Wow! The posting that we put up a few weeks ago regarding the changes to the Acana Classic formulas and the new Acana Singles Duck and Bartlett Pear formula is getting a tonne of hits! It has also generated a bunch of questions from both local customers as well as people in other parts of Canada plus the US. Most of those questions are around the ingredient changes to the Classic line.

We have now received the new formula in at least some (if not all) sizes of each Classic variety. As mentioned before, the changes have been made for a few different reasons, but we didn’t look at all the changes, so let’s take a peek at the new panel.

First, rice has been removed from all formulas as it is not regionally available and Champion’s preference is to use local, trusted suppliers. The only grain is now oat, which is considered hypoallergenic, is available regionally and has a lower glycemic index (42). Removing the rice does create a bit of a manufacturing issue however. Since rice has a lot more moisture than oat, making a dry food with oat as the major carbohydrate would make the resulting kibble rough and dry! Which brings us to the second change.

Potato has been added. Burbank potato is, again, a regionally available ingredient and provides the additional moisture that the new formulas require in order to be properly steamed in their own juices, which is how Acana and Orijen are “cooked”. Steaming the potato also keeps the glycemic index lower (65).

The change in the major fish protein is the third difference you’ll notice in the new formulas. Salmon has been replaced with flounder. This change was primarily made in order for Champion to stick to it’s fresh, never frozen mandate. Wild caught salmon is hard to get year round so the options were to go to farmed salmon, use frozen salmon or change from salmon altogether. Wild-caught flounder is available year round. Champion sources their flounder from North Vancouver Island and consequently it can always be delivered fresh (never frozen). To make up for the difference between salmon and flounder in omega-3 levels, herring oil has been added. This actually brings the new levels higher than the old formulas.

The final two changes are both increases in fresh ingredients. On the protein side of the equation, more fresh chicken has been added, displacing some of the chicken meal. On the fruit and vegetable side, fresh, regional parsnips, butternut squash and Bartlett pear have been added bringing the overall fiber levels up slightly.

Together, all of these changes have bumped the percentages in the analysis around slightly. For instance, the newly named Chicken and Burbank Potato is ringing in at 28% crude protein, 17% crude fat and 4% fiber compared to the 29%, 16% and 3% of the former Adult Dog, respectively. It’s also worth noting that although the ingredient panel lists more individual sources of carbohydrates, the actual overall percentage has not increased. Finally, we are told by Champion that palatability and stool trials for the new foods had great results.

So that’s it in a nutshell for the new Acana Classic reformulations. If you have good or bad experience with the new line, whether you are a customer of ours or someone across the globe that has stumbled across our site, please leave a comment! As usual, the health and well-being of your dog is our primary concern so we’d love to hear how things are going so that we can best advise our own store customers.

If you’ve been in the store lately, you’ve probably noticed that we have run out of a couple of Acana varieties, and are running low on a couple of others. The reason for that is the upcoming change to the existing Acana Classic (with grain) line. At the same time, Champion Pet Foods will also be introducing a new formula and adjusting the size and style of packaging slightly.

The Acana Classics follow Champion’s Biologically Appropriate, Fresh Regional Ingredients, Never Outsourced (BA.FRI.NO) mandate, and have historically contained either 30% steel-cut oats (Lamb & Apple) or a blend of 20% steel-cut oats and brown rice. In order to achieve a more gradual rise in blood sugar, the brown rice is going to be removed from all of the Classics. This week we will start to receive the reformulated versions, starting with Acana Adult Small Breed. In addition to the change in grains, the Acana Classic Adult will be renamed Chicken and Burbank Potato.

Acana Lamb & Apple has always been a popular single protein/single grain choice with our customers, especially those with allergies to specific proteins. In order to expand the options available to those dogs, Acana will be introducing Duck & Bartlett Pear to what will now be known as the Acana Singles line. Lamb & Apple will be renamed Lamb & Okanagan Apple at the same time.

We really love both Acana lines of food for many reasons and these changes will only make a great regional product even better. We’ll keep you updated on when each of the reformulations, plus the new Duck & Pear arrives in the store.

UPDATED: If your looking for a bit more info, we’ve posted an update here.