Pure Vita Dog Food

Brief Overview

Pure Vita Pure and Natural Holistic Pet Foods are manufactured by KLN Family Brands, a family-owned business located in Perham, Minnesota. According to their company information, KLN started making pet food over 50 years ago, in 1964, by making Tuffy’s Pet Foods, which they still make. They have continued to expand their products and brands in many directions. Today they make NutriSource, Pure Vita, Natural Planet, and Natural Planet Organics pet foods, as well as Wiley Wallaby licorice, Vic’s Popcorn, and Barrel O’ Fun snack foods, to name just a few of their top brands sold throughout the U.S. They currently manufacture pet foods, snacks, candies, and organic foods. Their pet foods include foods for both dogs and cats. They make dry, canned, grain free, and organic pet foods. According to the company, Pure Vita, NutriSource, Natural Planet, and Natural Planet Organics are super premium pet foods.

Who Manufactures Pure Vita dog food?

KLN manufactures their own pet foods at their own facilities as well as some other pet foods for other companies. Their plant in Perham, Minnesota produces only pet food and nothing else. They have an on-site, fully equipped, wet chemistry lab that constantly monitors and tests products to insure correct formulation, appearance, palatability, aroma, and digestibility.

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Pure Vita Recalls 2017

Please Read First: If this statement is still here we are actively watching for new recalls. Below you will find a history of recalls. If you would like to know as SOON as we find out about a recalls visit: https://dogfood.guru/dog-food-recalls/ and fill out our Recall Alert form. We will ONLY email this list in the event of an actual recall. Once we stop watching for Recalls I will remove this statement.

We also encourage everyone to bookmark the site for future reference.

We did not find any recalls for Pure Vita but KLN did have a voluntary recall earlier this year (2015) for certain lots of Nutrisca Chicken and Chick Pea Recipe Dry Dog Food in 4 lb. bags after routine testing by the Ohio Department of Agriculture found the bacteria Salmonella in a sample . Nutrisca is not a KLN/Tuffy’s product, but they are (or were) a co-packer of the food for Dogswell. This is the only recall associated with KLN.

Pure Vita Coupons 2017

We don’t see Pure Vita coupons on their web site but many online pet food retailers have sales and discounts on their food or offer free shipping.

Pure Vita Dog Food Overview

KLN has been making pet food (dry and canned) for over 50 years. They point out on their web site that they have a seasoned, specially-trained work force and management team. The company’s reputation is very good when it comes to making pet food and other products. According to their web site and other sources, they use high quality fresh and raw ingredients in their foods that are tested upon arrival. This is supposed to make sure they meet strict specifications for quality, protein, moisture, and ash. KLN uses state-of-the-art equipment to develop and produce their products. They say that they conduct extensive research and quality testing.

According to KLN/Pure Vita, they use animal feeding tests, mostly to test for taste.

Pet Appeal Trials: Yes, we test our products using companion animals; primarily for acceptability and appeal. We want to know that pets do find our products highly palatable. This is accomplished through the services of a highly reputable, professional kennel. We test our products against benchmark standards to make sure our products meet our high expectations for palatability.

However, the AAFCO statements for the foods on the web site refer to the foods meeting AAFCO nutrient profiles and not animal feeding tests. The company says their factory and warehouse are thoroughly cleaned and regularly inspected by AIB – American Institute of Baking. Even their trucks are inspected for cleanliness before they are loaded.

According to Pure Vita, their foods use highly palatable, single protein sources and a variety of fruits and vegetables, “each chosen for it’s unique nutritional values.” Their foods also feature cranberries, apricots and pomegranate which are known by many pet lovers for their antioxidant benefits. The foods also use natural preservatives. Pure Vita also uses something that KLN calls the “Good4Life” formula. This formula includes Sel-Plex – an organic form of Selenium; Yea-Sacc to help improve digestion; Bioplex organic trace minerals; and Bio-Mos to help build health bacteria in the intestines.

Pure Vita has a quite a few different dog foods and treats:

DOG RECIPES

DRY RECIPES

Chicken & Brown Rice
Duck & Oatmeal
Salmon & Potato

GRAIN FREE DRY RECIPES

Grain Free Salmon
Grain Free Turkey
Grain Free Bison

CANNED RECIPES

Turkey Stew
Beef Stew
Chicken Stew

POUCHES

Salmon

FREEZE DRIED

Chicken Giblets & Sweet Potato
Beef Liver & Sweet Potato
Sweet Potato

TREATS

Skin & Coat
Hip & Joint

Crude figures for Pure Vita’s dry dog foods are around 24/13/4.5-6/10 for protein, fat, fiber, and moisture, with 364-388 kcal per cup.

Crude figures for the grain free dry foods are 24-26/16/6-8/10 for protein, fat, fiber, and moisture, with 416-438 kcal per cup, probably owing to the much higher fat percentage in the food.

Crude figures for the canned recipes are 9/6/1.5/78 for protein, fat, fiber, and moisture, with around 420 kcal per cup. According to the FDA, which regulates pet food labeling, many canned pet food stews typically have much higher percentages of moisture than other canned pet foods. The 78 percent moisture figure in these foods is low for a dog food stew, which means they contain more food and less moisture.

The crude figures for Pure Vita’s pouch food, which is wild-caught salmon in a 4-ounce pouch, are 18/2/0.5/78 for protein, fat, fiber, and moisture. This food has 72 kcals per 4-ounce pouch.

Pure Vita’s freeze dried foods have crude figures of around 47-59/3.5-7.5/3/7.5-9 for protein, fat, fiber, and moisture. When looking at the figures for these foods, it’s important to remember that most of the moisture has been removed, so the protein and fat are condensed. The calories given for the foods by the company are between 3,670 kcal per kilogram (2.2 pounds) and 3,846. This works out to 104.26 – 109.26 kcal per ounce of food.

Note that we did not use the freeze dried potatoes in this average since they do not contain a meat protein and the numbers are drastically different. This freeze dried food is 3/1/3.5/10.5 for protein, fat, fiber, and moisture and contains 3,377 kcal per kilogram.

Pure Vita also makes two treats for dogs – Pure Vita Skin & Coat made with salmon and Pure Vita Hip & Joint made with chicken and chicken cartilage for glucosamine and chondroitin.

Pure Vita Salmon and Potato Dog Food Review

We browsed through a lot of Pure Vita foods before choosing one to review. Most of them have copious amounts of peas, pea flour, and pea starch, even in the first five ingredients. This was true in the grain free and even in the canned foods. Since we didn’t want to give an overly negative review due to the presence of peas so high in the ingredient list, we kept looking and selected the Pure Vita Salmon and Potato dog food to review. The Pure Vita kibbles still contain peas (they have become ubiquitous today) but they are not as prominent as they are in the brand’s other foods.

If you are wondering what we have against peas, we don’t have anything against some nice garden peas. Your dog might enjoy a few. A few. What we object to is the omnipresence of peas as a protein substitute/carb/fiber in dog foods today. Peas/legumes/lentils have taken the place of corn and wheat in many (expensive) dog foods. They may look harmless on the label and some companies even tout their use (they are a source of vitamins and minerals). But peas are also a phytoestrogen and a phytate. Like soy (which is also a legume), peas in large amounts can mess up your dog’s hormones and endocrine system. As a phytate, they can interfere with the absorption of other nutrients. In moderation, peas, lentils, and other legumes are not likely to bother your dog (or you). But dog food companies are using peas (pea flour, pea starch, pea fiber) as primary ingredients today as a plant source of protein and as a carb/fiber to avoid using grains. So, if you see peas as a vegetable in your dog’s food far down on a list of ingredients, that’s fine. But if you see peas listed in the first several ingredients in your dog’s food, you are feeding your dog a lot of plant material that can cause some problems. Many dogs also have trouble digesting pea-based foods.

Pure Vita’s dry dog foods (non-grain free) use a single source of protein (though it may be a whole meat and a meal such as salmon and salmon meal). They also feature fruits and vegetables that are supposed to be for antioxidants. And they are naturally preserved. Pure Vita also has these single source protein foods in grain free formulas. As you might guess, single source protein dog foods can be good for dogs with allergies and food sensitivities. We would not push this point too far. The foods are not limited ingredient and they may contain some ingredients that could be allergy triggers for some dogs. But if your dog has a skin or allergy problem, especially to a meat protein, he might find some relief with one of these foods. At least on a temporary basis.

The first five ingredients of Pure Vita Salmon & Potato dog food are: Salmon, salmon meal, potato, oatmeal, and barley. It’s always good to see meat (in this case fish) protein listed as the first ingredient. Here we have a whole fish followed by a fish meal. Salmon (or any whole meat) contains lots of water. If the water were removed, this ingredient would be listed lower, but it’s a very nice ingredient. You can complain about salmon as a first ingredient. Salmon is 46 percent protein and 56 percent fat. It’s a good source of Thiamin, Niacin, Vitamin B6 and Phosphorus, Vitamin B12 and Selenium. It’s also an excellent source of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids – from a fish source, which is usually considered better than plant sources.

The salmon meal has much the same nutrients as the whole salmon, though most of the moisture has already been removed. This means it has lost more protein to add to the food. Most people do not object to the use of a single source of meat/fish meal such as this when included in a dog food, especially when it reinforces a whole meat/fish ingredient. KLN/NutriSource says that their fish meals are not preserved with ethoxyquin.

The third ingredient in the food is/are potatoes. Potatoes are mostly carbs. They have 92 percent carbs, 7 percent protein, and 1 percent fat. They are a good source of Vitamin C, Vitamin B6, Potassium and Manganese. Potatoes are mostly complex carbs so they are slow to dissolve and slow for the body to digest. Some people seem to worry about them as a nightshade vegetable – a potential problem for dogs with arthritis – but there doesn’t seem to be any credible evidence to back up this concern. Solanine is the green toxin that is sometimes found just under the skin of potatoes that can cause problems but I think we have to believe that tonnes of potatoes bought in bulk, inspected, and cooked at high temperatures for dog food are not going to have a big problem with solanine by the time the potatoes are added to the food. We haven’t heard of any dog food recalls due to solanine (a glycoalkaloid) or the potato contents of pet food.

Other people believe that potatoes (along with grains and some other foods) aggravate a condition called “leaky gut syndrome.” That may be true. If your dog has gastrointestinal problems – bloating, gas, diarrhea – they you obviously need to be very careful about what you feed him, and that includes the carbs in his diet. You might want to avoid a dog food that contains potatoes and some other common carbs like grains and peas/legumes/lentils. Feeding a dog with this kind of health issue is not easy. But most dogs should be able to eat a dog food that contains potatoes without any difficulty. (We have used potatoes and sweet potatoes in homemade diets, along with lots of meat protein, to feed elderly dogs who no longer wanted to eat commercial kibble. They had no problem eating the potatoes or sweet potatoes and lived for several more years. Talk to your vet or a veterinary nutritionist before making a homemade diet for your dog.)

The fourth ingredient in this food is oatmeal. Obviously, if you don’t like grains, you are not going to like this food, but oatmeal is a good ingredient in many ways. Technically, oatmeal is a cereal. It’s 74 percent carbs, 14 percent fat, and 12 percent protein. It’s a very good dietary fiber and it’s a good source of Phosphorus and Selenium, and a very good source of Manganese. As a dietary fiber, it is slow to break down and it turns to a gel in the digestive tract. This means that it slows down the digestion of other foods in the stomach and intestines, too. Although this dog food might appear to contain a lot of carbs at first glance, some of them can act to keep the blood sugar steady so it doesn’t spike – a concern with dogs who have diabetes. Not all carbs are bad.

The fifth ingredient in the food is barley. Barley is another cereal grain. It has 90 percent carbs, 7 percent protein, and 3 percent fats. It’s another good dietary fiber and a good source of Manganese. Although oatmeal is generally more popular in the U.S., barley is one of the most popular grains around the world, and one of the oldest. Depending on how it is processed (hulled, pearled, cracked, etc.) barley usually has more nutritional value than oatmeal, but it does many of the same things – lowers blood sugar levels, lowers cholesterol. Barley usually has more calories than oatmeal. Both of these cereal grains will help your dog feel full after he eats.

Other ingredients of interest in this food include flax seeds – a plant source of protein and omega fatty acids, but it can interfere with your dog’s hormones. We find peas listed as the seventh ingredient. At least they are not one of the first five ingredients, but this is probably still a lot of peas in the food. Pea protein (a protein booster) is also listed as the ninth ingredient.

The food uses sunflower oil. We don’t see a lot of sunflower oil in dog food. It sounds nice. It is a good source of Vitamin E, which is used as a natural preservative in dog foods. It is also a plant source of omega-6 fatty acid. You can read all about it here.

The food also contains natural salmon flavor. Added flavors are problematic. You often don’t know what they contain. At least this added flavor says that it is “natural salmon flavor.” However, the term “natural” is always a little vague under FDA rules. So, we can believe this flavor comes from salmon, but it may or may not contain something else that was used when the salmon was cooking, for example.

Otherwise, the food includes some dried tomato pomace, which is a good source of fiber, lycopene, beta-carotene, and other vitamins; and some ingredients usually added as antioxidants such as cranberries and blueberries.

The food also contains taurine, an amino acid that is often added to pet foods for heart health; and chicory extract which is sometimes added as a prebiotic. Glucosamine hydrochloride, preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid, is a form of glucosamine for joint health, as is chondroitin sulfate. While it’s nice to see these ingredients, the FDA really doesn’t allow pet food companies to add enough of these supplements to foods to do a lot of good for pets. If you want to give your dog glucosamine and chondroitin, you really need to buy these supplements at the drug store or online and give them to your dog in addition to his meals. That way you can be sure your dog is getting the right amount of the supplements, unharmed by the heat that is used to make dog food.

The food also contains rosemary extract which is another antioxidant and natural preservative. This is only a problem if your dog has epilepsy or is prone to seizures. Rosemary is sometimes cited as a trigger for seizures. But it’s hard to find dog foods that don’t contain rosemary today.

The food also includes fermentation products which are supposed to help dogs digest food better. And the food includes chelated minerals. This means that the minerals have been bonded with proteins so they are easier for your dog to digest them. This is often found in more expensive dog foods.

This looks like a very good dog food. We have no problems with the first five ingredients and, realistically, those ingredients make up the bulk of the food. There are a couple of ingredients we don’t like much (peas, flax seeds), but it’s very hard to find a dog food where you like every single ingredient (especially if you read pros and cons of ingredients daily). If you are looking for a good dog food with a single meat/fish source that avoids corn/wheat/soy, this would be a good food to consider, or one of the other Pure Vita kibbles. We’re not so crazy about some of their other foods because of all the peas they use, but these kibbles look pretty good. These single-meat/fish protein foods could be very good for some dogs with skin or allergy problems.

Pure vita Salmon and Potato Formula dog food is made for all life stages.

Calorie Content – Metabolizable Energy (calculated): 3,806 kcals per kg, 374 kcals per cup. This is an average/moderate dog food in terms of calories.

Nutrition Statement

Pure Vita™ Salmon and Potato Formula Dog Food is formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) Dog Food Nutrient Profiles for all life stages.

Guaranteed Analysis

*Not recognized as an essential nutrient by the AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles.
**Colony Forming Units per pound

Here is the entire nutrient profile for the food:

The dry matter basis figures for this food are: 26.7 percent protein; 14.4 percent fat; 5 percent fiber; and 45 percent carbohydrates. (Note that we have used our own figures for this dry matter comparison in order to be consistent with our other reviews. It is based on the figures provided in the guaranteed analysis and not the nutrient profile.)

This food has a moderate amount of protein and most of it appears to come from animal (fish) sources. The fat percentage is also in the mid-range. The fiber percentage is typical for most kibbles today. The carbs are a little higher than some foods, but most of them seem to come from complex carbs (potatoes, oatmeal, barley).

Where can you buy Pure Vita dog food?

You can buy Pure Vita on the KLN store web site. You can also buy it from Chewy.com (30% Off), Amazon.com, Wag.com, Petfooddirect.com, and other online sources. You can also find their foods for sale at many local, independent pet food stores and co-ops.

Final Thoughts

We think Pure Vita’s single-meat kibbles look very good. If you have a dog with skin problems or allergies, these are foods you might want to consider. No corn, no wheat, no soy, and no artificial preservatives. We don’t like every ingredient, but there is a lot of good stuff here. We are less happy with some of Pure Vita’s other foods – grain free and canned – that rely so heavily on peas. But take a look at their single meat kibbles.