Food scores are based on ingredient quality and safety. For more information, view our evaluation criteria.
With an average score of 5.8, ACANA’s Singles dry dog food line is considered a moderate risk dog food. The food averages about 30% protein and 29% carbohydrate, which is lower than some competitor kibbles but still high. Excessive carbohydrate is in indicator of low quality foods and often used to keep costs down. Large amounts of starch can increase insulin levels, cause obesity and negatively impact gut balance.
Like many ACANA foods, the Singles line is a bit unique in that it doesn’t contain a lot of added minerals, which indicates higher ingredient quality. However, the Singles line does lose points for excessive added vitamins because this can reflect poor quality ingredients. The food also loses ingredient safety points for natural flavor, which is often either animal digest or MSG, which are low quality ingredients with limited safety studies.
The food safety score is lower because, like all kibbles, ACANA Singles 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 Singles loses points for high pesticides/herbicide foods in the top 5 ingredients, mainly as sorghum. oats and/or millet. These crops are sprayed with Roundup before harvesting and are higher in Roundup than most other foods. Finally, 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. The food also fails to 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 Singles uses ingredient splitting on the label. Dog food ingredients must be listed by weight, from most to least. Most of the Singles foods have oat groats listed as the third or fourth ingredient, but whole oats appears further down the label. There is also whole lentils and lentil fiber. 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 and lentils) in the food than there probably is.
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