Acana Light & Fit Recipe review

This food reaches our Excellent band, a step clear of the Good band where the typical adult dry food stops. Weight-management recipes often get there by watering the label down; this one holds its meat content and declares it fully, which is what the scoring rewards. Nutritional balance and transparency both read Outstanding, value Excellent and protein and processing Good.

Ingredients, as declared: Fresh chicken (21%), chicken meal (20%), whole red lentils, whole green peas, lentil fibre, fresh chicken giblets (liver, heart) (5%), turkey meal (5%), fresh eggs (4%), raw hake (4%), whole chickpeas, whole green lentils, whole yellow peas, pea starch, herring meal (3%), chicken fat (1.5%), fish oil (1%), raw turkey livers (0.5%), salt, dried kelp, fresh whole pumpkin, fresh whole butternut squash, fresh whole carrots, fresh whole apples, fresh whole pears, fresh whole zucchini, dried chicory root, 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.

The trick of a good light food is keeping protein up while fat comes down, and the numbers here do exactly that: protein converts to 39.8% of dry matter while fat converts to just 12.5%. At 307 kcal per 100g it is also meaningfully lighter than the 357 kcal typical of adult dry food.

Fresh chicken at 21% and chicken meal at 20% anchor the recipe, with turkey meal, chicken giblets, eggs and named fish behind them. Chicken fat is pushed right down the list to 1.5%, which is where much of the calorie saving comes from.

Fibre rises to 8% as fed, largely through lentil fibre placed high on the list. Fibre is what makes a smaller calorie allowance feel like a proper meal, and putting it that high is a deliberate choice.

The starch stays legume-only, lentils, peas, chickpeas and pea starch, with estimated carbohydrate converting to 30.6% of dry matter against a 46.2% typical. A dosed vitamin and mineral panel, calcium working out at 1.59% of dry matter and a live probiotic complete a label doing everything a diet food should.

£6.49 a kilo, in 2kg, 6kg and 11.4kg bags.

Because the food is less energy-dense, daily portions run a little larger than usual. A 15kg adult in moderate condition needs about 274 grams, or £1.78 a day, figured on the usual maintenance estimate of 110 × bodyweight^0.75 kcal. For a dog actively slimming, follow the label's weight-maintenance table and your vet's advice rather than the maintenance sum.