Champion Petfoods, which also makes the more pricey brand Orijen, is the owner of Acana. Acana has won numerous prizes for its excellent products ever since 1979. They offer a variety of dog and cat foods for “all life stages,” including formulas for young animals and older animals. Additionally, they offer a variety of diet options and merchandise in various breed sizes.
Popular dog food manufacturer Acana is sold in more than 60 nations worldwide. You can choose from options that are both grain-inclusive and grain-free, as well as recipes with fewer ingredients, so you can find a product that satisfies your pet’s unique requirements. They create treats and dry kibble, both of which are excellent teaching tools. The treats are made from actual raw animal meats that have been freeze-dried to preserve flavor and nutrients.
Similar to its rivals, Acana offers a variety of flavors in “all life stages” formulas created for all breed types. However, they also offer puppy food, including large-breed puppy food as well as formulas for small puppies. Compared to larger breeds, small dogs have different needs, such as smaller kibble sizes. They even have a senior formula. From the time your dog is a puppy until they are old, you can feed them the same brand of dog food. Read on to discover more about Acana, including their preferred products, recipes, and ingredient choices. Here we go!.
Review of Acana Dry Dog Food
Rating:
The Advisor awards Acana Dog Food its second-highest rating of 4 stars.
There are 6 dry dog foods in the Acana product line.
When available, the AAFCO nutrient profile of each recipe is included. These profiles include Growth (puppy), Maintenance (adult), All Life Stages, Supplemental, or Unspecified.
For a thorough recipe and nutrient analysis, Acana Free-Run Poultry Formula was chosen to represent the other products in the line.
Using a dry matter basis, the label and nutrient data below were calculated.
Estimated Dry Matter Nutrient ContentProtein =
Deboned chicken and turkey, chicken meal, whole green peas, whole red lentils, whole pinto beans, chicken liver, chicken fat, catfish meal, chickpeas, whole green lentils, whole yellow peas, lentil fiber, eggs, pollock oil, natural chicken flavor, chicken heart, turkey liver, chicken heart, chicken cartilage, chicken gizzard, whole pumpkin, collard greens, whole carrots, whole apples, zirconium.
Fiber (estimated dry matter content) = 6.8%
| Estimated Nutrient Content | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Method | Protein | Fat | Carbs |
| Guaranteed Analysis | 29% | 17% | NA |
| Dry Matter Basis | 33% | 19% | 40% |
| Calorie Weighted Basis | 28% | 39% | 33% |
The first ingredient in this dog food is chicken. Despite being a high-quality product, raw chicken can contain up to 73% water. Most of that moisture is lost during cooking, leaving the meat with only a small portion of its original weight.
After processing, this component would likely make up a smaller portion of the finished product’s overall content.
Turkey, another high-quality, raw food item, is the second ingredient.
The third ingredient is chicken meal. As a meat concentrate, chicken meal has nearly 300% more protein than fresh chicken.
The following six ingredients—six out of ten—in this recipe are all different kinds of legumes.
Despite the fact that they are a blend of high-quality plant ingredients, there is a crucial factor to take into account. And that’s the recipe design practice known as ingredient splitting.
This newer combination would probably rank much higher on the list if we were to combine all of these separate items and report them as one.
When evaluating the meat content of this dog food, one must also take into account the fact that legumes have an approximate 25% protein content.
Chicken liver, the seventh ingredient in this dish, is a named animal’s organ meat and is therefore regarded as a healthy ingredient.
The eighth ingredient is chicken fat. Chicken is rendered to produce chicken fat, which is obtained by skimming the fat off the top of the liquid, much like when making soup.
Linoleic acid, an omega-6 fatty acid necessary for life, is abundant in chicken fat. Even though it doesn’t sound particularly enticing, chicken fat is a superior ingredient.
Catfish meal, another high protein meat concentrate, is the ninth component.
Typically, commercial fish operations’ “clean, dried, ground tissue of undecomposed whole fish and fish cuttings” is used to make fish meal.
The list continues with a number of additional items after this.
However, being realistic, ingredients this low on the list (aside from nutritional supplements) are unlikely to have an impact on how this Champion Petfoods product is rated overall.
With 4 notable exceptions…
First, there is lentil fiber, which is a combination of soluble and insoluble dietary fiber that is derived from lentils. This agricultural by-product offers no nutritional value to a dog other than the usual fiber benefits.
Next, we note the use of pollock oil. The highly prized EPA and DHA class of omega-3 fatty acids are naturally abundant in fish oil. The highest bioavailability to dogs and humans is provided by these two premium fats.
Depending on its level of purity and freshness, fish oil should be regarded as a positive addition.
Inulin, a starch-like substance made up of repeating units of carbohydrates and present in some roots and tubers, is also abundant in chicory root.
Inulin is a natural source of soluble dietary fiber that is also used as a prebiotic to encourage the development of good bacteria in a dog’s digestive system.
And finally, none of the minerals listed here, with the exception of zinc, seem to be chelated. And that can make them more difficult to absorb. Chelated minerals are usually associated with higher quality dog foods.
Acana Dog Food appears to be a better-than-average dry product based solely on its ingredients.
The dashboard shows a reading of 33% for dry matter protein, 19% for fat, and an estimated 40% for carbohydrates.
Acana has a median protein content of 34% and a median fat content of 18%. All things considered, these numbers point to a 40% carbohydrate content for the entire product line.
And a fat-to-protein ratio of about 54%.
Which means this Acana product line contains…
Above-average protein. Above-average fat. Moreover, it has lower-than-average carbs compared to a typical dry dog food.
This profile resembles a kibble with a significant amount of meat even after taking into account the multiple legumes’ ability to increase protein content.
Which Acana Regionals Recipes Get Our Best Ratings?
The Advisor gives Acana Regionals Dog Food a perfect five-star rating.
The 6 dry dog foods listed below are part of the Acana Regionals product line.
When available, the AAFCO nutrient profile of each recipe is included. These profiles include Growth (puppy), Maintenance (adult), All Life Stages, Supplemental, or Unspecified.
For a thorough recipe and nutrient analysis, Acana Regionals Meadowland was chosen to represent the other products in the line.
Using a dry matter basis, the label and nutrient data below were calculated.
Estimated Dry Matter Nutrient ContentProtein =
Ingredients: Whole blue catfish, cage-free eggs, rainbow trout, pollock oil, natural chicken flavor, chicken heart, chicken cartilage, whole pumpkin, whole butternut squash, mixed tocopherols (preservative), sea salt, zinc proteinate, dried kelp, c, deboned chicken, deboned turkey, chicken liver, turkey giblets, chicken meal, catfish meal, whole red lentils, whole pinto beans, whole green peas, pollock meal, chicken fat,
Fiber (estimated dry matter content) = 6.8%
| Estimated Nutrient Content | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Method | Protein | Fat | Carbs |
| Guaranteed Analysis | 33% | 17% | NA |
| Dry Matter Basis | 38% | 19% | 35% |
| Calorie Weighted Basis | 31% | 39% | 29% |
Chicken and turkey are the first two ingredients in this dog food. Despite being high-quality products, raw meat can contain up to 73% water. Most of that moisture is lost during cooking, leaving the meat with only a small portion of its original weight.
These materials would likely make up a smaller portion of the finished product’s overall content after processing.
The third ingredient is chicken liver, which is regarded as a healthy component because it is an organ meat (including moisture) from a specific animal.
Turkey giblets, an edible by-product of poultry slaughter, are the fourth ingredient. They consist of the bird carcass’s heart, liver, and gizzard.
Even though most people find the idea of eating an animal’s internal organs repulsive, these foods can all be regarded as natural components of a real ancestral diet.
Giblets are an acceptable and healthy meat ingredient.
The fifth ingredient is chicken meal. As a meat concentrate, chicken meal has nearly 300% more protein than fresh chicken.
Catfish meal, a protein-rich meat concentrate with nearly 300% more protein than fresh fish itself, is the sixth component.
Typically, commercial fish operations’ “clean, dried, ground tissue of undecomposed whole fish and fish cuttings” is used to make fish meal.
It’s crucial to note that each of the following 3 ingredients in this recipe is a type of legume:
Despite the fact that they are a blend of high-quality plant ingredients, there is a crucial factor to take into account. And that’s the recipe design practice known as ingredient splitting.
This newer combination would probably rank much higher on the list if we were to combine all of these separate items and report them as one.
When evaluating the meat content of this dog food, one must also take into account the fact that legumes have an approximate 25% protein content.
Pollock meal, a further high protein meat concentrate, is the tenth component.
The next item is chicken fat. Chicken is rendered to produce chicken fat, which is obtained by skimming the fat off the top of the liquid, much like when making soup.
Linoleic acid, an omega-6 fatty acid necessary for life, is abundant in chicken fat. Even though it doesn’t sound particularly enticing, chicken fat is a superior ingredient.
The list continues with a number of additional items after this.
However, in all likelihood, ingredients this low on the list (aside from nutritional supplements) won’t have an impact on this Champion sub-brand’s overall rating.
With 4 notable exceptions…
When assessing the actual meat content of this dog food, it is important to take into account the presence of green lentils and chickpeas, both of which have a protein content of about 25%.
As for lentil fiber, it is a combination of soluble and insoluble dietary fiber that comes from lentils. This agricultural by-product offers no nutritional value to a dog other than the usual fiber benefits.
This food also includes chelated minerals, which are minerals that have chemically attached to protein. This makes them easier to absorb. Chelated minerals are usually found in better dog foods.
Last but not least, inulin, a starch-like substance made up of repeating units of carbohydrates and present in some roots and tubers, is abundant in chicory root.
Inulin is a natural source of soluble dietary fiber that is also used as a prebiotic to encourage the development of good bacteria in a dog’s digestive system.
Acana Regionals Dog Food appears to be a better-than-average dry kibble just based on its ingredients.
The dashboard shows a reading of 38% for dry matter protein, 19% for fat, and an estimated 35% for carbohydrates.
The brand’s average protein content is 37%, and its average fat content is 19%. All things considered, these numbers point to a 36% carbohydrate content for the entire product line.
And a fat-to-protein ratio of about 53%.
Which means this Acana product line contains…
Above-average protein. Above-average fat. And below-average carbs when compared to other dry dog foods.
This looks like the profile of a kibble containing a significant amount of meat, which is also described on the company’s website, even after taking the legumes’ ability to boost protein into account.
Customers can learn more about a product and determine whether it is the right one for them by reading customer reviews and viewing product star ratings.
We don’t employ a simple average to determine the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star. Instead, our system takes into account factors like the age of a review and whether the reviewer purchased the item from Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
FAQ
What dog food is better than Acana?
Orijen is another brand that is at the top of our list of the best dog foods thanks to its amazing company values and high-quality ingredients. The sister company of Orijen, ACANA, is one of their main competitors in the market for premium dog food, along with From and Zignature.
Is Acana dog food safe now?
Always listed as the first ingredient is a premium meat protein Although there are cautions about Acana’s potential to cause DCM in pets, nothing has been conclusively proven, so you should feel safe giving Acana as your pet’s main source of dog food.
What is the number 1 healthiest dog food?
- Wellness – Best Brand Overall.
- Blue Buffalo Life Protection – Best Dry Dog Food.
- Royal Canin Veterinary Diet – Best Prescription Dog Food.
- Castor and Pollux Organix – Best Grain-Free Dog Food.
- Purina Pro Plan – Best Budget Dog Food.
Is there a lawsuit against Acana dog food?
(Reuters) – The 10th U. S. On Tuesday, the Circuit Court of Appeals granted Champion Petfoods another victory over the plaintiffs who alleged that the company had made false claims regarding the biological appropriateness, freshness, and human-sourced ingredients of its premium Acana and Orijen dogfood brands.