Iams ProActive Health Dog Food Review (Canned)

Iams ProActive Health canned product range is made up of eight recipes with ratings varying from 1.5 to 2.5 stars. The average rating of the whole range is 2 stars.

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.

Recipe and Label Analysis

Iams Proactive Health with Chicken and Whole Grain Rice Classic Ground was selected to represent the other products in the line for detailed recipe and nutrient analysis.

Label and nutrient data below are calculated using dry matter basis.

Ingredients Analysis

The first ingredient in this dog food 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 ten essential amino acids required by a dog to sustain life.

The second ingredient is water, which adds nothing but moisture to this food. Water is a routine finding in most canned dog foods.

The third ingredient lists meat by-products, an item made from slaughterhouse waste. This is what’s left of slaughtered animals after all the prime striated muscle cuts have been removed.

With the exception of hair, horns, teeth and hooves, this item can include almost any other part of the animal.²

What’s worse, this particular item is anonymous. So, the meat itself can come from any combination of cattle, pigs, sheep or goats — which can make identifying specific food allergies impossible.

Although most meat by-products can be nutritious, we do not consider such vaguely described (generic) ingredients to be as high in quality as those derived from a named animal source.

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

The fifth ingredient is brown rice, a complex carbohydrate that (once cooked) can be fairly easy to digest. However, aside from its natural energy content, rice is of only modest nutritional value to a dog.

The sixth ingredient is flaxseed, one of the best plant sources of healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Provided they’ve first been ground into a meal, flaxseeds are also rich in soluble fibe.

However, flaxseed contains about 19% protein, a factor that must be considered when judging the actual meat content of this dog food.

The seventh ingredient is minerals, which are included in this ingredients list, as in Europe ingredients are declared a little differently. In the U.S. our nutritional additives are listed within our ingredients list.  In Europe, ingredients and additives are listed separately.  For that reason the category of minerals includes those elements which are classed as an ingredient, rather than an additive, such as calcium carbonate and magnesium oxide.  These elements contribute to the nutritional balance of a food, so we see their inclusion in this product as a positive.

The eighth ingredient is carrageenan which 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.

The article, The Carrageenan Controversy, published in Scientific American, does a good job of addressing this topic.

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 Iams product.

With three notable exceptions…

First, we’re always disappointed to find artificial coloring in any pet food. That’s because coloring is used to make the product more appealing to humans – not your dog. After all, do you really think your dog cares what color his food is?

In addition, we note the use of fish oil. Fish oil is naturally rich in the prized EPA and DHA type of omega-3 fatty acids. These two high quality fats boast the highest bio-availability to dogs and humans.

Depending on its level of freshness and purity, fish oil should be considered a commendable addition.

And lastly, this food contains a few 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

Based on its ingredients alone, Iams Proactive Health with Chicken and Whole Grain Rice Classic Ground canned dog food appears to be a below-average wet product.

The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 36.4%, a fat level of 27.3% and estimated carbohydrates of about 28.4%.

As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 41.5% and a mean fat level of 22.8%. Together, these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 27.7% for the overall product line.

And a fat-to-protein ratio of about 56%.

Which means this Iams product line contains…

Near-average protein, near-average fat and near-average carbs when compared to other canned dog foods.

Even when you consider the protein-boosting effect of the flaxseed, this looks like the profile of a canned product containing a notable amount of meat.

IAMS Dog Food Recall History

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

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

Our Rating of Iams ProActive Health Grain-inclusive Dog Food

Iams ProActive Health is a grain-inclusive canned dog food using a notable amount of named and unnamed meats and meat by-products as its main source of animal protein, thus earning the brand 2 stars.

Not Recommended

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