Nutritionist
Unknown
Manufacturer record
Solid Gold Pet, LLC
Parent: Health & Happiness · No owned plants
Quality control
Claimed (unverified)
Publishes research
No
Transparency
Partial
Owns its plants
No / co-packs
Credibility score
7 / 20
Credibility scored on the 20-point WSAVA tier, Medium confidence. An unverified field scores at half credit, never zero. How this feeds the grade →
Brands they own
Solid Gold · WolfKing · WolfCub · NutrientBoost · Love at First Bark · SeaMeal
Recall history
| Date | Class | What | Brands named |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012-05 | I | Possible Salmonella contamination. Solid Gold voluntarily recalled two batches of dry dog food after being notified by its co-packer DIAMOND PET FOODS of Salmonella at Diamond's Gaston, SC plant. This is an INHERITED co-pack recall, i.e. Solid Gold's slice of the multi-brand 2012 Diamond Salmonella Infantis recall | Solid Gold WolfKing, Solid Gold WolfCub |
Recall events in the last 10 years weigh most; older events decay. Repeat events in the 10-year window: 0.
The detail
qualified_nutritionist=unknown / who_formulates=unknown: Solid Gold's website CLAIMS 'All Solid Gold dry dog foods on the market today were formulated by a Nutritionist with a PhD in animal nutrition', but the nutritionist is UNNAMED, the claim does not state full-time-staff vs consultant, and it is not third-party verified. The company spokesperson named in trade press is Leasa Moltke, 'Manager of Nutrition and Regulatory Affairs' (a regulatory/marketing role, not a stated PhD/ACVN credential). Authoritatively, in the Pet Nutrition Alliance 'Dare to Ask' 2023 WSAVA manufacturer report, Solid Gold answered 'Did not respond' to every column: whether a contract manufacturer is used, whether a Nutritional Expert/qualified nutritionist is used in manufacturing, what percent of plants are company-owned, and nutrient-analysis. So under the WSAVA gold standard (a named full-time PhD-in-Animal-Nutrition or ACVN/ECVCN diplomate, disclosed publicly) the nutritionist and formulation fields stay 'unknown' rather than credited (an unverified, unnamed marketing PhD claim, plus a declined WSAVA questionnaire). substantiation_policy=unknown: Solid Gold did not respond to the PNA questionnaire and does not disclose feeding-trials-vs-formulation per line; labels are likely 'formulated to meet AAFCO profiles' (formulation-only) but left unknown for lack of a clean source. qc=claimed: Solid Gold self-reports a 'positive release' program (batch samples lab-tested for pathogens such as Salmonella) and a minimum 185F kill step (FAQ), but this is self-reported and, critically, the actual plant QC for the US dry food is DIAMOND'S (the co-packer), whose program is itself only 'claimed'/opaque and failed the 2012 FDA Gaston-SC inspection, so QC is 'claimed', not independently 'documented'. publishes_research=no: no peer-reviewed nutrition research program was found; H&H/Solid Gold cite a global 'R&D centers' marketing structure but publish no research (unlike Hill's/Purina/Royal Canin). transparency=partial: Solid Gold DOES answer manufacturing-country, QC-approach, recall-history and a nutritionist claim publicly on its FAQ (more open than a fully opaque maker), but it declined the standard WSAVA/PNA questionnaire, does not name its nutritionist, and does not name its co-manufacturer (Diamond), so 'partial' rather than 'answers-publicly'.
Sources
- https://www.petage.com/hh-group-acquires-premium-pet-nutrition-brand-solid-gold/
- https://www.petfoodindustry.com/pet-food-market/article/15467371/hh-group-of-hong-kong-acquires-us-based-solid-gold-pet
- https://www.petfoodprocessing.net/articles/14253-solid-gold-pet-acquired-for-163-million
- https://solidgoldpet.com/pages/faqs
- https://www.veterinarypracticenews.com/solid-gold-recalls-two-batches-of-dog-food/
- https://apcpet.com/news/2021/06/powered-by-plasma-featured-in-new-solid-gold-nutrientboost-kibble-and-meal-toppers
- https://www.amazon.com/Solid-Gold-Natural-Holistic-Superfoods/dp/B073ZCYQGY
- https://petnutritionalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Pet-Nutrition-Alliance-Pet-Food-Manufacturer-Report-2023.pdf
- https://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-recalls/solid-gold-dog-food-recall/
- https://health.mo.gov/news/newsitem/uuid/cc7102a6-6452-4c9f-9f7a-5a7f0a98c07b
- https://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/dog-food-05-12/
- https://api.fda.gov/food/enforcement.json?search=recalling_firm:%22solid+gold%22&limit=50
- https://solidgoldpet.com/
- https://www.petfoodindustry.com/news-newsletters/pet-food-press-releases/press-release/15540720/solid-gold-unveils-new-product-line
AI-assisted research, pending human review · 2026-07-05