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Please be aware that Hill’s is voluntarily recalling some canned dog food due to potentially elevated levels of Vitamin D. More information here.
Addiction Grain-Free Salmon Bleu is a mid-priced dry dog food with overall good quality. This product has no controversial ingredients, including zero artificial colors, preservatives or flavors. This food is high in carbs, compared to protein and fat, but has excellent meat and fat quality. Addiction has a below-average number of recalls. The company was relatively transparent when answering our questions. Overall, Watchdog Labs recommends this food.
Read the Full Review BelowLearn what makes a great dog food and get expert advice on how to choose the best food for your dog.
Learn MoreThis dog food review was created by experts who love dogs. Find out more about our team and mission.
About Watchdog LabsThe food has high carbs and somewhat low protein and fat, making it less nutritionally balanced compared to other dog foods we evaluated. Carbohydrates are cheap so they keep the food’s cost low and they are nutritionally useful to dogs in the right amounts. However, high amounts of carbs can reduce the much-needed meat-based protein and fat content.
To evaluate dog foods, we first calculate out the moisture. This is called the “dry matter basis” and shows you only the solid ingredients in the food. These estimated “dry matter” numbers are different from the food label, but a better way to understand the real nutritional value of the food. We also calculate the carbs. Find out more
Min. Protein 26.67%
Min. Fat 14.44%
Min. Carbs 47.78%
Max. Fiber 3.33%
Max. Ash 11.11%
Max. Moisture 0.00%
Min. Protein: 24.0%
Min Fat: 13.0%
Min Carbs: N/A
Max Fiber: 3.0%
Max Ash: 10.0%
Max. Moisture: 10.0%
392 Calories per Cup
This product has a somewhat high amount of calories. It’s important to understand how many calories you are feeding to prevent under or overfeeding. Slightly higher calorie foods like this are typically best for fairly active dogs who need a moderate amount of daily calories. Based on your dog's current weight and activity level you may want to feed more or less than the recommended amount. It's helpful to know that weight loss foods often have fewer than 340 calories per cup, weight maintenance foods typically range from 340-380 calories, and high-activity dog foods are usually over 400 calories.
Grain-Free Dog Foods
This is a grain-free dog food. The FDA is investigating a potential connection between grain-free diets and canine heart disease. There is not enough evidence yet to affect our ratings but we've created an article for you explaining the topic.
Learn MoreSalmon Meal, Dried Potatoes, Dried Tapioca, Chicken Fat (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Peas, Natural Flavor, Ground Flaxseed, Dried Kelp, Dried Cranberries, Dried Blueberries, Dried Spinach, Brewers Dried Yeast, Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin (Vitamin B3), Calcium Pantothenate (Vitamin B5), Vitamin A Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Riboflavin Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid (Vitamin B9), Sodium Chloride, Taurine, Choline Chloride, Magnesium Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Calcium Carbonate, Copper sulfate, Manganese Sulfate, Calcium Iodate, Cobalt Sulfate, Sodium Selenite, Green Tea Extract, Rosemary Extract.
The average dog food we reviewed had 39 total ingredients, with 1 controversial ingredient. This product has 0 total controversial ingredients, that’s fantastic.
Top 5 Ingredients
Dog food ingredients are listed in descending order of weight. So when shopping for dog food, take a close look at the first 5 ingredients. They make up about 80% of the total weight.
Controversial Ingredients
Addiction Grain-Free Salmon doesn’t have any controversial ingredients.
Country of Origin
This product is made in New Zealand, that’s a plus. We generally recommend buying dog food that’s made in the United States, Canada, Europe, New Zealand or Australia - all known to have high quality standards and stricter regulations.
Meat & Fat Quality
This dog food clearly shows the sources of its meats (e.g. salmon meal) and fats (e.g. chicken fat). It’s always good when the ingredient list shows you all animal and plant species transparently. There are no unnamed meat or fat sources and both salmon meal and chicken fat are high-quality ingredients.
Artificial Preservatives
There are not any controversial preservatives in this food. It’s good to know that not all artificial preservatives are bad. That’s because they serve an important purpose, which is to prevent food from spoiling. However, we consider 11 artificial preservatives as controversial because of their potential link to cancer and other serious health conditions.
Artificial Colors
This product doesn’t use any artificial colors, that’s excellent.
Artificial Flavors
Addiction Grain-Free Salmon does not include any artificial flavors, either. Not having any of artificial ingredients is a great sign of quality.
Addiction has a below-average number of recalls.
We love dog food brands that are committed to transparent business practices. If you make quality dog food you should be willing to openly talk about how it’s sourced and produced. That’s why we reached out to pet food companies, asking questions about all their brands and products. Each company had three weeks to reply to our messages.
How Easy Was it to Reach the Company?
Addiction was one of the more responsive companies taking only 2 days to reply. They were relatively transparent but did not provide detailed answers to many of the questions.
Does Addiction have a veterinary nutritionist on staff? If so, who are they?
Yes, at our Manufacturing facility in New Zealand.
They would not provide a specific name of the veterinary nutritionist.
Who formulates your recipes, and what are their credentials?
Our Veterinary and Nutritionist.
Again, this is the above-mentioned persons whose name could not be shared.
Do you test your products using AAFCO feeding trials? Why, or why not?
Yes. Our formulas is formulated to meet and exceed the nutritional levels established by AAFCO.
Clarification was not provided. This answer is not clear because the feeding trial is different than formulating. This may be a misunderstanding on their part, or possibly intentionally incomplete.
What country are your products manufactured?
New Zealand.
Can your manufacturing facilities be visited?
Depending on business needs.
This answer suggests it's not likely open to the public but could be visited by a vendor or partnering company.
What quality measures do you use to assure consistency and quality?
Our products goes through rigorous QA testing and we follow strict regulations mandated by the New Zealand MOA. More details can be provided upon confirmation on how this information will be used.
Does Addiction own its manufacturing facility? If it is another company, what company is it?
Yes.
Addiction also manufacturers the Wishbone dog foods at this facility.
Do any parts of your product come from China?
No.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1242073/
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https://petfood.aafco.org/Calorie-Content
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http://www.acvn.org/nutrition-resources/
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Linda P Case, MS; Daniel P Carey, DVM; and Diane A Hirakawa, PhD, Canine and Feline Nutrition A Resource for Companion Animal Professionals, Mosby-Year Book, Inc.