Freshpet has become the first pet food brand to earn Clean Label Project Certification and receive the organization’s Purity Award across its entire U.S. and Canadian product portfolio, the Bedminster, New Jersey-based company announced Feb. 12.
The Purity Award is reserved for the top third of performers in a product category based on testing for more than 100 environmental and industrial contaminants including heavy metals, pesticides and industrial toxins. Clean Label Project is a nonprofit organization that tests products for contaminants not disclosed on labels.
To earn Clean Label Project Certification, products undergo extensive independent lab testing for heavy metals including lead, cadmium, arsenic and mercury, as well as bisphenols, phthalates, acrylamide, pesticides and other industrial contaminants. Certification of Freshpet recipes began in early 2025.
“Twenty years ago, we set out to create a fundamentally different kind of pet food, made from real, simple ingredients and prepared in our own kitchens,” said Scott Morris, co-founder and president of Freshpet.
“We believed that by doing things differently, we could deliver cleaner, higher-quality nutrition for pets. Clean Label Project’s Purity Award validates that belief and reinforces our commitment to raising the standard for pet food.”
Category comparison
The announcement follows Clean Label Project’s new Dog Food Category Report, which found that many popular dry dog foods contain significantly higher levels of heavy metals and industrial contaminants than fresh and frozen dog foods. The study also found dry dog foods contain higher contaminant levels than more than 3,280 human consumable products tested over the past decade.
In the study of 79 top-selling dog foods with more than 11,000 individual tests, traditional dry dog food averaged 13.3 times more arsenic, 20 times more lead and mercury, and higher levels of DEHP and acrylamide than fresh dog food. Acrylamide is a chemical that can form in foods during high-heat cooking and is classified as a probable human carcinogen.
Fresh and frozen dog food products, including all Freshpet recipes, had the lowest heavy metal levels of any segment tested and were lower on average than the organization’s benchmark for human consumables across arsenic, cadmium, mercury, lead, acrylamide and DEHP, an industrial plasticizer.
“Most pet owners assume the food they buy for their dogs is held to the same safety standards as human food, but that’s simply not true,” said Molly Hamilton, executive director of Clean Label Project.
“Our findings show that many dry dog foods contain significantly higher levels of toxic heavy metals than fresh or frozen dog food and the average human-consumable product. Given that dogs often eat the same food every day, this raises important questions about long-term exposure and the need for greater transparency and stronger safety standards.”
Production process
Freshpet’s fresh, refrigerated recipes are formulated around real, gently cooked ingredients prepared in Freshpet-owned kitchens. The products feature fresh, recognizable ingredients like real chicken, beef, salmon, vegetables and whole grains without rendered meat meals or fillers.
The company uses gentle steam-cooking methods that help preserve nutrients and ingredient integrity rather than high-temperature extrusion, a process that can contribute to acrylamide formation in many traditional dog foods. Freshpet conducts more than 20 quality and safety tests at every production step.
“Contaminants like heavy metals and industrial chemicals do not show up on a traditional ingredient list, yet they are what many health-conscious pet parents worry about for themselves and their pets,” said Dr. Lisa Weeth, board certified veterinary nutritionist and head of veterinary research and communications at Freshpet. “Independent verification from the Clean Label Project gives veterinarians and families data to help them make informed decisions when choosing a fresh diet over conventional options.”
Market presence
Freshpet is the leading fresh food for dogs and cats, feeding fresh to more than 15 million pet households. The company’s recipes are developed by veterinarian nutritionists and made with natural whole ingredients cooked in small batches at lower temperatures to preserve natural goodness.
Freshpet is available in a growing number of mainstream grocery, natural food, club and pet specialty retailers across the U.S., Canada and Europe, as well as online in the U.S. All products are made in the United States and kept refrigerated until they arrive at Freshpet fridges in local markets or are delivered directly to consumers.
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