Rating: 
Canidae Dog Food Grain-Free dry formula receives the Advisor’s top rating of five stars.
Currently, the Canidae Dog Food Grain-Free line includes two dry products… both for dogs of all life stages.
- Canidae Dog Food Grain-Free ALS Formula
- Canidae Dog Food Grain-Free Salmon Formula
Canidae Dog Food Grain-Free Salmon was selected to represent the others in the line for this review.
Canidae Grain-Free Salmon Formula
Dry Dog Food
Estimated Dry Matter Nutrient Content
Ingredients: salmon meal, potatoes, potato protein, ocean fish meal, canola oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols), peas, tomato pomace, natural flavor, choline chloride, suncured alfalfa meal, inulin (from chicory root), lecithin, sage extract, cranberries, beta-carotene, rosemary extract, sunflower oil, yucca schidigera extract, dried enterococcus faecium fermentation product, dried lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried lactobacillus casei fermentation product, dried lactobacillus plantarum fermentation product, dried trichoderma longibrachiatum fermentation extract, vitamin e supplement, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate, manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin, vitamin D3 supplement, folic acid, cobalt proteinate, papaya, pineapple.
Fiber (estimated dry matter content) = 3.3%
Red items when present indicate controversial ingredients
The first ingredient in this dog food is salmon meal. Because it is considered a meat concentrate, salmon meal contains significantly more protein than fresh salmon.
The second ingredient is potato. Potatoes are considered a high quality source of carbohydrates.
The third item is potato protein… the dry residue left over after removing the starchy part of a potato. This product contains over 80% plant protein… and so it has the ability to exaggerate the reported protein content of any dog food.
The fourth ingredient is ocean fish meal. Because it is considered a meat concentrate, fish meal contains almost 300% more protein than fresh fish itself.
Unfortunately, this particular item is anonymous. The term “ocean fish” does little to adequately describe the item.
Although there’s no explanation on the product’s label, the Canidae website does identify the fish meal as being sourced from a “blend of middle ocean swimming Herring and Menhaden Fish”.1
It’s also important to note the controversial chemical ethoxyquin is frequently used as a preservative during the manufacture of fish meal products.
But because it’s usually added to the raw fish before processing, ethoxyquin’s presence does not have to be reported to consumers.
Based upon the published ingredients list, there’s no way to know whether or not ethoxyquin is present in this product.
Ingredient number five is canola oil. Most applaud canola for its favorable “omega” content… while a vocal minority condemn it as an unhealthy fat.
Current thinking says the negative stories about canola oil are more the stuff of urban legend than actual science.2
This dog food also contains chelated minerals… minerals that have been chemically attached to amino acids. This can make them much easier to absorb than non-chelated minerals. A nice addition.
Canidae also adds back some of the live bacteria lost during the cooking process. These special probiotics can significantly enhance a dog’s digestion and immune functions. Another favorable touch.
Canidae Dog Food Grain-Free… the Bottom Line
Human-grade meats, omega fatty acids, natural preservatives… hey, what’s not to like about this product?
But the question remains… how much actual meat is in this dry Canidae Dog Food?
The dashboard reports a dry matter protein reading of 44%, a fat level of 22% and an estimated carbohydrate content of 25%.
Incidentally, this product’s littermate, Canidae Dog Food Grain-Free ALS Formula, reports a lower 38% protein number.
Yet there’s no potato protein present to boost the dashboard’s readings. So, for you meat protein geeks out there, ALS might be your better choice.
All-in-all, the nutrient numbers suggest this Canidae grain-free product to be an exceptional dry dog food.
And the ingredients line-up plus the lack of any notable Red Flag items seem to support that finding.
With our highest five-star rating this product is definitely worth a serious look.
Enthusiastically recommended.
Some Final Thoughts
Remember, no dog food can possibly be appropriate for every life stage, lifestyle or health condition. So, choose wisely. And when in doubt consult your veterinarian for help.
Have an opinion about this dog food brand… or maybe the review itself?
Please feel free to share your comments below.
- Canidae, 2/17/2010 ↩
- Mikkelson, B and DP, Oil of Ole, Urban Legends Reference Pages (2005), retrieved 12/05/2009 ↩
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Still hesitant to feed this, with all the fears of ethoxequin.
Taken from their website:
Fish Meal (concentrated meat protein)
A unique blend of middle ocean swimming Herring and Menhaden Fish.
http://www.canidae.com/ingredients/thefinest.html
“Our fish is FDA inspected and passed residual free of ethoxiquin.”
http://www.catster.com/forums/Food_and_nutrition/thread/397664
Hi Rico… Thanks for calling these issues to my attention. You’re right. I did find the statement naming the kinds of fish contained in the ocean fish meal ingredient on Canidae’s website. But since many consumers do not spend much time researching their dog food purchases on the Internet, I base all of my reviews on what I find on the actual product labels only.
I will correct my review immediately.
However, I prefer not to use third party websites (in this case, the catster.com forum) for critical information of this nature. So, I called Canidae myself and learned the fish meal they use does indeed contain ethoxyquin. They informed me the heat used to produce the meal product itself destroys much of the ethoxyquin before the meal is added to the dog food.
Since we don’t know how much of the remaining ethoxyquin is truly safe, I’ve decided to leave the precautionary statement in my review… and the warning that ethoxyquin may be present here still stands.
Thanks again for your sharp eye… and for taking the time to share your comment with our readers.
Curious if anyone else using Canidae ALS dog food has noticed a change in the odor of the food on or about Feb 1,2010? It has always had a rich flavorable smell when feeding but this last batch smells like “rotten garbage”.