ACANA HIGHEST PROTEIN DOG FOOD Review

With an average score of 6.1, ACANA’s Highest Protein line is considered a moderate risk dry dog food. The sub-brand loses food quality points for its somewhat high carbohydrate content, with an average of 30%. Excessive carbohydrate is in indicator of low quality foods as they are used to keep costs down. Large amounts of starch can increase insulin levels, cause obesity and negatively impact gut balance. With that said, the Highest Protein line has the lowest average carbohydrate content compared to ACANA’s other kibble lines.

Like many ACANA foods, the Highest Protein line is a bit unique in that it doesn’t contain a lot of added minerals, which indicates higher ingredient quality. However, it does lose food quality points for excessive added vitamins and unspecified animal proteins, which indicate lower quality ingredients.

The food safety score is lower because, like all kibbles, ACANA Highest Protein is ultra-processed. The individual ingredients in dry dog foods are heated several times during processing, which can cause a significant loss of enzymes, vitamins, amino acids and phytonutrients. Processed foods are also linked to higher mortality rates in many species. 

Rounding out the food safety scores, ACANA Highest Protein loses points for high pesticides/herbicide foods. With that said, these don’t appear in the top 5 ingredients, unlike other ACANA dry foods, which is definitely preferable. The food loses ingredient safety points for natural flavor, which is often either animal digest or MSG, which are low quality ingredients with limited safety studies. It’s also worth noting that, although fish oil is added, the label does not specify the species of fish or whether it’s farmed. This could significantly impact the quality of the ingredient. Finally, the food does not provide the omega-6:omega-3 ratio, which is a concern since AAFCO allows a very inflammatory ratio of 30:1.

It’s worth noting that ACANA Highest Protein uses ingredient splitting on their label. Dog food ingredients must be listed by weight, from most to least. The Highest Protein foods typically list green lentils, red lentils and lentil fiber as separate ingredients. You’ll also see splitting of green peas and yellow peas. There is little difference between these ingredients but listing them separately moves them further down the label to make consumers believe there is more meat (and less oats) in the food than there probably is. 

This line also includes a significant number of glam ingredients. These are foods that appear in minuscule amounts (often listed after salt or added vitamins) that are too small to be of benefit to the dog eating them. They are attractive for the buyer but of little value. This includes apples, carrots, pears, pumpkin and kelp.