Acana

Acana Classics: Red Meat review

Name: Acana Classics: Red Meat
Brand: Acana

64/100Good

DryPuppyAdult

Flavour

Acana's everyday tier keeps the family shape: a raw or fresh meat first, then a named meal of the same kind, both weighed. All three bags sit in our Good band. They take three different animals to one identical analysis, so swapping between them changes the meat and nothing else.

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Our view

Likely to suit

Dogs that get on with grain. Pearled barley and oat groats are gentler than wheat or maize
A puppy and an adult fed from the same bag
Whole produce, from pumpkin and squash to kale and cranberries
Digestion that needs a hand, with chicory root and a live probiotic on every label
Alternating flavours without changing anything else

Worth watching

Fish oil in all three, and pork fat in Wild Coast
Barley and oats bring gluten
Red Meat runs the highest calcium, at 1.82% of dry matter

Written by our editorial team. Independent guidance, not veterinary advice.

How this scores

How we score

64/100Good

Protein and processingGood

Nutritional balanceGood

TransparencyOutstanding

ValueGood

The details

Dog fit

Listed for puppies, adults and seniors of every size. For a large breed puppy, pick Prairie Poultry or Wild Coast, whose calcium sits comfortably for growth.

Food type

Dry

Life stage

Puppy, Adult, Senior

Breed size

Toy, Small, Medium, Large, Giant

Main protein

Beef

The score, in context

Prairie Poultry 64.4
Red Meat 64.0
Wild Coast 62.3

All three Good. Typical dry food: Good.

Solid without being striking on the analysis, the three earn their place through a label that names and weighs nearly everything, and through consistency.

What's in it

Raw beef16%
Lamb meal15%A second animal from the opening pair.
Pearled barley, whole peas, oat groats
Pork fat, pork meal8% eachA third animal.
Whole oats, chickpea fibre
Raw pork2%
Fish oil1%And fish as well.
Potassium chloride, dried kelp, salt, dried chicory root
Pumpkin, squash, carrots, apples, pears, greens, berries, herbs

B vitamins, vitamins A, D3 and E, zinc and copper, taurine at 400 mg and choline at 700 mg per kilo, plus a declared live probiotic.

Calcium is 1.82% of dry matter, the figure to weigh for a large breed puppy.

Named ingredients

Raw beef (16%), lamb meal (15%), pearled barley, whole peas, oat groats, pork fat (8%), pork meal (8%), whole oats, chickpea fibre, raw pork (2%), fish oil (1%), potassium chloride, dried kelp, salt, dried chicory root, fresh whole pumpkin, fresh whole butternut squash, fresh whole carrots, fresh whole apples, fresh whole pears, fresh whole zucchini, fresh kale, fresh spinach, fresh turnip greens, fresh beet greens, whole cranberries, whole blueberries, whole saskatoon berries, turmeric, milk thistle, burdock root, lavender, marshmallow root, rosehips.

Against the range

Animals on the label: Beef, lamb, pork and fish; One land animal in Prairie Poultry.
Calcium, dry matter: 1.82%; The highest; 1.25% on Prairie Poultry.
Carbohydrate, dry matter: 36.3%; 36.9% on the other two.

The most varied bowl in the range, and the least useful for narrowing a diet down to one animal.

Every bag opens with a raw or fresh meat backed by a named meal from the same family, then pearled barley, whole peas and oats for the starch. Fish oil at 1% runs through all three, and a long list of whole fruit, vegetables and herbs closes each one, most of it at trace level.

The analysis is identical across the range at 27.0% protein and 16.0% fat, with carbohydrate between 36.3% and 36.9% of dry matter. What changes is the animal, the added fat and the calcium.

Nutritional analysis

Declared analysis

Energy

342.5 kcal/100g

Protein

27%

Fat

16%

Fibre

Ash

Moisture

12%

Dry weight

Protein

30.7%

Fat

18.2%

Fibre

5.7%

Ash

9.1%

Carbs

36.3%

As-fed composition

Estimated breakdown of the finished product by ingredient category, from the declared ingredient list and ingoing weights. These are estimates, not measurements.

Meat

41%

Carbs

46.6%

Veg

1.8%

Oils

Other

1.5%

Pricing & size