Balanced Life Enhanced Dog Food Review

Balanced Life Enhanced is an Australian first – kibble + air dried.

If you’ve read the reviews of the air dried Balanced Life range you’ll already know the nutritional benefits compared to kibble. Yup, air-dried is the better option. So why mix with kibble?

The reason is simple: Air drying is a more costly production process, which leads to a pricier product. As Glen Richards stated on the Frontier Pets episode of Shark Tank, *most* consumers buy the cheapest possible product. Balanced Life needed a way of reducing their price tag to target a wider range of consumers, which I assume is the logic behind the Enhanced range.

The ingredients list doesn’t seem to differentiate between the kibble and the air dried raw meat pieces. The first ingredient is chicken, and the second ground chicken bones. I’m assuming the raw meat pieces are the chicken, or perhaps both. Both are great ingredients for your dog – an essentially carnivorous beast.

But hold up… If the air dried pieces are the meat, then the kibble is mostly faba beans (or fava beans), chickpeas, and pea protein. Virtually a vegan kibble..! Is that a bad thing? No, I don’t think so. Using air-dried pieces for the meat rather than baked into the kibble would make this a better alternative to 100% kibble.

Protein is a very respectable 31%, and 13% fat would ensure a lower than average amount of carbohydrates. That’s good.

The kibble includes all necessary vitamins and minerals to make the food complete and balanced, alongside vegetables, fruits, and oils to further round off the food. There aren’t any of the nasties you’ll find in most supermarket dog foods, and the preservatives in this food are natural.

It’s a conundrum. The kibble on it’s own wouldn’t be rated highly, but as a whole the product holds up. It’s kinda clever, but will offer your dog a reasonably good diet with the benefit of air dried meats rather than kibblefied at high temps.

If you can stomach the cost of the original Balanced Life then do that, otherwise this is a reasonable option. Why not feed a mixture of both?

If my sources are correct this food is manufactured by Hypro Pet Care. They are the manufacturers who took over Meals for Mutts production circa 2017 as well as producing their own brand of kibble.

Ingredients

Chicken, Ground Chicken Bones, Faba Beans, Chickpeas, Pea Protein, Chicken Fat stabilised with mixed tocopherols (source of vitamin E), Chicken Liver Flavour, Molasses, Beet Pulp, Sea Salt, Alfalfa, Caramel, Flax Seed, Red Lentils, Vitamins (Vitamin E, C, B3, B5, B2, A, B12, B1, B6, D3, B9) and Minerals (calcium carbonate, zinc sulphate, ferrous sulphate, copper sulphate, manganese oxide, potassium oxide, selenium), Dicalcium Phosphate , Guar Gum, Yellow Peas, Green Peas, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Salmon Oil, Chia Seed, Desiccated Coconut, Cranberries, Diced Carrot, Beetroot Powder, Chicory Root (prebiotic), Antioxidant Natural (mixed tocopherols, rosemary extract), Yucca Extract, Flax Seed Oil, Taurine, Kelp Powder, Green Tea.