Merrick Grain Free Venison Holiday Stew Classic Recipe Review

Merrick Canned Dog Food Review


Quick Analysis

Ingredients:

Nutrition:

Potential Allergens: beef and eggs

Est. Calories: 92 cal/100g

Price: $$

Overall, Merrick Grain Free Venison Holiday Stew Classic Recipe is an average dog food, earning 6 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.

Merrick Grain Free Venison Holiday Stew Classic Recipe includes the following:

Quality Ingredients

  • deboned venison

Questionable Ingredients

  • potato starch-modified

Potential Allergens

  • beef broth
  • dried egg product

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, Merrick Grain Free Venison Holiday Stew Classic Recipe's most plentiful ingredient listed is deboned venison, which is considered a quality protein source.

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 beef broth and dried egg product which may be problematic for dogs who suffer from beef or eggs food allergies.



Nutritional Analysis*

Compared to the other 1160 dog foods in our database, Merrick Grain Free Venison Holiday Stew Classic Recipe has:

  • an average amount of protein
  • an average amount of carbohydrates
  • 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, Merrick Grain Free Venison Holiday Stew Classic Recipe has approximately 92 calories per 100g (26 calories/ounce), which is an average amount of calories compared to the average of the other wet 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 April 23, 2017.


Ingredients

Ingredients as published by the dog food manufacturer:

Deboned Venison, Beef Broth, Peas, Carrots, Potato, Zucchini, Apples, Dried Egg Product, Natural Pork Flavor, Potato Starch-modified, Blueberries, Canola Oil, Potassium Chloride, Calcium Carbonate, Salt, Sodium Phosphate, Vitamins (Choline Chloride, Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin B12, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A Supplement, Niacin, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Riboflavin, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Folic Acid, Biotin, Thiamine Mononitrate), Carageenan, Cassia Gum, Olive Oil, Flax Oil, Minerals (Zinc Amino Acid Complex, Iron Amino Acid Complex, Manganese Amino Acid Complex, Copper Amino Acid Complex, Potassium Iodide, Cobalt Glucoheptonate, Sodium Selenite), Natural Carmel Color, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Lecithin.


Guaranteed Analysis

Nutritional information as published by the dog food manufacturer.*

Protein: (min)
8.0%
Fat: (min)
4.0%
Fiber: (max)
1.4%
Carbs: (est)
8.6%
Ash: (est)
0.0%
Moisture: (max)
78.0%

Dry Matter Analysis

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

Protein: (min)
36%
Fat: (min)
18%
Fiber: (max)
6%
Carbs: (est)
39%
Ash: (est)
0%
Calories: (est)
92/100g

*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.


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