Acana Pacifica Review

Acana Dry Dog Food Review


Quick Analysis

Ingredients:

Nutrition:

Potential Allergens: seafood

Est. Calories: 348 cal/100g

Price: n/a

Overall, Acana Pacifica is a significantly above average dog food, earning 8 out of a possible 10 paws based on its nutritional analysis and ingredient list.


Ingredient Analysis

When evaluating a dog food, the first five ingredients can tell you a lot about the quality of a product as they make up the bulk of the product. Ideally, you're looking for quality protein sources with a minimum of cheap starches, fillers or by-products. Continuing down the ingredient list, look for ingredients that resemble real food with a minimal number of unpronounceable chemicals - the same as you would for human food.

Acana Pacifica includes the following:

Quality Ingredients

  • fresh whole pacific herring
  • fresh whole pacific pilchard
  • whole herring meal
  • fresh whole silver hake
  • freeze-dried cod liver

Questionable Ingredients

None

Potential Allergens

  • fresh whole pacific herring
  • fresh whole pacific pilchard
  • fresh whole arrowtooth flounder
  • whole herring meal
  • pacific cod meal
  • pollock oil
  • fresh whole silver hake
  • fresh whole redstripe rockfish
  • freeze-dried cod liver

Note - a bolded ingredient in the above tables indicates it is one of the first five ingredients listed by the product manufacturer.

In this case, Acana Pacifica's most plentiful ingredient listed is fresh whole pacific herring, which is considered a quality protein source. It also contains fresh whole pacific pilchard and whole herring meal as additional quality protein sources.

Additionally, it's worth noting that this product does not list either by-products nor bulk-adding fillers within its top ingredients. By-products are considered inferior, lesser quality ingredients. Common fillers typically used to add bulk to the product are not required in your dog's diet. Together, their combined absence may be indicative of a higher quality product.

Allergen alert: This product contains fresh whole pacific herring, fresh whole pacific pilchard, fresh whole arrowtooth flounder, whole herring meal, pacific cod meal, pollock oil, fresh whole silver hake, fresh whole redstripe rockfish and freeze-dried cod liver which may be problematic for dogs who suffer from seafood food allergies.



Nutritional Analysis*

Compared to the other 1160 dog foods in our database, Acana Pacifica has:

  • more protein than average
  • significantly fewer carbohydrates than average
  • an average amount of fat
  • more fiber than average
In general, dogs have been shown to do better with a higher protein, medium fat, lower carb diet with sufficient moisture. However, specialty diets as recommended by your veterinarian may prioritize a different nutritional breakdown.

Calorie Breakdown

Using the calculations provided by the AAFCO, Acana Pacifica has approximately 348 calories per 100g (98 calories/ounce), which is fewer calories compared to the average of the other dry dog foods in the DogFoodDB.


All the product information on this page is based on data collected from the manufacturer's product website as retrieved on January 1, 2017.


Ingredients

Ingredients as published by the dog food manufacturer:

Fresh whole pacific herring, fresh whole pacific pilchard, fresh whole arrowtooth flounder, whole herring meal, pacific cod meal, whole whiting meal, whole green peas, whole red lentils, whole chickpeas, whole green lentils, pollock oil, fresh whole silver hake, fresh whole redstripe rockfish, whole pinto beans, whole yellow peas, sun-cured alfalfa, cold-pressed sunflower oil, lentil fiber, dried brown kelp, fresh pumpkin, fresh butternut squash, fresh parsnips, fresh green kale, fresh spinach, fresh mustard greens, fresh turnip greens, fresh carrots, fresh red delicious apples, fresh bartlett pears, freeze-dried cod liver (0.1%), fresh cranberries, fresh blueberries, chicory root, turmeric root, milk thistle, burdock root, lavender, marshmallow root, rosehips


Guaranteed Analysis

Nutritional information as published by the dog food manufacturer.*

Protein: (min)
35.0%
Fat: (min)
17.0%
Fiber: (max)
6.0%
Carbs: (est)
23.0%
Ash: (est)
7.0%
Moisture: (max)
12.0%

Dry Matter Analysis

The manufacturer's published guaranteed analysis values normalized for moisture content.

Protein: (min)
40%
Fat: (min)
19%
Fiber: (max)
7%
Carbs: (est)
26%
Ash: (est)
8%
Calories: (est)
348/100g

*Note that some nutritional percentages reported are only estimated values, and are indicated as such as (est). Each dog food manufacturer is required by law to publish a Guaranteed Analysis, which defines each product's maximum values of fiber, moisture and ash in addition to the minimum values of protein and fat contained within. Exact nutritional percentages are not available and hence all calculated values (including carbohydrate percentages and calorie amounts) are determined using these minimum and maximum published values and therefore may differ from actual values.


Want DogFoodDB in your inbox?

Sign up to be notified when we publish new dog food reviews and other ways to help you feed your dog.

Have a cat?

Check out our sister site!