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Unrated
Innova Farmhouse Stew Dog Food receives the Advisor’s second-highest tier rating of 4.5 stars.
The Innova Farmhouse Stew product line includes four tubbed recipes, each claimed to meet AAFCO nutrient profiles for adult maintenance.
The following is a list of recipes available at the time of this review.
- Innova Farmhouse Stew Beef and Bison Adult
- Innova Farmhouse Stew Chicken and Venison Adult
- Innova Farmhouse Stew Grain Free Turkey and Duck Adult
- Innova Farmhouse Stew Grain Free Chicken and Salmon Adult
Innova Farmhouse Stew Chicken and Venison Adult Recipe was selected to represent the other products in the line for this review.
Innova Farmhouse Stew Chicken and Venison Adult Recipe
Estimated Dry Matter Nutrient Content
Protein
Fat
CarbsCarbohydrates
Chicken broth, chicken, water, dried eggs, venison, brown rice, peas, papaya, pea protein, tapioca starch, natural flavor, tricalcium phosphate, potassium chloride, salt, guar gum, chelated minerals, essential vitamins, choline chloride, dried celery, magnesium oxide, thiamine mononitrate (source of vitamin B1)
Fiber (estimated dry matter content) = 1.5%
Red denotes any controversial items
| Estimated Nutrient Content | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Method | Protein | Fat | Carbs |
| Guaranteed Analysis | 9% | 5% | NA |
| Dry Matter Basis | 41% | 21% | 31% |
| Calorie Weighted Basis | 34% | 41% | 25% |
The first ingredient in this dog food is chicken broth. Broths are nutritionally empty. But because they add both flavor and moisture to a dog food they are a common finding in many canned products.
The second ingredient is chicken. Chicken is considered “the clean combination of flesh and skin… derived from the parts or whole carcasses of chicken”.2
Chicken is naturally rich in the ten essential amino acids required by a dog to sustain life.
The third ingredient is water, which adds nothing but moisture to this food. Water is a routine finding in most canned dog foods.
The fourth ingredient is dried egg, a dehydrated form of shell-free eggs. Quality can vary significantly. Lower grade egg product can even come from commercial hatcheries — from eggs that have failed to hatch.
In any case, eggs are easy to digest and have an exceptionally high biological value.
The fifth ingredient is venison. Venison is considered “the clean flesh derived from slaughtered” venison and associated with skeletal muscle or the muscle tissues of the tongue, diaphragm, heart or esophagus.3
Venison is naturally rich in all ten essential amino acids required by a dog to sustain life.
The sixth 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 seventh ingredient includes peas. Peas are a quality source of carbohydrates. And like all legumes, they’re rich in natural fiber.
However, peas contain about 25% protein, a factor that must be considered when judging the meat content of this dog food.
The eighth ingredient is papaya, a tropical fruit rich in dietary fiber, potassium, vitamin A and other healthy nutrients.
The ninth ingredient is pea protein, what remains of a pea after removing the starchy part of the vegetable.
Even though it contains over 80% protein, this ingredient would be expected to have a lower biological value than meat.
And less costly plant-based products like this can notably boost the total protein reported on the label — a factor that must be considered when judging the meat content of this dog food.
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 one notable exceptions…
The vitamins and minerals added to this product are not detailed sufficiently here to permit us to judge their quality.
Innova Farmhouse Stew Dog Food
The Bottom Line
Judging by its ingredients alone, Innova Farmhouse Stew Food looks like an above average wet dog food.
But ingredient quality by itself cannot tell the whole story. We still need to estimate the product’s meat content before determining a final rating.
The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 41%, a fat level of 21% and estimated carbohydrates of about 31%.
As a group, the brand features an average protein content of 42% and a mean fat level of 22%. Together, these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 28% for the overall product line.
And a fat-to-protein ratio of about 53%.
Near-average protein. Near-average fat. And near-average carbs when compared to a typical wet dog food.
When you consider the protein-boosting effect of the pea protein, this looks like the profile of a wet product containing a moderate amount of meat.
Bottom line?
Innova Farmhouse Stew Dog Food is a meat-based wet product using a moderate amount of poultry of beef as its main sources of animal protein, thus earning the brand 4.5 stars.
Highly recommended.
Please note certain recipes are sometimes given a higher or lower rating based upon our estimate of their total meat content.
Notes and Updates
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A Final Word
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