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Fromm Heartland Gold Adult Dog Food package official product image via Amazon

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Fromm Heartland Gold Adult Dog Food

Dry food · adult dogs

A formulated-to-meet, beef-first dry food that's cheaper per calorie than 49% of the dry foods we've priced and denser than 41% (you feed fewer cups) — $1.91 a day for your 40-lb adult dog.

THE FACTS, ONE SENTENCE — data as JSON · reference dog 40 lb · updated 2026-10-18

$82.99 · 26 lb $1.91/day as of 2026-10-18 Check price →
Tell us about your dogevery number on this page updates live ↓
40 lb
For a 40-lb adult: 2½ cupsper day $1.91per day 43 daysbag lasts 1 pass, 1 fail fit checks ↓

Joint, kidney, dental or heart concerns? Labels can't honestly answer those — that's vet territory. Why we don't checkmark them →

The evidence

The Verified Label

Every food on this site gets this exact panel — same fields, same order, sourced from the official label — so brands finally become comparable. Dots show where this food sits among all 494 dry foods we've verified.

Verified LabelThe standardized pet-food panel
VPFD № FROMM-
verified 2026-10-18

Composition — dry-matter basis

why dry matter
Kibble is ~10% water, canned food ~78%, so as-fed numbers are on two different scales. As-fed values shown small. How the conversion works →
Protein 26.7%label: 24% min lower than 77% of dry foods
Fat 17.8%label: 16% min higher than 70% of dry foods
Fiber 6.7%label: 6% max higher than 83% of dry foods
Est. carbohydrates computed from disclosed ash ≈41%computed anchor available once more brands disclose ash
Calcium / Phosphorus extended guarantees: Ca 1.7% · P 1.14% 1.49 : 1ratio, as fed within the AAFCO adult range (1:1 – 2:1)

Calories & cost — for your 40-lb adult dog

Calorie density 378 kcal/cup3637 kcal/kg typical — the median dry food is 388 (median 388) — you feed more cups
Daily serving2½ cups
Cost per day$1.91
26-lb bag lasts43 days

Cost per 1,000 kcal: $1.94 — cheaper than 49% of the 360 dry foods we've priced (median $1.93). Serving math uses standard veterinary energy formulas — see the formula.

Standards & ingredients

AAFCO statement
what this means
Two claims exist: formulated to meet a profile, or fed to real dogs in an AAFCO trial. Which is stronger, and how rare it is →
Formulated to meet · all_life_stages
First five ingredients (by pre-cooking weight)Beef · pork meat and bone meal · lentils · peas · chickpeas
Named animal protein first; named meals onlyYes
Legumes in first 10 (FDA DCM inquiry)4 (lentils, peas, chickpeas, pea flour)
BHA / BHT preservativesNone on label
Carrageenan (thickener)None
Ethoxyquin
why unknown
A preservative added by a fish-meal supplier need not appear on the finished label, so no label can prove its absence. Why we show gaps →
None — no fish meal in this recipe

Safety

FDA recalls — Fromm, since 20232 on record — see recall history
ManufacturerNot confirmed from label
Label transparency 10 of 15 standard fields
Green = verified favorable · amber = gap in the record · red = verified unfavorable · gray = not disclosed / neutral fact.
Source: official label source (official)· price: Amazon, 2026-10-18 · anchors: 494 verified dry dog foods (360 priced) · how to read this label

The fit

For your dog, specifically

Checked for a 40-lb adult with a sensitive stomach — the same published criteria our finder uses. Change your dog above and these update.

✓
Validated for adult dogsAAFCO statement covers adult maintenance.
✕
Does not pass our sensitive-stomach checksContains an unnamed by-product. See sensitive-stomach qualifiers →
·
Chicken-free recipeNot selected for your dog — but relevant if chicken sensitivity ever comes up.

The source material

The full ingredient list

Every flag above is computed from this list. Why order is by pre-cooking weight, and how splitting bends it →

Beef, pork meat and bone meal, lentils, peas, chickpeas, potatoes, dried tomato pomace, pea flour, pork liver, pork fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), salmon oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols), dried egg product, flaxseed, cheese, dried yeast, lamb, alfalfa meal, celery, salt, Vitamins [choline chloride, potassium chloride, Vitamin E supplement, ascorbic acid, calcium carbonate, riboflavin supplement, niacin supplement, calcium pantothenate, Vitamin A supplement, Vitamin D3 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, biotin, Vitamin B12 supplement, thiamine mononitrate, folic acid], carrots, chicory root extract, Minerals [zinc sulfate, manganese sulfate, ferrous sulfate, magnesium sulfate, zinc proteinate, ferrous proteinate, manganese proteinate, copper sulfate, magnesium proteinate, copper proteinate, calcium iodate], yucca schidigera extract, taurine, sodium selenite, sorbic acid (preservative), l-tryptophan, dl-methionine, dried Lactobacillus paracasei fermentation product, dried Lactobacillus reuteri fermentation product, dried Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried Lactobacillus plantarum fermentation product

11 ingredients in this list are ones we hold sourced evidence on , and 4 of them are genuinely contested rather than merely unpopular online.

  • Lentils · ingredient 3ContestedA pulse (legume) common in grain-free formulas as a protein and carbohydrate source. Lentils are named alongside peas in the FDA's open 2018 investigation into diet-associated canine DCM; the agency grouped 'peas and/or lentils,' which appeared in 93% of reported products.
  • Peas · ingredient 4ContestedA pulse (legume) used in many grain-free foods as a plant protein and carbohydrate source. Peas are central to an open FDA investigation, begun in July 2018, into a possible link between diets high in peas, other pulses, and potatoes and canine dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM); 93% of reported products contained peas and/or lentils.
  • Chickpeas (garbanzo beans) · ingredient 5ContestedA pulse (legume), also called garbanzo bean, used in grain-free foods for plant protein and carbohydrate. Chickpeas are among the pulses (with peas and lentils) cited in the FDA's open 2018 investigation into diet-associated canine DCM.
  • Potato · ingredient 6ContestedA starchy tuber used as the carbohydrate base in many grain-free foods (it is a vegetable, not a cereal grain). The FDA's open 2018 investigation into diet-associated canine DCM listed potatoes 'in various forms' as main ingredients of interest alongside pulses such as peas and lentils.
  • Mixed tocopherols (natural vitamin E) · ingredient 10Well supportedA blend of vitamin E forms (alpha-, beta-, gamma-, delta-tocopherol) used as a natural-source antioxidant to slow fat rancidity, commonly chosen as an alternative to synthetic preservatives. EFSA concluded that tocopherol-rich extracts are safe for all animal species and the consumer and are efficacious antioxidants in feed.
  • Meat and Bone Meal · ingredient 2NeutralA rendered concentrate of mammal tissue that also includes bone, giving it high mineral/ash content and lower crude protein (roughly 39-46%) than clean meat meals. Amino-acid availability varies substantially with rendering temperature and pressure — studies show good digestibility is achievable but not guaranteed across processing methods.

Nutritional twins

Cheaper close matches

Verified foods with a closely matching label at a meaningfully lower cost per 1,000 kcal.

27.8% protein (DM)$1.29 / 1,000 kcal34% less per 1,000 kcal
27.8% protein (DM)$1.29 / 1,000 kcal34% less per 1,000 kcal
27.8% protein (DM)$1.29 / 1,000 kcal33% less per 1,000 kcal

Label-composition matches only: same species, form, and growth stage; same primary protein where both are known; grain-free preserved; protein within 4 points and fat within 4 points, and estimated carbs within 8 points, on a dry-matter basis. Not a medical or quality recommendation.

The maker

Who makes this — and how they back it up

The five questions the WSAVA nutrition guidelines tell you to ask a pet-food company. Every answer is sourced or marked as an undisclosed gap — never guessed. This is the "is it made competently?" axis that star-rating sites skip.

Owns its manufacturing Owns its plants

Fromm states directly that it does not contract manufacture; all production occurs at company-owned Wisconsin facilities.

source →
Employs a qualified nutritionist Yes — sourced

Dr. Danielle Opetz, PhD in Nutritional Sciences (with an MS in Animal Science, companion animal nutrition emphasis), holds a named leadership role on Fromm's R&D/nutrition team. She is a PhD nutritionist, not a stated ACVN/ECVCN board-certified veterinary diplomate — no board certification was found in this source.

source →
AAFCO feeding trials Undisclosed

No feeding-trial AAFCO statement found on the 123 labels we’ve verified for this brand, and no company-wide claim was found either. Most pet foods are only "formulated to meet" AAFCO profiles (a paper calculation) rather than fed to real animals in trials — this is common, not necessarily a red flag.

Publishes quality-control testing Yes — sourced

covers: ingredient testing, pathogen (bacteriology) testing of finished product; same page says canned foods are incubated and all products are held until quality checks are complete. Fromm brand-wide FAQ.

source →
Peer-reviewed research None found

PubMed lists no animal or pet paper with Fromm Family Foods in an author address. Not proof no research exists — only that none is indexed under that company name.

source →
Parent company Independent, family-owned (Fromm Family Foods LLC; no parent company) ↗ Founded 1904 ↗ Headquarters / plant Mequon, Wisconsin, USA ↗ FDA recalls on record 3 on record

Full company scorecard, sources, and every SKU we've verified for this brand: Fromm brand page →