Rating: 
Evanger’s Super Premium Gold Dog Food receives the Advisor’s highest rating of five stars.
The Evanger’s Gold product line includes eight canned dog foods. Since we could not locate AAFCO nutritional adequacy statements for these products on the Evanger’s website, we’re unable to report specific life stage recommendations.
- Evanger’s Cooked Chicken
- Evanger’s Beef with Chicken
- Evanger’s Turkey Chunk Stew
- Evanger’s Lamb and Rice Dinner
- Evanger’s Beef Dinner with Chunks
- Evanger’s Duck and Sweet Potato Dinner
- Evanger’s Cooked Chicken Dinner with Chunks
- Evanger’s All Fresh Vegetarian Dinner (2 stars)
Evanger’s Duck and Sweet Potato Dinner was selected to represent the others in the line for this review.
Evanger's Duck and Sweet Potato Dinner
Canned Dog Food
Estimated Dry Matter Nutrient Content
Ingredients: Duck, water sufficient for processing, sweet potatoes, vitamin A acetate, vitamin D2 supplement, vitamin E supplement, ascorbic acid, niacin supplement, d-calcium pantothenate, riboflavin supplement, thiamin mononitrate, pyriodoxine hydrochloride, vitamin B12 supplement, biotin, folic acid, zinc proteinate, iron proteinate, manganese proteinate, copper proteinate, calcium iodate and sodium selenite
Fiber (estimated dry matter content) = 6.8%
Red items when present indicate controversial ingredients
The first ingredient in this dog food lists duck. Duck is considered “the clean combination of flesh and skin… derived from the parts or whole carcasses of duck”.1
Duck is naturally rich in the ten essential amino acids required by a dog to sustain life.
The second ingredient is water… which (of course) adds nothing but moisture to this food. Water is a routine finding in most canned dog foods.
The third ingredient is sweet potato. Sweet potatoes are a good source of complex carbohydrates in a dog food. They are naturally rich in fiber, beta carotene and other healthy nutrients.
This dog food also contains chelated minerals… minerals that have been chemically attached to amino acids. This makes them easier to absorb. Chelated minerals are generally found in better dog foods.
Evanger’s Super Premium Gold Dog Food
The Bottom Line
Like Evanger’s Hand Packed Specialties, Super Premium Gold also includes two different recipe types… dinners and supplements.
The dinners appear to be designed to be used as complete and balanceddog foods… to be fed on a routine basis.
Whereas the all meat versions should be served sparingly… used for intermittent or supplemental feeding only.
Unlike the complete and balanced dinner foods, they should not be fed continuously as the sole menu item in a dog’s diet.
We prefer to use a food like this as an occasional special treat. Or as an appetizing topper… to be served over dry kibble.
Of course, judging by its ingredients alone, Evanger’s Super Premium Gold appears to be an above-average canned dog food.
But ingredient quality by itself cannot tell the whole story. We still need to estimate the product’s meat content before determining a final rating.
The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 41%, a fat level of 18% and estimated carbohydrates of about 33%.
As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 42% and a mean fat level of 21%. Together, these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 29% for the overall product line.
Near-average protein. Average fat. And average carbohydrates… when compared to a typical canned dog food.
With no sign of any plant-based protein boosters, this looks like the profile of a wet food containing a notable amount of meat.
However, we would have preferred not to have seen Evanger’s mix the dinner and supplemental dog foods together within the same product line. There’s simply too much chance for confusion and feeding errors.
Now, before we conclude we note the inclusion of a vegetarian dog food in the line. Now, please be aware we do recognize the need for some dog owners to provide (for whatever reason) a completely meat-free diet.
However, we also respect a dog’s natural carnivorous bias. For this reason, the highest rating awarded any vegetarian dog food found on this website cannot exceed two stars.
Bottom line?
Evanger’s Gold is primarily a meat-based canned dog food using a respectable amount of beef, lab or poultry as its main sources of animal protein… thus earning the brand five stars.
Enthusiastically recommended.
A Final Word
This review is designed to help you make a more informed decision when buying dog food. However, our rating system is not intended to suggest feeding a particular product will result in a specific health benefit for your pet.
For a better understanding of how we analyzed this product, please be sure to read our article, “The Problem with Dog Food Reviews”
Remember, no dog food can possibly be appropriate for every life stage, lifestyle or health condition. So, choose wisely. And when in doubt consult a veterinarian for help.
Have an opinion about this dog food… or maybe the review itself? Please know… we welcome your comments.
Notes and Updates
03/13/2010 Original review
10/13/2010 Review updated
- Adapted from the official definition for chicken published by the Association of American Feed Control Officials, 2008 Edition ↩
The Dog Food Advisor publishes independent reviews to help pet owners make better choices when shopping for dog food.