Rating: 
Freshpet Select Slice and Serve Dog Food receives the Advisor’s top rating of 5 stars.
The Freshpet Select Slice and Serve product line includes 4 rolled dog foods, three claimed to meet AAFCO nutrient profiles for all life stages and one for growth (Puppy).
The following is a list of recipes available at the time of this review.
- Freshpet Select Slice & Serve Chicken, Vegetables & Rice
- Freshpet Select Slice & Serve Chunky Beef, Vegetables & Rice
- Freshpet Select Slice & Serve Puppy Chicken, Vegetables & Rice
- Freshpet Select Slice & Serve Chunky Chicken, Turkey, Vegetables & Rice
Freshpet Select Slice & Serve Chunky Chicken, Turkey, Vegetables and Rice was selected to represent the others in the line for this review.
Freshpet Select Slice and Serve Chunky Chicken, Turkey, Vegetables and Rice
Rolled Dog Food
Estimated Dry Matter Nutrient Content
Ingredients: Chicken, turkey, eggs, poultry liver, chicken broth, carrots, brown rice, peas, rice bran, carrageenan, salt, natural flavor, choline chloride, vitamin E supplement, niacin, biotin, riboflavin supplement, manganous oxide, thiamine mononitrate, vitamin B12 supplement, vitamin D3 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, folic acid, calcium carbonate, zinc proteinate, iron proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc oxide, copper proteinate, copper sulfate, niacin, manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, thiamine mononitrate, calcium iodate, sodium selenite
Fiber (estimated dry matter content) = 7.4%
Red items when present indicate controversial ingredients
| Estimated Nutrient Content | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Method | Protein | Fat | Carbs |
| Guaranteed Analysis | 11% | 7% | NA |
| Dry Matter Basis | 41% | 26% | 25% |
| Calorie Weighted Basis | 32% | 49% | 20% |
The first two ingredients in this dog food include both chicken and turkey. Chicken and turkey are considered “the clean combination of flesh and skin… derived from the parts or whole carcasses of (poultry)”.1
Chicken and turkey are naturally rich in the ten essential amino acids required by a dog to sustain life.
The third ingredient lists eggs. Eggs are easy to digest and have an exceptionally high biological value.
The fourth ingredient includes poultry liver. This is an organ meat sourced from a named animal and thus considered a beneficial component.
The fifth ingredient lists chicken broth. Broths are nutritionally empty. But because they add both flavor and moisture to a dog food they are a common finding in many “wet” products.
The sixth ingredient mentions carrots. Carrots are rich in beta-carotene, minerals and dietary fiber.
The seventh ingredient is brown rice, a complex carbohydrate that (once cooked) can be fairly easy to digest. However, aside from its natural energy content, rice is of only modest nutritional value to a dog.
The eighth ingredient includes peas. Peas are a quality source of carbohydrates. Plus (like all legumes) they’re rich in natural fiber.
However, peas contain about 25% protein, a factor that must be considered when judging the actual meat content of this dog food.
The ninth ingredient is rice bran, a healthy by-product of milling whole grain rice. The bran is the fiber-rich outer layer of the grain containing starch, protein, fat as well as vitamins and minerals.
The tenth ingredient is carrageenan, a gelatin-like thickening agent extracted from seaweed. Although carrageenan has been used as a food additive for hundreds of years, there does appear to be some recent controversy regarding its long term biological safety.
From here, the list goes on to include a number of other items.
But to be realistic, ingredients located this far down the list (other than nutritional supplements) are not likely to affect the overall rating of this product.
With one notable exception…
This dog food also contains chelated minerals… minerals that have been chemically attached to protein. This makes them easier to absorb. Chelated minerals are usually found in better dog foods.
Freshpet Select Slice and Serve Dog Food
The Bottom Line
Judging by its ingredients alone, Freshpet Select Slice and Serve looks to be an above-average wet dog food.
But ingredient quality by itself cannot tell the whole story. We still need to estimate the product’s meat content before determining a final rating.
The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 41%, a fat level of 26% and estimated carbohydrates of about 25%.
As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 39% and a mean fat level of 24%. Together, these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 29% for the overall product line.
Above-average protein. Above-average fat. And below-average carbs when compared to a typical rolled dog food.
Free of any notable plant-based protein boosters, this looks like the profile of a wet food containing a significant amount of meat.
Bottom line?
Freshpet Select Slice and Serve is a meat-based rolled dog food using a significant amount of beef or poultry as its main sources of animal protein, thus earning the brand 5 stars.
Enthusiastically recommended.
Special Alert
Rice ingredients can sometimes contain arsenic. Until the US FDA establishes safe upper levels for arsenic content, pet owners may wish to limit the total amount of rice fed in a dog's daily diet.
A Final Word
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Notes and Updates
10/02/2011 Original review
02/23/2012 Review updated (no changes)
02/23/2012 Last Update
- Adapted by The Dog Food Advisor from the official definition of chicken by the Association of American Feed Control Officials ↩
