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Dog Food Insiders Rating
4 PAWS
You can find detailed information aboutCanidae Pet Food Corporation in our main review of Canidae Dog Food. There you will also find information about how the food is made, recalls, and their quality control. This review will cover the Pure Sea blend in the line of Canidae Dog Food products.
Canidae relies on an All Life Stages approach to feeding dogs. Most of their products are formulated for all life stages. They produce kibbles and canned food in several formulations: all life stage formulas, senior formula, and several grain free formulas. They also produce cat foods. Canidae is considered to be a premium pet food and can be found at pet stores and for sale online.
Ingredients in Canidae Beef & Ocean Fish Meal
Beef, ocean fish meal, oatmeal, beef meal, brown rice, white rice, rice bran, peas, cracked pearled barley, millet, canola oil, tomato pomace, natural flavor, flaxseed meal, choline chloride,sun cured alfalfa meal, inulin (from chicory root), lecithin, sage extract, cranberries, beta carotene, rosemary extract, sunflower oil, yucca schidigera extract, dried enterococcus faecium, dried lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried aspergillus oryzae fermentation extract, dried bacillus subtilis fermentation extract, saccharomyces cerevisiae fermentation solubles, 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 D supplement, folic acid, cobalt proteinate, organic selenium,papaya, pineapple.
Top 5 Ingredients Breakdown
The first five ingredients in this food are: Beef, ocean fish meal, oatmeal, beef meal, brown rice.
The first ingredient in the food is beef. Beef is a good ingredient for dog food. Beef is about 74 percent protein and 26 percent fat (though this can vary, depending on the cut of the meat). It’s a good source of Riboflavin, Niacin and Zinc, and a very good source of Vitamin C, Vitamin B12, Iron, Phosphorus, Copper and Selenium. Canidae says that their beef comes from USDA-inspected beef from a private herd in the Midwest. The cattle are said to graze free range though this is not necessarily the same as being labelled “free range beef.” It’s the difference between occasional free range grazing and being raised solely free range. Canidae also says the beef is hormone and antibiotic-free. You will also notice that the fourth ingredient is beef meal which is a dried form of beef that has had moist of the moisture removed. It contains several times as much protein as normal beef. As with many other popular dog foods, beef is a frequent trigger for allergies in dogs that have allergies or food sensitivities so if your dog has problems with allergies, you may want to avoid this food.
The second ingredient is ocean fish meal. Canidae says that they do not use ethoxyquin as a preservative. AAFCO defines ocean fish meal as “the clean, rendered (cooked down), dried ground tissue of undecomposed whole ocean fish or ocean fish cuttings, either or both, with or without the extraction of part of the oil.” It’s an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acid. We don’t know what kind of ocean fish this is, but it’s still a good ingredient in dog food. The kind of ocean fish used often varies depending on the time of year. Since this is a fish meal, it’s a concentrated form of fish and generally has a higher protein percentage than uncondensed fish would.
The third ingredient is oatmeal. Oatmeal is frequently used in dog foods, especially in foods that don’t use corn or wheat. Many dogs that have allergies to corn or wheat can eat oatmeal without a problem. Oatmeal features about 74 percent carbohydrates, 12 percent protein, and 14 percent fat. It’s a good source of dietary fiber, Phosphorus and Selenium, and a very good source of Manganese. It’s slow to digest so it can keep your dog feeling full for a long time. Used in conjunction with some simpler carbs that digest more quickly, such as rice, it’s a good source of long-term energy.
The fifth ingredient is brown rice. Brown rice is often used in dog foods, especially as a change from corn and wheat. From a dog food viewpoint, rice is a cereal grain. Brown rice is higher in fiber than white rice, and less processed. It can also be a little more irritating to the stomach than white rice. It’s a simple carbohydrate that can give dogs quick energy. Used in conjunction with more complex carbs in a dog food, such as oatmeal (here) brown rice is a good ingredient.
As for concerns about arsenic in rice, and thus in dog foods that include rice, the FDA has not made any recommendation for pet food companies to stop using rice or for dog owners to avoid feeding foods that contain rice. Nor has the FDA suggested that people stop eating rice. If you are uncomfortable about the possibility of minute amounts of arsenic in rice or dog food, you should avoid this food or any dog food that contains rice.
Overall, the first five ingredients in this food show good sources of animal protein in the form of beef and beef meal, as well as ocean fish meal. The other two ingredients here – oatmeal and brown rice – provide a nice balance of carbs for quick energy and slow digestion, as well as good dietary fiber.
Additional Ingredients of Interest
The next several ingredients in this food show a lot of carbohydrates – so many that we would call them fillers in the food. The food contains almost 47 percent carbohydrates and many of them come in the following ingredients.
The food contains white rice. White rice can be gentler on the stomach than brown rice and is a little easier to digest but they are both simple carbohydrates that provide dogs with quick energy. It also contains rice bran. Rice Bran is the outer coating of the rice kernel, with little or none of the starchy part of the germ. It’s an inexpensive source of fiber and it’s usually considered to be a filler in dog food.
The food also contains cracked pearled barley. Cracked pearled barley has been polished to remove part of its hull and bran; and to make it easier to digest. Keep in mind that the more it’s processed, the more nutrients it loses, even if it makes it easier to digest. It has a moderate amount of starch that can be slowly digested, along with soluble fiber. Barley is 90 percent carbohydrates and 7 percent protein. Otherwise, it’s a good source of dietary fiber.
The food also contains millet which is a low-nutrient cereal grass/grain. It is a gluten-free carbohydrate that is easy to digest but it has very little nutritional value (82 percent carbohydrates, 11 percent protein, 7 percent fat, with only minimal vitamins and minerals). It is generally used as bird seed in North America.
The food also contains peas as another source of protein. Peas are a problematic ingredient in dog food for some dogs. Although they boost the protein percentage in food, containing about 24 percent protein, they are also a source of dietary fiber. Peas are not always easily digested by dogs and can result in increased waste and some gastrointestinal issues. They can also interfere with the absorption of vitamins and minerals in the food. Plant-based proteins are generally not as easy for dogs to digest or absorb as animal-based proteins.
The food also contains “natural flavor.” This is a deceptive term that often indicates the presence of MSG or monosodium glutamate used for flavoring. This isn’t something that you generally want to add to your dog’s food unless you have a particular object in mind, such as discouraging your dog from eating his own poop. MSG is sometimes recommended as a supplement to make your dog’s waste taste bad to him so he won’t try to eat it. Otherwise, when a food has “natural flavor,” it usually has a lot of salt which isn’t good for your dog. However, in some cases “natural flavor” can indicate the presence of liver broth or beef broth. We just don’t know. But when you see this term listed in the ingredients, it usually sends up a red flag.
We also see flaxseed meal here. Lots of people like flaxseed and flaxseed meal for their dogs since it’s a good source of dietary fiber and a great source of omega 3 and 6 fatty acids (especially omega 3). However, flaxseed is also a significant source of phytoestrogen – these are plant-derived substances that mimic some of the effects of estrogen in the body. This can be especially true in females. Without going into the possible effects on humans, many dog breeders have reported that feeding dogs foods that contain flaxseed or flaxseed oil has interfered with conception and gestation. So flaxseed meal is something that should be viewed cautiously, especially if you breed dogs. If you have an intact female dog, especially in a house with male dogs, you may find that foods with flaxseed cause males to think the female is in season. The same phenomenon often occurs with foods containing soy. We should also point out that the omega-3 fatty acid from flaxseed is considered to be less desirable than omega-3 from cold water fish sources (though omega-3, in general, is always good).
As a fat source the food uses canola oil. Canola oil isn’t a “bad” oil but it’s not as desirable as a named source of fat from an animal source, such as chicken fat, for example. Canola oil does contain both omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids and it’s a source of vitamin E.
We also note that the food contains a number of beneficial ingredients such aschelated minerals (“proteinates”). These are minerals that have been bonded to proteins so they are easier to absorb. They are more expensive for the dog food manufacturer to buy so you usually see them in better dog foods.
We also note the presence of a number of interesting ingredients such asinulin (a prebiotic), cranberries (an antioxidant), rosemary extract (a mild natural preservative), and other things. These are all ingredients that are often found in premium foods. They can be beneficial to your dog.
The food also contains several dried fermentation products. These products have been shown to be beneficial in aiding animal digestion, though some of them are probably best understood because they have been used for many years in agricultural production. It’s common to give these products to cattle and other animals to help them gain weight from their food. Of these ingredients the one that people are probably most familiar with is lactobacillus acidophilus, a culture found in yogurt. It’s a probiotic that helps turn sugars into lactic acid (read more on Wikipedia). Many people use it to encourage the growth of “good” or beneficial bacteria in the gut. All of the fermentation products listed in the food have similar purposes to help with digestion.
Finally, the food has papaya and pineapple. Papaya allegedly helps dogs with digestion and it’s a source of dietary fiber. Pineapple is sometimes given to dogs to discourage them from eating their own poop.
Guaranteed Analysis
- Crude Protein (min.) 24.00%
- Crude Fat (min.) 12.00%
- Crude Fiber (max.) 4.00%
- Moisture (max.) 10.00%
- Linoleic Acid (Omega 6) (min.) 3.55%
- Vitamin E (min.) 200.00 IU/kg
- Calcium (min.) 1.40%
- Phosphorus (min.) 1.0%
- Zinc (min.) 200 mg/kg
- Iron (min.) 300 mg/kg
- Alpha Linolenic Acid (Omega 3)* (min.)0.50%
- Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C)*(min.) 50.00 mg/kg
- Lactobacillus Acidophilus* (min.) 100 million CFU/lb
- Cellulase* (a) (min.) 100 CMCU/kg
*Not recognized as an essential nutrient by the AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles.
Calories Content
457 calories per 8 oz cup
Nutritional Adequacy Statement
Canidae Beef and Ocean Fish Meal formula meets the AAFCO Dog Nutrient Profiles for all life stages.
Dry Matter Basis
On a dry matter basis, this food contains approximately 26.7 percent protein and 13.3 percent fat. These are moderate protein and fat percentages for a premium dog food. Fiber makes up about 4.4 percent of the food which is average for most kibbles. The food contains an estimated 46.7 percent carbohydrates which is moderately high.
Summary
Although this food has a rather high percentage of carbohydrates and a few worrisome ingredients, we like the protein content, especially in the first few ingredients. This looks like a good food for dogs. We hope that it will continue to be available.
Canidae Beef and Ocean Fish dog food has received our 4 paw rating.
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