many dog owners refusing to purchase recipes produced outside of the United States in countries like Europe or South East Asia.
US Dog Food Production
Pet food in the USA is regulated by the FDA (US Food & Drug Administration). The FDA requires that all animal foods, like human foods, be safe to eat, produced under sanitary conditions, contain no harmful substances, and be truthfully labeled.
However, it is noteworthy that the FDA does not require pre-approval of any products before they can be sold. Unless the company is using inappropriate ingredients, they are unlikely to draw much attention from the FDA.
That being said, the FDA heavily enforces these requirements and can force pet food brands to undergo recalls or pull their products from store shelves. They have done this dozens of times over the last decade and will continue to do so in the future.
Given these high standards, it is only logical that many dog owners wish to purchase US-made dog food so that they can be certain it has been thoroughly scrutinized.
Best Dog Food Made In The USA
Victor – Hi-Pro Plus Review
Victor is another successful dog food brand to feature in this article and one that many in the United States will be familiar with. Victor is commonly found in local or large pet food stores and at a myriad of online retailers like Chewy, Amazon, and Petflow.
Victor’s most significant advantage compared to other brands is that they sell their dog food range in huge bags.
This calculated use of economies of scale allows Victor to be noticeably more affordable, which may appeal to owners of large dogs or multiple dogs.
The above Hi-Pro Plus is consistently our favorite Victor recipe. It contains a substantial variety of meat and fish ingredients, all of which are meat meals.
While meat meals may be offputting to many, they are, in fact, very nutritionally dense ingredients. This nutritional density is as they have had the majority of their moisture removed in advance of processing.
As long as the meat meal ingredient is named, we consider it a satisfactory and beneficial ingredient. Examples of meat meals used in Hi-Pro Plus include Beef Meal, Chicken Meal, Pork Meal, and Menhaden Fish Meal.
The formula uses two primary sources of carbohydrates, Grain Sorghum and Millet. While some dog owners may turn their nose up at these grain ingredients, they are perfectly acceptable additions that can provide a mix of carbohydrates and fiber.
Besides, the sum of carbohydrates provided by the portion of these two ingredients is modest and satisfactory for the vast majority of dogs.
If you’d like to learn more about these two specific ingredients, check out the below articles.
NomNom Turkey Fare Review
Fresh Home Delivered dog food has seen a surge in popularity across the United States over the last few years.
This style of dog food is drastically different from traditional kibble or canned food. It is prepared fresh, pre-portioned, frozen, and then delivered straight to a customer’s door.
NomNom, formerly known as NomNomNow, is one of the most popular providers of this service and is available in all 48 of the contiguous states.
Prospective dog owners enter various key pieces of information in during the signup process, and then Nom Nom interprets this information to tailor-make a diet and gauges the dog’s nutritional needs. You can see an extract of this signup process below.
How they produce, portion, and ship their food is too long to go into detail here, so we’d recommend checking out their FAQ page for the full rundown.
NomNom currently has four fresh dog food recipes available and allows dog owners to subscribe to a specific recipe or a mix. Many dog owners choose to go with a mixture to give their dogs some much-needed variety.
The above-mentioned Turkey recipe is one of our favorites from this small range, thanks to its excellent nutritional profile.
The recipe makes use of Brown Rice and some unusual vegetable ingredients such as Carrots and Spinach.
This combination of ingredients could be an ideal mix for dogs who do not enjoy legumes or for those dog owners who are concerned about the link between legumes and canine heart disease (which you can read about here).
However, these aren’t the only ingredients present, and as you might have guessed, Turkey takes center stage. It is joined by a generous proportion of Eggs, which are one of the most bioavailable sources of protein.
If all of the above wasn’t tempting enough, Nom Nom offers a 50% discount on your first order as well as a refund guarantee if your dog isn’t satisfied.
If you want more information about Nom Nom, including their full selection of ingredients, the nutritional profile of their recipes, and their recall history, we’d recommend checking out our full review, which you can find here.
American Journey Chicken & Brown Rice Review
American Journey is a new brand owned by the online pet food distributor Chewy. Until recently, American Journey products were only available on Chewy’s website, but they have recently been seen in PetSmart stores after PetSmart acquired the site.
American Journey doubles up on the low cost of shipping offered by Chewy by also making the formulas they produce very competitively priced.
This affordability has made them immensely popular as consumers hunt for a mix of quality and cost-effectiveness.
The brand has a growing range of products, including dry dog food, canned dog food, and limited ingredient dog food.
A mix of Chicken and Chicken Meal are the above recipe’s primary ingredients and, when combined, can provide a satisfactory proportion of protein and fat.
As you might have guessed, Brown Rice is the primary plant-based ingredient and can provide carbohydrates and dietary fiber.
However, there is a notable portion of Peas and Barley present, which provide similar nutrition to Brown Rice.
Taste of the Wild Ancient Wetlands Canine Recipe Review
Taste of the Wild is a brand that needs no introduction. They are an established powerhouse that many North American consumers will be used to seeing in local stores and chains.
In the past, Taste of the Wild would not have considered using grain ingredients in their recipes as consumers would likely have reacted poorly.
However, with the recent links between legumes, like Peas and Lentils, and Canine Heart Disease, they have responded to the changing market.
Their new “With Ancient Grains” recipes closely mimic their traditional grain-free recipes, at least when it comes to meat ingredients. The above recipe is based on their longstanding Wetlands formula, which has a strong focus on Duck.
A combination of Duck, Duck Meal, and Chicken Meal provide an extremely healthy proportion of meat ingredients, which are sure to satisfy dogs of all activity levels.
The selection of grains in these recipes is quite large when compared to other grain-inclusive recipes.
It includes Millet, Sorghum, Pearled Barley, and Brown Rice. These ingredients will provide a mix of carbohydrates, plant-based protein, and fiber.
You can learn more about some of these other niche grains in our articles, Millet In Dog Food, Sorghum In Dog Food & Barley In Dog Food.
The Farmer’s Dog Pork & Sweet Potato Recipe Review
The Farmer’s Dog is another US-based fresh home-delivered dog food brand that has seen huge growth over the last few years.
They operate in a very similar fashion to Nom Nom, which we discussed earlier, and ship their fresh products straight to dog owners’ doors.
They follow an almost identical sign-up process which includes asking dog owners for information such as age, weight, breed, and activity level. You can see a portion of this sign up process below.
While we are big fans of all three of The Farmer’s Dog’s dog food recipes, we had to narrow down our it down to a single favorite. We decided to go with the Pork Recipe for a number of reasons.
The recipe makes use of a large portion of Pork and Pork Liver. These Pork ingredients can supply a very satisfactory supply of animal protein and fat, which is critical to a dog’s diet.
In particular, the Pork Liver can boost levels of less common and beneficial vitamins and minerals as well as enhance flavor.
These Pork ingredients are then combined with White Potatoes and Sweet Potatoes. These starch ingredients supply the recipe with a modest proportion of carbohydrates and some dietary fiber to aid digestion.
Lastly, the formula is rounded out with some less common vegetable ingredients such as Green Beans and Cauliflower. The use of these ingredients is quite unique and maybe a pleasant surprise to many dogs.
To learn more about the Farmer’s Dog, including information on their ingredients, nutrition, and recall history, we highly recommend checking out our The Farmer’s Dog Brand Review.
Nature’s Variety Instinct Original Salmon Review
Nature’s Variety Instinct is one of our favorite players in the premium pet food market. They are best known for their raw and semi-raw products but also produce traditional dog food such as kibble and canned recipes. Instinct can be found in various pet food stores, including some of the retail giants like PetSmart.
While not as well known as their raw product ranges, their Original dry dog food range uses high-quality ingredients to provide top-notch nutrition, all while remaining available at a reasonable price point.
Our favorite recipe from this Original range is the Salmon Formula. The reason that the Salmon Formula is our favorite is that it contains very high levels of the Omega 3 Fatty Acids compared to other dog food recipes.
These Omega 3 Fatty Acids can be crucial to maintaining healthy skin and coat as well as preventing health conditions like heart disease.
The formula also includes some other minor fish ingredients in addition to Salmon, such as Menhaden Fish Meal and Herring.
Menhaden Fish are small oily fish from the Atlantic Ocean and are commonly found in dog food due to their low cost and high nutritional value.
Find out more about this in Menhaden Fish Meal In Dog Food.
These fish ingredients are combined with Peas and Tapioca, which provide a satisfactory proportion of carbohydrates and Fiber.
Tapioca is not well known in the western world and is a root vegetable popular in South America.
Please find out more about Tapioca in our article Tapioca In Dog Food.
Health Extension Chicken & Brown Rice Review
Health Extension is a family-owned pet food company based in the United States. The brand stands out in the crowd by having very impressive transparency about the source of their ingredients, including an interactive map for visitors of their site to explore.
This level of transparency is unprecedented in the industry and is something that many larger and more successful brands could learn from.
Chicken and Rice recipes have been a staple of the industry for decades, and Health Extensions’ latest attempt at this classic is worth considering.
The Chicken and Rice recipe makes use of a mix of Chicken ingredients, including Chicken, Chicken Meal, and Chicken Fat.
However, Health Extensions Chicken & Brown Rice recipe does contain some other meat ingredients in notable portions. Examples of these ingredients include Lamb Meal and Menhaden Fish Meal.
This combination of Chicken, Lamb, and Fish combines into a satisfactory proportion of animal-based protein and fat.
The recipe’s primary plant-based ingredient is Brown Rice. As we regularly discuss on our site, Brown Rice is preferred to White Rice or cheaper rice-based ingredients. This Brown Rice will provide a blend of carbohydrates and fiber.
Merrick Backcountry Pacific Catch Recipe Review
Merrick’s Backcountry range is a blend between traditional dry kibble and freeze-dried raw food. This mix and style of recipe is unique to Merrick and can be extremely appealing to some dogs.
The above Pacific Catch recipe contains a massive proportion of fish ingredients, including Salmon, Salmon Meal, and Whitefish Meal.
These fish ingredients provide an excellent proportion of protein and fat. However, given the large portion of Salmon, the level of the Omega 3 Fatty Acids is surprisingly low.
The recipe is rounded out with the usual mix of plant-based ingredients such as Sweet Potatoes, Potatoes, and Peas. These provide carbohydrates and dietary fiber.
There is a small portion of some vegetable by-products present, such as Potato Protein and Pea Protein. However, the proportion of these is small enough that it is not significant.
You can learn more about these ingredients in our articles, Potatoes, Potato Protein & Potato Starch in Dog Food & Peas, Pea Protein, Pea Flour, and Pea Fiber in Dog Food.
