Pawcredible, the British dog food brand, argues that the word "complete" means little if a dog's body cannot actually use what is inside the bowl. The company builds its freeze-dried raw range around this idea, focusing on bioavailable ingredients rather than label claims, so that nutrients are genuinely absorbed rather than simply passing through.
More information is available at https://pawcredible.org/collections/all
To understand why Pawcredible favours this method, it helps to look at what freeze-drying actually does. The process freezes raw ingredients, then removes moisture through sublimation, turning ice directly into vapour without passing through a liquid phase, and because it avoids high heat, freeze-drying retains 90-97% of most nutrients in food, especially vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
Conventional cooking and kibble extrusion work differently. The high temperatures used in extrusion can lead to the destruction of heat-sensitive vitamins, such as vitamin A and vitamin E, and the processing can also reduce the bioavailability of proteins, making them less digestible for dogs, since kibble relies on sustained high-heat processing.
Processing method matters beyond vitamin counts, though; what a dog's digestive system can extract from a meal matters just as much. In a 2024 study, dogs digested 94% of the protein in a freeze-dried raw diet against 82% in an extruded kibble, a gap that reinforces Pawcredible's central point: bioavailability, not the figures printed on a label, determines what actually reaches a dog's body.
Pawcredible's Raw Fusion treats illustrate this approach in practice. Made with 75% real chicken and freeze-dried to preserve raw nutrition, the treats combine clean protein with superfoods such as pumpkin, cranberries, turmeric and seaweed, alongside prebiotics that support gut health, the company explains, with no fillers, grains, preservatives or synthetic vitamins added at any stage.
None of this means wet and dry foods are without merit. Both can provide complete, balanced nutrition when they meet recognised life-stage guidelines, and differences in labelled protein percentages often come down to moisture content rather than nutritional value. Dry food generally lists a slightly higher protein content (25-40%) as the drying process concentrates the nutrients, while wet food typically displays a lower protein content (10-15%) due to the higher water content.
Owners unsure which diet suits their dog, particularly those managing conditions such as food allergies or diabetes, should speak with a vet or vet nurse, as the PDSA recommends. For those looking to add nutrient-dense, bioavailable options into the mix, freeze-dried raw ranges offer an option worth considering alongside professional advice.
Pawcredible continues to build its range around transparent, real-food nutrition for UK dogs, choosing each ingredient for what it contributes rather than how it reads on a label. Further details on the full range are available at https://pawcredible.org/
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