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Are dry pet food nutrients lost in processing? Is raw food healthier?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | German Shepherd | Male | 7 months and 19 days old

Is it true that dryfood label are written before they are been exposed to high temperature, then it will lose its nutrients?. I'm lost, many pages advice to switch to raw food since its healthier for pets because dryfood is causing many health problems in pets!

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Stacey Anstaett, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on September 29th, 2018

Dry food labels give the amount of nutrients that are contained in the finished product. Period. Be aware that pet food marketing is a serious business. And unfortunately, buzzwords and trend diets are generally used to sway your views towards whatever product is attempting to be sold to you, and these buzzwords don't have your pet's best interest at heart. I would encourage you to explore some sites published by those who have dedicated their careers to advancing veterinary nutrition. This is a great article about raw food: http://vetnutrition.tufts.edu/2016/01/raw-diets-a-healthy-choice-or-a-raw-deal/ Scroll down to the 2nd 1/2 of the page for some common questions regarding pet foods. http://www.acvn.org/frequently-asked-questions/#choose This one is a bit long, but has some really good information: http://dels.nas.edu/resources/static-assets/banr/miscellaneous/dog_nutrition_final_fix.pdf Thank you for asking PetCoach!

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