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Smack Dog Food Review (Raw Dehydrated)

Karan French

By Karan French

Updated: April 29, 2024

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Our Verdict

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Smack (raw dehydrated) product range is made up of five recipes with ratings varying from 4.5 to 5 stars. The average rating of the whole range is 5  stars.

Pros
  • Certified organic ingredients
  • No fillers, gluten or grain
  • GMO-free ingredients
Cons
  • Limited recipes
  • Expensive
  • Does not state that the food meets nutritional guidelines

The table below shows each recipe in this range including our rating and the AAFCO nutrient profile: Growth (puppy), Maintenance (adult), All Life Stages, Supplemental or Unspecified.

Product line Rating AAFCO
Smack Prairie Harvest Pork 4.5 U
Smack Very Berry Chicken 5 U
Smack Caribbean-Salmon Fusion 5 U
Smack Rockin' Rockfish 5 U
Smack Chunky Chicken 5 U

Recipe and Label Analysis

Smack Very Berry Chicken was selected to represent the other products in the line for a detailed recipe and nutrient analysis.

Ingredients Analysis

The first ingredient is chicken. Chicken is considered “the clean combination of flesh and skin… derived from the parts or whole carcasses of chicken”. 1

Chicken is naturally rich in the 10 essential amino acids required by a dog to sustain life.

The second ingredient is organic pumpkin. Pumpkin is a nutritious addition high in complex carbohydrates, beta-carotene and dietary fiber.

The third ingredient is chicken liver. This is an organ meat sourced from a named animal and thus considered a beneficial component.

The fourth ingredient is chicken gizzard. The gizzard is a low-fat, meaty organ found in the digestive tract of birds and assists in grinding up consumed food. This item is considered a canine dietary delicacy.

The fifth ingredient is chicken heart. Although it doesn’t sound very appetizing, heart tissue is pure muscle – all meat. It’s naturally rich in quality protein, minerals and complex B vitamins, too.

The sixth ingredient is organic spinach. Due to its exceptional vitamin and mineral content, spinach exhibits a remarkably high nutrient Completeness Score 2 of 91

The seventh ingredient is organic Although raw celery can be very high in water, it can still contribute a notable amount of dietary fiber as well as other healthy nutrients.

The eighth ingredient is organic parsley. Due to its exceptional vitamin and mineral content, parsley exhibits a remarkably high nutrient Completeness Score3 of 91. 

The ninth ingredient is organic tumeric. Turmeric is a common spice that’s sometimes used to enhance the color and flavor of the food. Tumeric offers anti-inflammatory benefits so the presence of turmeric is seen as positive in this food.

From here the list goes on to include a number of other items. But to be realistic, ingredients located this far down the list (other than nutritional supplements) are not likely to affect the overall rating of the product.

This recipe has one notable exception.

This recipe contains a number of organic ingredients, we feel compelled to grant this line a more favorable status as we consider its final rating. That’s because organic ingredients must comply with notably more stringent government standards — standards that significantly restrict the use of any synthetic pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, hormones or antibiotics.

Nutrient Analysis

Based on its ingredients alone, Smack Very Berry Chicken looks like an above-average raw product.

The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 55%, a fat level of 22% and an estimated carbohydrate level of 14%.

As a group, the brand features a protein content of 50% and a mean fat level of 25%. Together these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 18% for the overall product line, alongside a fat-to-protein ratio of 52%.

This means the Smack raw dehydrated product line contains above-average protein, below-average carbohydrate, below below-average fat when compared to typical raw dog food

Smack Dog Food Recall History

The following automated list (if present) includes all dog food recalls related to Smack through April 2024.

No recalls noted.

You can view a complete list of all dog food recalls since 2009 here.

Our Rating of Smack Dog Food

Smack dog food is certainly worthy of the 5 stars the brand has earned in our review, it provides recipes with quality whole foods. The carbs are obtained from organic fruits and vegetables and each recipe uses nutritional bone-in proteins with organs. 

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Highly Recommended

Sources

1: Association of American Feed Control Officials

2, 3: Completeness Score is a measure of a food’s relative nutrient content and is computed by NutritionData.com from the USDA’s National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference

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