Acana Changes Food Ingredients!

[Shotzi21]

Originally Posted by Woofie

Shotzie - could *you* list all the ingredient changes? .

In order for me to do that.....I would have to have a new bag, which I did not buy. I will list the old ingredients for you from grasslands, pacifica and prairie harvest. Compliments of petfooddirect since you can't copy ingredients from the Acana site. I used the grasslands and bought a 29.7 lb. bag last week of the old and there is no sticker or reference on the bag about new food or ingredients coming, etc. I have a new bag of the Evo herring and salmon ordered....mine will go on that. No potatoes, no ethoxyquin, no duck. Potatoes is the reason the Pacifica did not work for me.

Grasslands:
Lamb meal, sweet potato, raw de-boned lamb, peas, fresh whole eggs, sun-cured alfalfa, sunflower oil, fresh de-boned walleye, pumpkin, fresh de-boned northern pike, apples, carrots, turnip greens, organic sea vegetables (kelp, bladderwrack, dulse), juniper berries, cranberries, Saskatoon berries, black currants, angelica root, chicory root, red clover, red raspberry leaf, dandelion root, peppermint leaf, marigold flowers,chamomile flowers, rosemary extract, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Enterococcus faecium.

Pacifica:
Salmon meal, russet potato, peas, fresh boneless salmon (source of DHA), fresh boneless herring, herring meal, pumpkin, fresh boneless flounder, salmon oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols and rosemary), ground lobster shell (natural source of glucosamine), sun-cured alfalfa leaf, red delicious apples, carrots, turnip greens, organic kelp, organic bladderwrack, organic dulse, juniper berries, cranberries, Saskatoon berries, black currants, angelica root, chicory root, red clover, red raspberry leaf, dandelion root, peppermint leaf, marigold flowers, chamomile flowers, rosemary, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Enterococcus faecium. Vitamins (vit. A, vit. D3, vit. E, niacin, riboflavin, lysine, thiamine mononitrate, vit. B12, pyridoxine, folic acid, biotin). Minerals (iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, manganese proteinate, cobalt proteinate, copper proteinate).


Prairie Harvest:
Chicken meal, russet potato, fresh free-run chicken, peas, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherals and rosemary), fresh walleye, pumpkin, fresh whole eggs, sun-cured alfalfa leaf, fresh northern Lake Whitefish, chicken cartilage (a natural source of glucosamine and chondroitin), red delicious apples, carrots, turnip greens, organic kelp, organic bladderwrack, organic dulse, juniper berries, cranberries, Saskatoon berries, angelica root, chicory root, red clover, red raspberry leaf, dandelion root, peppermint leaf, marigold flowers, chamomile flowers, rosemary extract, Enterococcus faecium. Vitamins (vit. A, vit. D3, vit. E, niacin, riboflavin, lysine, thiamine mononitrate, vit. B12, pyridoxine, folic acid, biotin). Minerals (iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, manganese proteinate, cobalt proteinate, copper proteinate).

[ThorsMom]

I'll post the new ingredients for Pacifica for you in a minute. There is no "fish meal".

[ThorsMom]

Boneless salmon (naqtural source of EPA, DHA), salmon meal, herring meal, russet potato, peas, whitefish meal, sweet potatoes, salmon oil (naturally preserved with Vitamin E0, sun-cured alfalfa, boneless herring, boneless flounder, natural fish flavors, pumpkin, turnip greens, spinach, tomatoes, carrots, apples, organic kelp, cranberries, blueberries, juniper berries, black currants, chicory root, licorice root, angelica root, fenugreek, marigold flowers, sweet fennel, peppermint leaf, chamomile flowers, lavender flowers, summer savory, rosemary, vitamin A, vitamin D3, vitamin E, niacin, zinc proteinate, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, vitamin B5, iron proteinate, vitamin B6, manganese proteinate, copper proteinate, folic acid, biotin, vitamin B12, selenium, dried Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried Enterococcus faecium fermentaiton product.

See, nothing to worry about.

Oh and I think the bag used to say 55% regional fish, 35% regional fruits and vegetables, 0 % grains. It's now 60/40/0. I could be wrong on that one though since i didn't look at the old bag first.

The bag says no preservatives on the fish.

[Patty/Breeder]

This statement is from Champion Pet Foods to my distributor.

“ Yes we have changed the formula on ACANA but that has nothing to do with why shipping has been delayed. ACANA was not being shipped to the U.S. in July and August as we were waiting for our new bags. Once our new bags arrived we immediately starting filling the bags and shipping to the U.S. The changes to the formula were done to improve the products. All distributors received a detailed letter outlining the changes and why they were made. No changes have been made to ORIJEN”

[LuckyLuna]

Thanks to both ThorsMom and Patty/Breeder for the specific info. That pretty much satisfies me.

[Diesel4561]

Thanks Patty and ThorsMom for this info. Makes me feel good about it still and Diesel is doing well on both Pacifica and Grasslands.

[HeatherGlenES]

This just goes to show that one shouldn't panic when things are posted on line without facts to back them up. Thank you Patty for getting to the bottom of this.

[Shotzi21]

Originally Posted by HeatherGlenES

This just goes to show that one shouldn't panic when things are posted on line without facts to back them up. Thank you Patty for getting to the bottom of this.

Exactly what was posted without facts? Acana did change their ingredients and they have no notice on the new bags or the old bags for that matter. It is also obvious by Patty/Breeder's letter to her distributor from Champion that they were answering a question when they said "yes we have changed the formula on Acana, but..."

And about the "fish meal".....I stated grasslands has some KIND of fish meal in it, but I forgot what it was. I also said they added duck and other ingredients. To me it is a biggie when a company changes it's dog food ingredients as I deal with allergies. And I would think that anyone else that has a dog with allergies would like a heads up on an ingredient change. Matter of fact....if a dog was to develope problems from the new food, the owner would have no idea that could be from the food if they don't know about the ingredient change. I just feel that for the price you pay for that food, the company could have went about it a little different.

[HeatherGlenES]

You didn't have any facts from the makers of Champion foods, Orijen & Acana, before you posted. You didn't contact them, or at least I didn't see a post where you had contacted them, before you posted that the reason for the shortage of food was due to a change of formula with no notification.

Patty just posted that the distributors were notified of the changes and it had nothing to do with the shortages. If you go to the Champion website it also states right there in easy to read text that the formulas are changing. http://www.championpetfoods.com/acana/products.php Now explain to me please how that is not telling customers of a formula change??

You also said you didn't buy a new bag of food so you couldn't actually compare labels so why post at all other than to stir things up? Without a comparison of ingredients yours was a moot point.

I too have a dog with food sensitivities but I don't run to the internet and post unproven statements about a food or manufacturer just in case. IMHO too many here rush to judgment about foods and manufacturers without any real proof of wrong doing.

[Shotzi21]

I had facts. I had a bag of grasslands and a bag of pacifica. I physically went in the pet shop and cross referenced my bags with the new bags at the pet shop and they had numerous different ingredients. There is no notice on the old bags that I have and no notice on the new bags at the pet shop. Both pet shops did not know about the change until I told them.
I personally am done with them. I am changing to Evo Salmon and Herring.

[Doppler]

Shotzi, I can relate to how you feel. Years ago I was feeding Nutro and they made an ingredient change without any notification on the old or new bags and my dog had a reaction. I didn't understand what was going on with my dog and I didn't suspect the food. I kept feeding the new formula for a couple of months before I noticed the formula change. I keep all my empty bags and re-use them for items that go out to the trash so I was able to compare the ingredient lists. My dog had to be seen by my vet because Nutro did not display a notice of a formula change. I was so mad that I never bought any of their products again. I don't think many people read the ingredient list on every bag they buy unless they see a packaging change. I don't think it's right either,

[Woofie]

Originally Posted by Doppler

I don't think many people read the ingredient list on every bag they buy unless they see a packaging change. ,

I do. Always have.

I NEVER purchase a bag from any company continuously without reading all the ingredients, every time.

Again though...each and every company has up to 6mnths, by law, before they have to post ingredient changes.

Shotzi - even though I hold Naturapet as one of the most highly regarded pet food companies - does their bag of food specifically state no ethoxiquin?? ....I'm seriously askin this question as I haven't had a chance to get to the pet store for one,

for another, I thought that by *US* Coast-guard standards, all fish caught within the USA used for pet food purposes was to be preserved with ethoxiquin....I know it's stated over and over, that Naturapet uses meat sources produced from human quality sources, but does it literally state on the bag that it's ethoxiquin free?

I know this was one of your concerns regarding the Acana formulas.

I too have a dog allergic/intolerant to strange stuff, and get just as irritated when a company changes a formula, but this is also the reason he's primarily home-cooked...I got tired of constantly being worried about what was in the food.

[Diesel4561]

This is from someone that I talk with often from Champion - she always gets back to me and has been very helpful and informative.

I have her email and a phone number for her if anyone wants that info I would be happy to give it to you - just let me know.

Not to worry – the enhancements we have made to the ACANA Grain Frees are extremely positive!

As I’m sure you know, our focus on our products is to be “biologically appropriate” – this concept means focusing on getting our foods closer to the natural diet of a dog. Part of the biologically appropriate concept is to use high levels of meat inclusions and to use as much fresh (never frozen) meats as possible.

With that said, we had 55% fish in ACANA Pacifica - this has been bumped up to 60% fish. We have done this by adding more FRESH fish to the diet. FRESH is best because it has not been previously cooked or frozen – so you are protecting the nutritional integrity of the fish meat and oils by using fresh. We have always used fish meals (herring meal and salmon meal) in our diets, however, these meals are fit for human consumption. The amount of FRESH meats in our diets are the highest on the market – there is no other pet food manufacturer that works with as much FRESH meat as we do.

For both Grasslands and Prairie we have increase the fresh meat inclusions. There is little change is Prairie other than increasing the FRESH meat content.

We made a few more enhancements in Grasslands. We changed from previously frozen New Zealand Lamb to FRESH (never frozen) local Alberta lamb. There was fish before in Grasslands (Northern Pike). This has been switched over to Lake Walleye. And we have also included an additional protein source – Fresh Canadian duck. We have added this 4th protein to Grasslands because this is part of biologically appropriate philosophy – natural diet dictates a variety of meat.

Why use meals at all? Meals are needed to maintain a high protein kibble diet – if we don’t use meals, we would not be able to maintain a high protein kibble therefore the diet would be high in carbohydrate – and this is not ideal for dogs!

Michelle Granger
National Sales Manager
Champion Petfoods Ltd

[Patty/Breeder]

Great info. Thanks for sharing Diesel

[Jolene]

Originally Posted by Shotzi21

I had facts. I had a bag of grasslands and a bag of pacifica. I physically went in the pet shop and cross referenced my bags with the new bags at the pet shop and they had numerous different ingredients. There is no notice on the old bags that I have and no notice on the new bags at the pet shop. Both pet shops did not know about the change until I told them.
I personally am done with them. I am changing to Evo Salmon and Herring.

By the sounds of it, you should dump your pet food store before dumping the food itself. I checked out my local shop and they actually had the notice from Champion posted regarding the upcoming changes on the shelf. It did not state the exact changes but did provide an email addy so you could contact Champion yourself. It seems that all recognized distributers were indeed notified. I feel, at least where I buy food, the upcoming changes were very well communicated.