CANIDAE PURE GRAIN-FREE CANNED DOG FOOD Review

With a score of 6/10, this is considered a moderate risk dog food. There are 5 recipes that average 39% protein and 21% carbohydrates, as calculated on a dry matter basis. This is Canidae’s second highest scoring canned food. 

This line loses ingredient quality points for its high carbohydrate content. It’s reasonable for a canned food but lower is preferable. This is a grain-free food but it includes starchy ingredients like sweet potatoes and peas.  Excessive carbohydrate is an 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.

This line loses significant ingredient quality points for excessive added vitamins and minerals. This usually reflects poor quality or overly processed ingredients. Ideally, these nutrients should come from whole food sources. Vitamin and mineral excesses, especially vitamin D and copper, can also result from vitamin premixes.

The line also loses ingredient quality points for including seed oils. Oils like canola, safflower and sunflower are highly processed and are inflammatory as they’re rich in omega-6 fatty acids, which can cause systemic and gut inflammation. 

Plant proteins are also used. They’re a low cost substitute for quality animal protein. Animal sources of protein are preferred because they contain a wider array of amino acids and are more digestible. 

This is a highly processed canned food. Canned foods are heated before and during canning, which will cause significant losses in some active enzymes, vitamins, amino acids and phytonutrients.

These recipes also use foods in the top 5 ingredients known to be high in pesticide/herbicide residues including peas. Pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers pose a significant health risk to plants, animals and soils. Foods with the largest reported amount of residue will be penalized, including crops that are known to be spray-dried with glyphosate.  

Ingredient splitting doesn’t lose points but it should be noted. This is a technique of splitting ingredients into sub-categories to move certain ingredients higher or lower on the ingredient list. This is often used to disguise the amount of lower quality ingredients in the food, such as peas, and moves desirable ingredients like proteins higher.

It’s also worth noting that the line contains sodium selenite as a source of selenium. Dogs need selenium, and it’s usually added in very small amounts. However some research suggests that sodium selenite may be associated with potential toxicity, so selenium yeast is the preferred form of this mineral.  

The company states that the salmon used in these recipes is wild-caught which has a healthier fatty acid profile than farmed fish. However, they don’t state that other fish ingredients are wild-caught, so those are likely farmed.

Canidae does not state the omega6:omega-3 ratio in their foods. While this is true of most foods, AAFCO allows a very inflammatory limit of 30:1. Diets rich in omega-6 fats can cause chronic inflammation and disease.