PureVita Information
PureVita is owned by the KLN Family Brands group, which is a family-owned business in Perham, Minnesota. The brand has been producing pet food for over 50 years.
The association with this brand makes PureVita the sister brand to Nutrisource, which is a much larger and more well-known pet food brand. If you are interested in learning more about Nutrisource, you can find our review of the brand here.
The production of PureVita and Nutrisource takes place at a dedicated facility in the same location as the company’s headquarters in Perham, Minnesota. This facility is described as state-of-the-art and is AIB certified.
PureVita is sold at a large number of physical retail pet food stores across the United States, with a strong focus on smaller local pet food stores rather than nationwide brands.
PureVita is not available on many large online pet food sellers, such as Chewy or Petco. Despite this, PureVita appears to be regularly available on some sites like Amazon.
However, in 2018, the brand made a bold statement calling out re-sellers and distributors for selling their products on these sites without their authorization.
PureVita Product Range
Dog Food
PureVita has a moderately sized range of dog food products when compared to other dog food brands. This range includes a mix of dry dog food and wet/canned dog food. There is also a mix of grain-free and grain-inclusive food within this range.
PureVita does not produce many of the traditional niche dog food types, such as puppy food or senior dog food. However, they do produce products aimed at small breed dogs where they produce smaller sized kibble.
Cat Food
PureVita has a modest cat food range which is smaller than their dog food range. This range includes both dry cat food and wet/canned cat food. However, in contrast to the dog food range, all of PureVita’s cat food is grain-free.
Sadly, this range from PureVita does not include any niche recipes such as kitten food or senior cat food. However, PureVita would argue that their recipes are suitable for all life stages, and so these specialized recipes are not required.
PureVita Nutrition
Dog Food
The nutrition offered by PureVita dog food recipes is varied but is generally above-average when compared to other dog food brands.
This above-average nutrition includes above-average proportions of protein and fat and satisfactory proportions of carbohydrates.
Below is an example of the nutrition provided by a PureVita grain-free dry dog food recipe.
If you’d like to learn more about canine nutrition, we’d highly recommend you check out our Dog Food Guide.
Cat Food
The nutrition offered by PureVita cat food varies somewhat but is generally average to above average when compared to other cat food brands.
Many of PureVita’s recipes include a large proportion of carbohydrates. Cats do not require a large proportion of carbohydrates as they are obligate carnivores.
This means that they excel best on a diet high in animal-based ingredients rather than plant-based ingredients.
If you’d like to learn more about feline nutrition, head on over to our Cat Food Guide.
PureVita Ingredients
High-Quality Meat & Fish Ingredients
- Chicken
- Turkey
- Duck
- Beef
- Pork
- Salmon
- Kangaroo
- Venison
PureVita makes use of a large range of meat and fish ingredients, including the above. All of these ingredients are excellent sources of nutrition and can provide a plentiful supply of animal-based protein and fat, which should be at the core of every dog and cat’s diet.
Some PureVita recipes make use of organ meat, such as Beef Liver. Liver ingredients, in particular, are a fantastic addition to pet food. It can provide select vitamins and minerals that traditional meat cut slack. In addition, it can also improve the flavor and taste of a recipe.
PureVita makes use of several less common meat ingredients in its recipes. Examples include Kangaroo and Venison. These ingredients are often used in dog food recipes as part of a hypoallergenic or limited ingredient diet.
The aim of these recipes is to use a small number of ingredients and select ingredients that dogs may not react poorly to. You can learn more about this in the following articles.
Best Hypoallergenic Dog Foods Guide
Other Notable Ingredients
PureVita makes extensive use of legumes ingredients in its recipes, such as Chickpeas, Lentils, and Peas. These ingredients are prevalent in pet food as they are easy to source, affordable, and offer favorable nutrition.
The nutrition that legumes offer is a mix of carbohydrates, plant-based protein, and fiber.
However, there are concerns about the high levels of legumes in dog food recipes and an increased rate of Canine Heart Disease.
You can read more about this concerning link in our article Best Dog Foods Without Peas.
Sadly, PureVita makes use of some vegetable by-products in some of its recipes. Examples of this include Pea Flour and Pea Starch. These ingredients are considered poor-quality by many in the industry, but there are others who defend their use.
There are concerns that ingredients like these are used to deceive consumers about ingredient quantities, and the make-up of dog food recipes.
You can read more about this concept in our article Peas, Pea Protein, Pea Flour, and Pea Fiber in Dog Food.
PureVita’s small range of grain-inclusive dog food recipes utilizes grain ingredients like Brown Rice, Oatmeal, and Barley. Grain ingredients such as these can be controversial additions to pet food recipes, with many being strongly against their use.
However, there are also strong supporters of grain ingredients, especially among those who feed brands like Purina or Royal Canin.
Regardless of opinion, these grain ingredients can provide a mix of nutrition in the form of carbohydrates, plant-based protein, fiber, and select vitamins and minerals.
You can read more about Barley in our article Barley In Dog Food.
Sweet Potatoes are a starch ingredient that features in some of PureVita’s grain-free recipes and are an extremely dense source of carbohydrates. For this reason, it is important that the portion size of Sweet Potatoes is not too large.
Thankfully within PureVita recipes, Sweet Potato is not used in huge portions, and they instead use a range of plant-based ingredients.
Sunflower Oil is a vegetable oil that occasionally features in dog food recipes. It is used to boost the overall level of fat in a recipe as well as increase the proportion of favorable fats. However, vegetable oils like this are less favored than animal-based alternatives.
Read more about Sunflower Oil in our article Sunflower Oil In Dog Food.
Tomato Pomace features in many PureVita recipes and is added to dog food recipes to increase the amount of soluble fiber present. Soluble fiber can be crucial to some dogs for them to maintain stable and consistent digestion. Beyond this fiber content, Tomato Pomace provides very little nutrition.
Learn more about Tomato Pomace in our article, Tomato Pomace, as a Pet Food Ingredient?.
Alfalfa is added to dog food recipes, including some from PureVita, as many believe it can provide dogs with a range of health effects. In addition, it contains select vitamins and minerals that can be a beneficial addition to a dog’s health.
However, the health benefits of Alfalfa are far from conclusive, and many have doubts as to their effectiveness or strength.
You can learn more about Alfalfa in our article Alfalfa In Dog Food.
Flaxseed is probably the best plant-based source of the Omega 3 Fatty Acids, which is why it is used so often in dog food. The Omega 3 Fatty Acids are believed to provide numerous health benefits such as reduced risk from health problems and boosted cognitive function.
Read more about the benefits of Flaxseed in our article Flaxseed In Dog Food.
PureVita Animal Testing
At this time, we have no information on what type of animal testing, if any, that PureVita participates in.
Many pet food brands avoid disclosing detailed information on their testing and feed trials as they fear backlash from their customer base.
We strongly believe that laboratory and invasive testing of animals is a cruel and outdated practice and one which should be eliminated.
PureVita Recalls
Based on our research (FDA, AVMA, DogFoodAdvisor), PureVita has recently issued a recall for one of its products and is, therefore, no longer a recall-free brand.
In October 2021, PureVita issued a recall for one of its wet dog food recipes due to elevated levels of Vitamin D.
Elevated levels of vitamins, such as Vitamin D, are a common cause of recalls in the industry and are picked up during routine testing of the food.
Despite this, it is still serious and can cause health issues in dogs that consume it, such as vomiting, loss of appetite, increased thirst, and more.
Thankfully no pets that have eaten this batch of food have reported any symptoms which is a relief.
The recipe in question is listed below.
- PureVita Salmon Entree Dog Food TetraPak, 12.5 oz per carton, UPC 0 73893 96202 1, Lot Numbers 0629101N1 & 0901101N1, Best By Dates 29 Jun 2023 & 1 Sep 2023.
As disappointing as it is to lose its recall-free record, we hope PureVita can learn from this to improve its safety and quality processes during manufacturing and maintain a recall-free record going forward.
Regardless, we always suggest that pet owners remain vigilant of any future recalls of PureVita or any other pet food brand to ensure their pets remain healthy and safe.
PureVita Featured Articles
Best Dog Food With Kangaroo – PureVita is one of a select few dog food brands to produce Kangaroo dog food, which earns it a place in our review of Kangaroo dog food.
Kangaroo dog food is popular in Australia as well as in other markets when used in hypoallergenic dog food.
Check this article out if you want to learn more about the use of Kangaroo and which other brands have ventured into this niche.
Best of PureVita
Grain Free Salmon & Peas Entree Review
As regular readers of our site will know, we are big fans of Salmon-based dog food recipes such as the above from PureVita.
Salmon is an excellent choice for dog food recipes and can act as a reliable source of fish-based protein and fat.
In addition, it is a dense source of the Omega 3 Fatty Acids, which many believe can provide dogs with several health benefits.
Outside of this Salmon content, the recipe includes a portion of Peas, Sweet Potatoes, and some Pea By-products. These ingredients provide the recipe with a moderate proportion of carbohydrates and fiber.
Lastly, there are small quantities of Flaxseed, Alfalfa, and Tomato Pomace, which provide additional vitamins, minerals, and fiber.
Grain Free Beef Entree Review
PureVita’s wet dog food range is quite small and often neglected by most. However, it should not be as its recipes are impressive and utilize a concise ingredient list.
The above Beef Entree is a prime example of this and only includes three main ingredients, which are Beef, Beef Liver, and Chickpeas.
The Beef and Beef Liver combination is the bulk of the recipe and provides an impressive proportion of protein and fat.
The liver enhances this offering further by improving taste and boosting the levels of some beneficial vitamins and minerals.
Lastly, the Chickpeas provide a very small proportion of carbohydrates and fiber.
Grain Free Chicken & Peas Entree Review
Many dry cat food brands utilize a proportion of plant-based ingredients that is too high and is an unfair reflection of a cat’s natural diet. However, this is not the case for PureVita, which uses large portions of meat ingredients as their primary ingredients.
The above Chicken and Peas Entree includes a large portion of Chicken, Chicken Meal, and Chicken Fat.
Many pet owners are afraid of meat meals like Chicken Meal, but they should not be as this ingredient is an incredibly dense source of nutrition.
This density comes from the fact that the bulk of the moisture has been removed from the ingredient leaving behind only the nutritious components.
Outside of these Chicken ingredients, the recipe includes small portions of Pea ingredients like Peas, Pea Flour, and Pea Fiber. These legume ingredients provide a mix of carbohydrates, fiber, and plant-based protein.
Grain Free Whitefish Entree Review
Almost all cats go crazy over wet/canned cat food, and the recipes from PureVita will be no different. The above Whitefish recipe is a dense source of nutrition and will have a consistently enjoyable flavor.
While Whitefish may not have the appeal of other fish or meat ingredients like Salmon or Beef, it is still a high-quality addition and is often given to pets with sensitive stomachs.
Outside of this Whitefish, there are virtually no other notable ingredients, with the exception of a small portion of Agar-Agar.
Agar-Agar is used as a binding agent to hold the Whitefish together in a consistent texture and does not provide significant nutrition.
PureVita Full Product Range
Dry Dog Food
Grain Inclusive Chicken & Brown Rice Entree
Grain Inclusive Duck & Oatmeal Entree
Grain Inclusive Salmon & Potato Entree
Grain Free Beef & Red Lentils Entree
Grain Free Duck & Green Lentils Entree
Grain Free Kangaroo & Green Lentils Entree
Grain Free Pork & Peas Entree
Grain Free Small Bites Turkey & Sweet Potato Entree
Grain Free Turkey & Sweet Potato Entree
Grain Free Small Bites Salmon & Peas Entree
Grain Free Salmon & Peas Entree
Grain Free Venison & Red Lentils Entree
Wet/Canned Dog Food
Grain Free Beef Entree
Grain Free Chicken Entree
Grain Free Pork Entree
Grain Free Salmon Entree
Grain Free Turkey Entree
Dry Cat Food
Grain Free Chicken & Peas Entree
Grain Free Duck & Red Lentils Entree
Grain Free Salmon & Peas Entree
Wet/Canned Cat Food
Grain Free Beef Entree
Grain Free Chicken Entree
Grain Free Salmon Entree
Grain Free Turkey Entree
Grain Free Whitefish Entree
No stores sell Nutrisource or PureVita canned cat food in Minnesota.
Cat food is not available at all.
Frattelone’s hardware only carries the dog food dry.
Wish Perham company in MN would publish CAT FOOD SOLD IN THESE STORES MN BY NUTRISOURCE AND PUREVITA.
In fact FM 107 MN radio has Katie Canine show from 5pm to 6pm Sundays and she constantly tells us to buy Nutrisource can cat food……………argh……………..nowhere to buy it in any store………….not even online.