Food Friday: PureVita Salmon and Peas Entree

PureVita is a food we just started carrying at work, so I got to spend an evening geeking out about dog food with a company representative. The food is made by Tuffy's Pet Foods, part of KLN Family Brands. This is pretty cool because the entire thing is family-owned and run, and they have been making pet food since 1964. While they promised employees each a free bag of dog food, this has yet to materialize and so, as always, this is an unbiased review of a food that I paid retail price for and have not been compensated for in any way.

The Company

Tuffy Nelson was working for his father's feed company, Pine Lakes Feed, in 1964 when he got the idea to make dog food. In the 1970's Tuffy's son began making snack foods and candy. They make the Australian licorice I like way too much. I love that all of the KLN Family Brand products are made in the USA, employing tons of people in their factories.

Tuffy's Pet Foods actually consists of several different brands. PureVita seems to be the highest quality, they also make NutriSource, Natural Planet, and Natural Planet Organics foods. The only recall I can find associated with their facilities was one earlier this year for Nutrisca, a food they co pack. They recently opened a brand new production facility with a new vacuum-tube system designed to simplify cleaning and sanitation. Even though they haven't had issues with recalls, they have gone ahead and invested in better equipment to make their food even safer. I think that's pretty cool.

The Food

PureVita foods are all made with single-source proteins, including fats. They don't feel the need to

throw chicken fat or eggs in every product. At this point they offer foods made with salmon, turkey, duck, bison, and venison. Brisbane is allergic to chicken, turkey, duck, and eggs, but he can eat three of those foods. Our salmon food is made from salmon and peas and sweet potatoes. There's also a bit of alfalfa, sunflower oil, and a tiny bit of blueberries. That's basically it for potential allergens, so this could be a good food for a dog with allergies.

The ingredients for this food are all tested for quality before they make it to the production line. The company does a lot of testing and research too, they're not content to just make food that is "good enough". The food contains both probiotics and prebiotics for better digestion. It is supposed to be so digestible that it will reduce gas and stomach problems even in super-farty bulldogs. I have not personally experienced this effect, but my dogs aren't normally gassy and they digest pretty much everything well. I think my favorite thing about PureVita so far is the velcro closure at the top of the bag that is super easy to close. The bigger bags have a giant ziploc closure. So airtight. So awesome.

The Taste Test

The product representative I spoke to claimed that even picky dogs would love this food. Ru has yet to refuse it, but he is wildly inconsistent. Sisci eats it without complaint, though she doesn't think it is awesome enough for training treats. Brisbane, as always, loves it because Brisbane loves all food forever.

I like PureVita a lot. It's a company with a lot of heart, which I can't say for Fromm, the other well-known family pet food company. I like the science behind their foods, and how they keep improving their products with more digestible and easily-absorbed vitamins and minerals. I feel like they sort of have Brisbane and his allergies in mind, whereas with Fromm he's not even on their radar. I also like that the company avoid hypocrisy. They sell dog food with grain in it. They sell grain-free food. When selling their grain-free food, they sell it on its own merits rather than telling me how terrible grains are for my dog. Their food is rated four out of five stars on the Dog Food Advisor website, losing one star due to its high level of plant protein versus meat protein. The Salmon and Peas Entree is 444 kcal/cup, which is a bit lower than many of our foods and means super-efficient Brisbane can eat more of it. He likes that.