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By Nature 95% Varieties Dog Food receives the Advisor’s second-highest tier rating of 4 stars.
The By Nature 95% Varieties product line includes 4 canned dog foods.
Each recipe below includes its related AAFCO nutrient profile when available on the product’s official webpage: Growth, Maintenance, All Life Stages, Supplemental or Unspecified.
- By Nature 95% Beef [A]
- By Nature 95% Chicken [A]
- By Nature 95% Turkey and Bacon [A]
- By Nature 95% Beef, Chicken and Liver [A]
By Nature 95% Turkey and Bacon was selected to represent the other products in the line for this review.
By Nature 95% Turkey and Bacon
Estimated Dry Matter Nutrient Content
Protein
Fat
CarbsCarbohydrates
Turkey, turkey broth, turkey liver, bacon, potassium chloride, salt, cassia gum, carrageenan, choline chloride, guar gum, dicalcium phosphate, flaxseed, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, vitamin E supplement, copper proteinate, manganese proteinate, riboflavin supplement, sodium selenite, calcium iodate, thiamine mononitrate, vitamin A supplement, vitamin B12 supplement, potassium iodide, biotin, vitamin D3 supplement
Fiber (estimated dry matter content) = 1.5%
Red denotes any controversial items
| Estimated Nutrient Content | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Method | Protein | Fat | Carbs |
| Guaranteed Analysis | 10% | 8% | NA |
| Dry Matter Basis | 46% | 36% | 10% |
| Calorie Weighted Basis | 32% | 61% | 7% |
Ingredient Analysis
The first ingredient in this dog food is turkey. Turkey is considered “the clean combination of flesh and skin… derived from the parts or whole carcasses of turkey”.2
Turkey is naturally rich in the ten essential amino acids required by a dog to sustain life.
The second ingredient is turkey broth. Broths are of only modest nutritional value. Yet because they add both flavor and moisture to a dog food, they are a common component in many canned products.
The third ingredient is turkey liver. This is an organ meat sourced from a named animal and thus considered a beneficial component.
The fourth ingredient is bacon, the cured, fatty meat obtained from the belly of a pig.
The fifth ingredient is potassium chloride, a nutritional supplement sometimes used as a replacement for the sodium found in table salt.
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 this product.
With 3 notable exceptions…
First, carrageenan is a gelatin-like thickening agent extracted from seaweed. Although carrageenan has been used as a food additive for hundreds of years, there appears to be some recent controversy regarding its long term biological safety.
Next, flaxseed is one of the best plant sources of healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Provided they’ve first been ground into a meal, flax seeds are also rich in soluble fiber.
However, flaxseed contains about 19% protein, a factor that must be considered when judging the actual meat content of this dog food.
And lastly, this food contains chelated minerals, minerals that have been chemically attached to protein. This makes them easier to absorb. Chelated minerals are usually found in better dog foods.
Nutrient Analysis
Judging by its ingredients alone, By Nature 95% Varieties Dog Food looks like an above-average canned product.
The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 46%, a fat level of 36% and estimated carbohydrates of about 10%.
As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 46% and a mean fat level of 36%. Together, these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 10% for the overall product line.
And a fat-to-protein ratio of about 80%.
Above-average protein. Above-average fat. And below-average carbs when compared to a typical canned dog food.
Even when you consider the protein-boosting effect of the flaxseed, this still looks like the profile of a wet product containing a significant amount of meat.
However, with 61% of the total calories in our example coming from fat versus just 32% from protein, some recipes may not be suitable for every animal. In addition, this same finding also prevents us from awarding the brand a higher rating.
Bottom line?
By Nature 95% Varieties is a meat-based canned dog food using a significant amount of named meats as its main sources of animal protein, thus earning the brand 4 stars.
Highly recommended.
By Nature Dog Food Recall History
The following list (if present) includes all dog food recalls since 2009 directly related to this By Nature product line. If there are no recalls listed in this section, we have not yet reported any events.
You can view a complete list of all dog food recalls sorted by date. Or view the same list sorted alphabetically by brand.
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