What's actually in Eukanuba?
We analyzed Eukanuba Adult Medium Breed. The first ingredient is chicken — a good start. The second ingredient is corn meal, followed by whole grain sorghum, chicken by-product meal, chicken fat, and brewers rice. Fish oil and FOS prebiotics appear further down the list.
The ingredient order tells the story: chicken leads, but corn meal immediately follows, meaning corn provides as much or more bulk to the formula than the named chicken protein. By-product meal at position four and brewers rice at position six confirm that cheap caloric density is doing a lot of the work here. Shop on Amazon →
The good stuff
Chicken as the first ingredient is at least a named whole protein. Fish oil provides marine-sourced omega-3 fatty acids (EPA/DHA) for skin, coat, and joint support — this is one of the better functional inclusions in the formula. FOS (fructooligosaccharides) prebiotics support beneficial gut bacteria and are a legitimate addition for digestive health.
Whole grain sorghum is actually a reasonable carbohydrate — better than corn or white rice, with a decent fiber content. Eukanuba is owned by Mars Petcare (which also owns Royal Canin and Pedigree), and like Royal Canin they invest in feeding trials and clinical nutrition research. The science-backed approach has merit even when the ingredient list doesn't reflect it.
The not-so-good stuff
Corn meal as the second ingredient is a red flag. Corn is a highly processed, low-quality carbohydrate filler. At position two — immediately after chicken — it almost certainly exceeds the named protein in dry-weight contribution to the formula. Most premium brands have eliminated corn entirely; Eukanuba puts it second.
Chicken by-product meal at position four compounds the problem. By-product meal is a concentrated protein source that includes organ meats, necks, and bones — nutritionally functional but the lowest tier of animal protein sourcing. Its presence alongside corn meal in the top five positions a formula that might cost $40–60 for a mid-size bag well below where the branding suggests it should be.
Brewers rice at position six is a milling byproduct — broken rice fragments with minimal nutritional value compared to whole brown rice or barley. Three low-quality ingredients in the top six (corn meal, chicken by-product meal, brewers rice) is a structural problem, not a minor concern.
No vegetables or fruits. No probiotics — just the prebiotic FOS without live cultures to work alongside it.
How it compares
At C/60, Eukanuba scores well above its Mars sibling Royal Canin (C/58) and roughly level with Hill's Science Diet (C/61) — all three share the same structural problem: premium pricing without premium ingredients. Royal Canin's drop to D territory makes Eukanuba the better-scoring Mars option, though neither justifies the premium price tag.
The comparison to Iams (C/63) is telling — Iams is also owned by Mars Petcare, costs about 40% less, and scores nearly identically. If you're already feeding Iams, switching to Eukanuba doesn't represent an upgrade. For the price of a Eukanuba bag, Merrick Classic (B/80) or Wellness Complete Health (B/82) deliver a categorically different product.
Read the full breakdown in our Eukanuba vs Iams head-to-head comparison.
Life-stage variant: Eukanuba Puppy Medium Breed (B/75) outscores the adult formula by 15 points — the largest puppy-vs-adult spread in our database — driven by fish oil DHA, fructooligosaccharide prebiotics, and tighter growth-phase AAFCO targeting.
The bottom line
Eukanuba earns a C grade (60/100) from KibbleIQ. Chicken first, fish oil, and FOS prebiotics are genuine positives. But corn meal second, chicken by-product meal fourth, and brewers rice sixth describe a formula that relies on cheap bulk ingredients despite premium positioning. At its price point, better options are easy to find — Merrick, Wellness, or even Diamond Naturals all score 18–22 points higher for comparable or less money. Shop on Amazon →