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American Journey vs. Vital Essentials

In this comparison article for American Journey vs Vital Essentials, we'll highlight the key differences between these two pet food brands. To properly compare American Journey and Vital Essentials, we'll use up-to-date nutritional and price information.

There are many factors to consider when choosing the best pet food brand for your pet. Factors such as ingredient quality, guaranteed analysis, product safety, brand history, and cost are among the most important factors to consider.

Throughout this Vital Essentials vs American Journey comparison, we've utilized average data to make general comparisons. If you'd like to see individual product reviews, visit our American Journey Review Page or Vital Essentials Review Page.

Guaranteed Analysis: Vital Essentials vs. American Journey

According to AAFCO, all pet food labels must provide a guaranteed analysis of nutrient content. The analysis must provide guaranteed minimum percentages of crude protein and crude fat, and maximum percentages of crude fiber and moisture.

All percentages used in this comparison are averages reported on a dry matter basis.

American Journey Dog Food vs. Vital Essentials Dog Food

Dry Dog Food	American Journey	Vital Essentials
Crude Protein	31.8%	52.2%
Crude Fat	14.7%	28.7%
Crude Fiber	6.4%	4.1%

Wet/Canned Dog Food	American Journey	Vital Essentials
Crude Protein	40.7%	53.7%
Crude Fat	27.6%	31.0%
Crude Fiber	7.0%	5.6%

Crude Protein Comparison For Dog Food

Dogs require twenty-two amino acids to sustain life. Twelve of these amino acids are synthesized naturally, the remaining ten are consumed. Protein is the nutrient which provides some or all of these ten essential amino acids.

The comparison table above shows that Vital Essentials dry dog foods provide significantly more protein than American Journey. More specifically, Vital Essentials guarantees at least 20.40% more protein. Similarly, Vital Essentials wet dog foods provide significantly more protein than American Journey wet foods.

Crude Fat Comparison For Dog Food

Fats are an absolutely vital component of a balanced canine diet. Not only do fats provide energy, but they also serve important roles in the normal development and function of your dog's body. For example, fats help dogs produce prostaglandins, which reduce inflammation among many other significant functions.

Vital Essentials dry dog foods clearly provides more fat than American Journey. In fact, the difference between the fat content is roughly 13.96%, which is a significant amount. For wet dog foods, Vital Essentials typically provides a little more fat (about 3.41% more).

There is a small difference between the fiber content of American Journey and Vital Essentials. We can see that American Journey guarantees about 2.30% more fiber than Vital Essentials. For wet dog foods, American Journey and Vital Essentials provide roughly the same amount of fiber.

American Journey Cat Food vs. Vital Essentials Cat Food

Dry Cat Food	American Journey	Vital Essentials
Crude Protein	39.8%	54.0%
Crude Fat	16.2%	27.5%
Crude Fiber	5.5%	5.1%

Wet/Canned Cat Food	American Journey	Vital Essentials
Crude Protein	52.9%	50.6%
Crude Fat	20.8%	18.8%
Crude Fiber	5.8%	2.5%

Crude Protein Comparison For Cat Food

Cats require twenty-two amino acids to sustain life. Eleven of these amino acids are synthesized naturally, the remaining eleven are consumed. Protein is the nutrient which provides some or all of these eleven essential amino acids.

On average, Vital Essentials dry cat food recipes contain 14.14% more protein than American Journey recipes. Clearly, there is a significant difference between the protein content of American Journey and Vital Essentials. For wet cat foods, American Journey typically provides a little more protein (about 2.34% more).

Crude Fat Comparison For Cat Food

There are many ways in which dietary fat contributes to the overall health of our feline friends. Here is a short list of benefits provided by fats (not exhaustive):

Fats help with the digestion and absorption of fat-soluble vitamins
Reduce inflammation associated with arthritis
Slow the growth of yeast infections
Prevent or reduce the likelihood of certain heart problems.
Aid in the development of the retina and visual cortex.

When you look at the average percentages of crude fat for dry cat food, it's clear that Vital Essentials provides significantly more fat. On average, Vital Essentials guarantees about 11.35% more protein than American Journey. For wet cat foods, American Journey and Vital Essentials provide roughly the same amount of fat.

There is a relatively insignificant difference between the crude fiber content of the two brands. For wet cat foods, American Journey typically provides a little more fiber (about 3.31% more).

American Journey Pet Food Ingredients vs. Vital Essentials Pet Food Ingredients

Here are some of the controversial ingredients used only by American Journey.

Canola Meal

Pea Protein

Brewers Rice

Wheat Gluten

Ground Whole Wheat

Powdered Cellulose

Dried Tomato Pomace

Animal Fat (Preserved With Mixed Tocopherols)

Canola Oil (Preserved With Mixed Tocopherols)

We believe that certain pet food ingredients are linked to adverse health affects; these ingredients are classified as harmful.

Here are some of the harmful ingredients used only by American Journey.

Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex

Product Safety: Recall History of American Journey & Vital Essentials?

According to our records, American Journey has never been recalled.

Vital Essentials has been recalled 4 times.

July 8, 2015: Listeria monocytogenes
Jan. 15, 2016: Salmonella
Feb. 24, 2018: Salmonella
April 16, 2018: Salmonella

Price Comparison: Which Brand Is More Expensive?

Dry Dog Food	American Journey	Vital Essentials
Per Pound	$2.16	$37.19
Per Calorie	$0.0014	$0.0186

Dry Cat Food	American Journey	Vital Essentials
Per Pound	$2.96	$39.03
Per Calorie	$0.0018	$0.0200

The average cost-per-lb is heavily influenced by the varying amounts of moisture present in each brand's food products (wet vs. dry food, dry vs. freeze-dried food, etc). However, the average cost-per-kcal eliminates the influence of moisture. Therefore, the average cost-per-kcal is the better metric to consider.

If you'd like to calculate the average cost-per-day or cost-pet-year of feeding American Journey or Vital Essentials, input your pet's weight into our cost analyzer widget.

Averages price data can identify whether or not there exists a significant price difference between two brands. However, the actual price that you'll pay for American Journey or Vital Essentials will depend on your shopping habits.

Pet owners who use our price comparison feature typically save more than 25% off retail prices for American Journey and Vital Essentials. In addition, we currently have some great coupons for our readers.

Disclosure: PawDiet has an affiliate relationship with stores featured (or linked-to) in this article. We are compensated for referring customers. Thank you for shopping with our retail partners!

Where To Buy American Journey Pet Foods

You can purchase American Journey pet foods from the following stores:

126 Recipes In-Stock Today

Where To Buy Vital Essentials Pet Foods

You can purchase Vital Essentials pet food products from these retailers:

47 Recipes In-Stock Today

43 Recipes In-Stock Today

22 Recipes In-Stock Today

23 Recipes In-Stock Today

Type Of Pet Foods Available

Product	American Journey	Vital Essentials
Dry Dog Food	43 Recipes	None
Wet Dog Food	11 Recipes	None
Dog Treats	44 Treats	30 Treats
Dry Cat Food	14 Recipes	None
Wet Cat Food	23 Recipes	None
Cat Treats	5 Treats	8 Treats