Arden Grange Light review

Light lands in our Average band, a step below the Good band the typical adult dry food occupies. The score is telling you this is a conventional recipe doing a specific job, and no kind of nutritional showpiece. A cereal-led list and a high carbohydrate estimate hold it back, while the trimmed fat and sensible extras keep it comfortably inside our Average band. For a diet food fed to the right dog, mid-table is no obstacle.

Ingredients, as declared: Rice (31%), maize (27%), chicken meat meal (14%), beet pulp, fresh chicken (5%), chicken digest, refined chicken oil, yeast, krill, whole dried egg, whole linseed, minerals, prebiotic FOS, prebiotic MOS, yucca extract, glucosamine, MSM, chondroitin, cranberries, nucleotides.

Rice at 31% and maize at 27% open the list, which tells you straight away how this recipe is built. Chicken meat meal follows at 14% with fresh chicken at 5%, and because meal is already dried it punches above its position. Protein still finishes at a gentle 18% as fed, or 19.6% of dry matter.

Carbohydrate is where the construction shows most: our estimate converts to 60.8% of dry matter, well above the 46.2% typical for adult dry food. In a weight-control recipe that is a deliberate trade, bulk and energy dilution in place of richness, though owners who would rather slim a dog on a meatier list should know it going in.

The lighter analysis is the point of the food. Fat at 7.5% and 341 kcal per 100g sit usefully below the 357 kcal of the typical adult dry food, which lets a dieting dog keep a normal-looking portion while taking in less.

Beet pulp supplies steady fibre, and the prebiotic pairing of FOS and MOS is there to look after the gut flora, with yucca extract a traditional addition for less pungent output.

The tail of the list reads like the rest of the brand's range: krill and whole linseed for omega fats, with whole dried egg for protein quality. Then come the joint trio, cranberries and nucleotides, at levels best read as a garnish. None of those doses are printed on this label.

Sold in 2kg, 6kg and 14kg bags, with 4 x 2kg and 2 x 14kg multipacks alongside.

As a guide, a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition gets through about 246 grams a day, assuming around 840 kcal a day (110 × bodyweight^0.75, the standard maintenance estimate). The label's own table asks 160 to 210 grams for dogs between 10kg and 15kg; if the two disagree, let the waistline decide.