What's actually in Acana?
We analyzed Acana Red Meat Recipe. The first six ingredients are fresh Angus beef, fresh Yorkshire pork, fresh grass-fed lamb, beef meal, pork meal, and lamb meal — three fresh whole meats followed immediately by three concentrated meat meals, all before any carbohydrate source appears.
That opening is extraordinary. Three distinct red meat proteins, each sourced fresh and named specifically (Angus beef, Yorkshire pork, grass-fed lamb), followed by their concentrated meal forms for additional protein density. The specificity of sourcing — Angus, Yorkshire, grass-fed — reflects a commitment to ingredient quality that almost no other brand at any price point matches. Shop on Amazon →
The good stuff
Organ meats appear in the top fifteen: fresh beef liver, fresh pork liver, fresh beef tripe, fresh beef kidney, and fresh pork kidney. These aren't incidental inclusions — they're concentrated sources of taurine, B vitamins, iron, and CoQ10. Organ meats are the most nutrient-dense animal ingredients that exist, and most kibble formulas use them sparingly if at all.
Herring oil provides marine-sourced omega-3 fatty acids. The botanical and superfood blend mirrors Orijen's approach: fresh pumpkin, butternut squash, zucchini, carrots, apples, pears, kale, spinach, cranberries, blueberries, dried kelp, chicory root (prebiotic), turmeric, milk thistle, and rose hips. No corn, wheat, soy, artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives of any kind.
Acana is made by Champion Petfoods, the same Canadian company that makes Orijen. The two brands share a manufacturing philosophy and ingredient sourcing standards — Acana is essentially Orijen's more accessible sibling, with a slightly lower animal-ingredient ratio and a lower price point.
The not-so-good stuff
The legume load is substantial. After the six meat-based proteins come whole green peas, whole red lentils, whole chickpeas, whole green lentils, whole pinto beans, whole yellow peas, and lentil fiber — seven legume ingredients. This is the same grain-free/DCM concern that applies to Orijen: the FDA's ongoing investigation into legume-heavy grain-free diets and dilated cardiomyopathy. No causal link established, but the risk warrants awareness, particularly for predisposed breeds.
No probiotics. Orijen includes Enterococcus faecium; Acana does not. For a brand at this price and quality level, that's the one gap worth noting.
How it compares
Acana's B/88 is the second-highest score in our database, behind only Orijen (A/90). The 6-point gap comes from Orijen's more intensive animal-ingredient ratio (14 animal ingredients before the first carb vs. 6 for Acana) and the inclusion of probiotics.
Compared to the rest of the premium tier: Fromm Gold scores B/84, Wellness Complete Health scores B/82, and Merrick Classic scores B/80. Acana sits at the top of the B tier, closer to Orijen than to the rest of the pack.
Against the vet-recommended brands: Acana scores 26–30 points higher than Purina Pro Plan, Hill's Science Diet, and Royal Canin. The price difference is real — Acana typically costs $70–85 for a 25-pound bag — but you're getting a categorically different product.
Read the full breakdowns in our head-to-head comparisons: Orijen vs Acana, Fromm vs Acana, and Farmina vs Acana.
Life-stage variant: Acana Puppy (A/90) tunes the formula for growing puppies with three animal proteins up front, fish oil DHA, and triple probiotics.
The bottom line
Acana earns a B grade (88/100) from KibbleIQ. Three fresh named meats, three meat meals, organ meats, herring oil, and an extraordinary botanical blend make it one of the best-formulated kibbles on the market. The legume load and absent probiotics are the only meaningful concerns. If Orijen's price is out of reach, Acana is the right step down — you lose a few points on the ingredient intensity but not on the fundamental commitment to quality. Shop on Amazon →