→ See the live ingredient breakdown for Eukanuba
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 B/76, Eukanuba now ties with Hill's Science Diet (B/76) and scores 17 points above its Mars sibling Royal Canin (C/58). The reformulation lift moves Eukanuba into legitimate mid-premium territory — same B-tier band as the dog-food mainstream rather than the C-tier underperformer position it previously held.
The comparison to Iams (C/63) is telling — Iams is also owned by Mars Petcare, costs about 40% less, and now sits 12 points behind Eukanuba on ingredient quality. The Eukanuba reformulation closes the price-to-quality gap meaningfully. For a step up to A-tier, Merrick Classic (B/80) or Wellness Complete Health (B/78) remain stronger options on whole-food sourcing.
Read the full breakdown in our Eukanuba vs Iams head-to-head comparison.
Life-stage variant: Eukanuba Puppy Medium Breed (B/76) 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 B grade (76/100) from KibbleIQ on the latest reformulation. Chicken first, fish oil, and FOS prebiotics are genuine positives, and the +15-point lift from the previous C/60 baseline reflects tighter named-chicken-first sourcing plus the functional inclusion adjustments. Corn meal at two and chicken by-product meal at four still anchor the formula in the mid-premium B-tier rather than the A-tier whole-food space. For a step up, Merrick (B/80) or Wellness (B/78) deliver stronger whole-food sourcing; for a budget-friendly comparable, Diamond Naturals (B/78) scores marginally higher at meaningfully lower price. Shop on Amazon →