Real Meat Company Dog Food Review (Air-Dried)

Real Meat Company Dog Food receives the Advisor’s second-highest tier rating of 4 stars.

The Real Meat Company product line includes the 8 air-dried dog foods listed below.

Each recipe includes its AAFCO nutrient profile when available… Growth (puppy), Maintenance (adult), All Life Stages, Supplemental or Unspecified.

Please note: Some of these foods achieve a lower star rating due to them being very high in fat, making them suitable only for very active dogs.

Recipe and Label Analysis

Real Meat Air-Dried Turkey Formula was selected to represent the other products in the line for detailed recipe and nutrient analysis.

Ingredients Analysis

The first ingredient in this dog food is turkey. Turkey is considered “the clean combination of flesh and skin… derived from the parts or whole carcasses of turkey”.¹

Turkey is naturally rich in the ten essential amino acids required by a dog to sustain life.

The second ingredient is turkey liver, an organ meat sourced from a named animal and thus considered a beneficial component.

The third ingredient is turkey heart. Although it doesn’t sound very appetizing, heart tissue is pure muscle — all meat. It’s naturally rich in quality protein, minerals and complex B vitamins, too.

The fourth ingredient is turkey gizzard. The gizzard is a low-fat, meaty organ found in the digestive tract of birds and assists in grinding up a consumed food. This item is considered a canine dietary delicacy.

The fifth ingredient is turkey neck, raw turkey neck consists of muscle meat and bone and is a source of chondroitin which supports joint health.

The sixth ingredient is glycerine. Glycerine is used in the food industry as a natural sweetener and as a humectant to help preserve the moisture content of a product.

The seventh ingredient is pumpkin powder, pumpkin is a nutritious addition high in complex carbohydrates, beta-carotene and dietary fiber.

The eighth ingredient is parsley powder, due to its exceptional vitamin and mineral content, parsley exhibits a remarkably high nutrient Completeness Score² of 91.

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 Real Meat Company product.

With 4 notable exceptions…

First, we find 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.

Next, we note the use of taurine, an important amino acid associated with the healthy function of heart muscle. Although taurine is not typically considered essential in canines, some dogs have been shown to be deficient in this critical nutrient.

Since taurine deficiency appears to be more common in pets consuming grain-free diets, we view its presence in this recipe as a positive addition.

In addition, chicory root. Chicory is rich in inulin, a starch-like compound made up of repeating units of carbohydrates and found in certain roots and tubers.

Not only is inulin a natural source of soluble dietary fiber, it’s also a prebiotic used to promote the growth of healthy bacteria in a dog’s digestive tract.

And lastly, this recipe includes selenium yeast. Unlike the more common inorganic form of selenium (sodium selenite), this natural yeast supplement is considered a safer anti-cancer alternative.

Nutrient Analysis

Based on its ingredients alone, Real Meat Company Dog Food looks like an above-average dry product.

The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 36.1%, a fat level of 27.7% and estimated carbohydrates of about 28.1%.

As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 36.8% and a mean fat level of 28.3%. Together, these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 26.9% for the overall product line.

And a fat-to-protein ratio of about 78%.

Which means this product contains…

Above-average protein. Above-average fat. And below-average carbs when compared to a typical dry dog food.

Free of any plant-based protein boosters, this looks like the profile of a dry product containing a generous of meat.

However, with not enough carb ingredients present to account for the reading on the dashboard, one must assume the protein or fat (and thus the meat) content may be significantly understated on the label.

Additionally, with 53% of the total calories in our example coming from fat versus just 30% from protein, some recipes may not be suitable for every animal.

Real Meat Company Dog Food Recall History

The following automated list (if present) includes all dog food recalls related to Real Meat Company through July 2024.

No recalls noted.

You can view a complete list of all dog food recalls since 2009 here.

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