Alpha SpiritAlpha Spirit Realfood Complete
Fresh-cooked
Price coming soon97% meat
- High meat97% named meat (30% or more counts as high).
- NaturalNo artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
- Grain-freeMade without any grains.
Rated & compared
Natural dog food
'Natural' is the softest claim on a dog food shelf. Industry guidance does exist for what it should mean - broadly, ingredients that have not been chemically altered - but in practice the word is applied to everything from genuinely simple recipes to foods whose ingredient lists read like a chemistry set with a leaf on the label. Treat it as an invitation to check, not a conclusion.
Natural dog food
75.9/100
average ODF Score
- Foods on this list2,254
- Price per day£0.25 - £10.06
Top score 94/100 - Alpha Spirit Realfood Complete
2,254 foods
Different DogDifferent Dog Health+ Keep Me Trim Turkey
Fresh-cooked
£6.28 / day approx.60% meat
- High meat60% named meat (30% or more counts as high).
- NaturalNo artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
- Grain-freeMade without any grains.
- HypoallergenicLimited, single-source ingredients - kinder to sensitive dogs.
Different DogDifferent Dog Health+ Low Purine & Phosphorus
Fresh-cooked
£6.33 / day approx.40% meat
- High meat40% named meat (30% or more counts as high).
- NaturalNo artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
- Grain-freeMade without any grains.
Different DogDifferent Dog Health+ Stay Supple Fish Supper
Fresh-cooked
£7.16 / day approx.60% meat
- High meat60% named meat (30% or more counts as high).
- NaturalNo artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
- Grain-freeMade without any grains.
- HypoallergenicLimited, single-source ingredients - kinder to sensitive dogs.
Fresh-cooked
£6.27 / day approx.60% meat
- High meat60% named meat (30% or more counts as high).
- NaturalNo artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
- Grain-freeMade without any grains.
- HypoallergenicLimited, single-source ingredients - kinder to sensitive dogs.
Freeze-dried
£7.76 / day approx.62% meat
- High meat62% named meat (30% or more counts as high).
- NaturalNo artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
- Grain-freeMade without any grains.
Different DogDifferent Dog Health+ Comforting Chicken
Fresh-cooked
£5.91 / day approx.45% meat
- High meat45% named meat (30% or more counts as high).
- NaturalNo artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
- Grain-freeMade without any grains.
Innocent HoundThe Innocent Hound From The British Countryside Recipes
Air-dried
£7.96 / day approx.85% meat
- High meat85% named meat (30% or more counts as high).
- NaturalNo artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
- Grain-freeMade without any grains.
- HypoallergenicLimited, single-source ingredients - kinder to sensitive dogs.
Butternut BoxButternut Box Pork This Way
Fresh-cooked
Price coming soon60% meat
- High meat60% named meat (30% or more counts as high).
- NaturalNo artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
- Grain-freeMade without any grains.
- HypoallergenicLimited, single-source ingredients - kinder to sensitive dogs.
Butternut BoxButternut Box Wham Bam Lamb
Fresh-cooked
Price coming soon60% meat
- High meat60% named meat (30% or more counts as high).
- NaturalNo artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
- Grain-freeMade without any grains.
- HypoallergenicLimited, single-source ingredients - kinder to sensitive dogs.
Freeze-driedPuppy
£7.26 / day approx.80% meat
- High meat80% named meat (30% or more counts as high).
- NaturalNo artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
- Grain-freeMade without any grains.
- HypoallergenicLimited, single-source ingredients - kinder to sensitive dogs.
Dr VenetaDr Veneta Freeze-Dried Stay Calm
Freeze-dried
£4.29 / day approx.75.2% meat
- High meat75.2% named meat (30% or more counts as high).
- NaturalNo artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
- Grain-freeMade without any grains.
- HypoallergenicLimited, single-source ingredients - kinder to sensitive dogs.
Dr VenetaDr Veneta Freeze-Dried Stay Mobile
Freeze-dried
£5.02 / day approx.75.2% meat
- High meat75.2% named meat (30% or more counts as high).
- NaturalNo artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
- Grain-freeMade without any grains.
Dr VenetaDr Veneta Freeze-Dried Stay Young
Freeze-dried
£3.92 / day approx.80.2% meat
- High meat80.2% named meat (30% or more counts as high).
- NaturalNo artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
- Grain-freeMade without any grains.
- HypoallergenicLimited, single-source ingredients - kinder to sensitive dogs.
Fresh-cooked
£5.10 / day approx.70% meat
- High meat70% named meat (30% or more counts as high).
- NaturalNo artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
- Grain-freeMade without any grains.
- HypoallergenicLimited, single-source ingredients - kinder to sensitive dogs.
Fresh-cookedPuppy
£5.62 / day approx.70% meat
- High meat70% named meat (30% or more counts as high).
- NaturalNo artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
- Grain-freeMade without any grains.
- HypoallergenicLimited, single-source ingredients - kinder to sensitive dogs.
£5.62 / day approx.70% meat
- High meat70% named meat (30% or more counts as high).
- NaturalNo artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
- Grain-freeMade without any grains.
- HypoallergenicLimited, single-source ingredients - kinder to sensitive dogs.
LifestageLifestage Raw Puppy
RawPuppy
£3.04 / day approx.68.5% meat
- High meat68.5% named meat (30% or more counts as high).
- NaturalNo artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
- Grain-freeMade without any grains.
McAdamsMcAdams Raw Preserve
Freeze-dried
Price coming soon86% meat
- High meat86% named meat (30% or more counts as high).
- NaturalNo artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
- Grain-freeMade without any grains.
- HypoallergenicLimited, single-source ingredients - kinder to sensitive dogs.
Natural InstinctNatural Instinct Weaning Paste
RawPuppy
£2.19 / day approx.
- NaturalNo artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
- Grain-freeMade without any grains.
- HypoallergenicLimited, single-source ingredients - kinder to sensitive dogs.
Paws on PlatesPaws on Plates Complete Fresh
Fresh-cooked
£4.75 / day approx.26.7% meat
- NaturalNo artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
- Grain-freeMade without any grains.
Raw
£3.62 / day approx.85% meat
- High meat85% named meat (30% or more counts as high).
- NaturalNo artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
- Grain-freeMade without any grains.
- HypoallergenicLimited, single-source ingredients - kinder to sensitive dogs.
RORROR Adult
£3.82 / day approx.50% meat
- High meat50% named meat (30% or more counts as high).
- NaturalNo artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
- Grain-freeMade without any grains.
WilsonsWilsons Puppy Fresh Food
Fresh-cookedPuppy
£3.56 / day approx.29% meat
- NaturalNo artificial colours, flavours or preservatives.
The check is quick. Turn the pack over: a food trading honestly on 'natural' will show named meats, recognisable whole ingredients and natural preservatives such as tocopherols (forms of vitamin E) rather than artificial colours - which, worth remembering, exist to appeal to the human doing the buying, since dogs do not care what colour their dinner is. An artificial-additive list under a 'natural' front label tells you plenty about a brand's confidence in your reading habits.
Because the claim is cheap to print, this category is wide and uneven, spanning superb foods and cynical ones. That is precisely what the ODF Score is for: every food below is rated /100 on what is actually in it, with the full working shown, so the label's poetry becomes irrelevant.
Natural dog food FAQs
What does natural actually mean on dog food?
Industry guidance says natural ingredients should be minimally processed and free from chemical alteration - but enforcement is light and the word appears on a remarkable range of foods. Treat it as a claim to verify rather than a fact: the ingredients list will tell you within seconds whether 'natural' describes the recipe or just the typeface.
Are artificial colours in dog food harmful?
They are permitted and not proven harmful at approved levels - but they serve no purpose for the dog whatsoever. Dogs do not care whether kibble is russet or beige; colours exist to make the food look appealing to the human pouring it. A recipe spending money on cosmetics for you is telling you something about its priorities.
What are natural preservatives in dog food?
Mostly tocopherols (forms of vitamin E) and rosemary extract, used to stop fats oxidising. They typically give shorter shelf lives than artificial antioxidants such as BHA or BHT, which is the trade-off manufacturers weigh. If a pack says 'naturally preserved', the ingredients list should back it up - and it is genuinely worth checking.
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