Calibra Expert Nutrition Light review

Our scoring gives it the Good band, which is where the typical adult dry food comes in as well. For a light recipe that is a solid result: the category tends to lean on vague proteins and anonymous fillers, and this label mostly resists, naming its lead protein at 38% and dosing its additions. The nutrition side is the more ordinary half of the story, with starch doing extra work, which is the usual trade when fat comes down in a kibble.

Ingredients, as declared: chicken protein (38 %), rice (30 %), brewer´s rice (8 %), apple pulp dried (6 %), dried beet pulp, poultry fat (3 %, preserved with tocopherols), hydrolysed poultry protein (3 %), yeasts, hydrolysed chicken liver (2 %), salmon oil (2 %), fulvic acid (0.2 %), prebiotics (mannan-oligosaccharides 120 mg/kg, β-glucans 100 mg/kg, fructo-oligosaccharides 70 mg/kg), glucosamine (260 mg/kg), dried rosemary & thyme (200 mg/kg), chondroitine sulphate (160 mg/kg), Mojave yucca (80 mg/kg), Lactobacillus acidophilus HA - 122 inactivated (15 × 109 cells/kg).

Chicken protein opens the list at 38%. Hydrolysed poultry protein at 3% follows, then hydrolysed chicken liver at 2%. The usual caveat applies: the poultry entries and the 3% poultry fat name a category, not a bird. Protein converts to 25.3% of dry matter, modest but deliberate in a recipe designed to be fed in decent volume to a dog on a diet.

Rice at 30% and brewer's rice at 8% do the carrying, taking estimated carbohydrate to 52.9% of dry matter. That is the light-food arithmetic in plain sight: energy from fat gets swapped for bulk from starch and fibre, and the trade is there in print.

The fibre comes from friendlier sources than many diet foods use: dried apple pulp at 6% and beet pulp, both gentle fermentable fibres, rather than a straight cellulose powder. Crude fibre lands at 5%, enough to slow the bowl down without dominating it.

L-carnitine at 200 mg supports the conversion of stored fat into usable energy, the classic light-diet addition. Glucosamine at 260 mg/kg paired with chondroitin sulphate at 160 mg/kg is a thoughtful touch for dogs whose extra weight is already testing their joints.

The range's standard finish applies: prebiotics dosed in print, an inactivated Lactobacillus culture, salmon oil at 2% for omega 3s, organic trace minerals and a deep vitamin list, with rosemary and thyme as natural antioxidants.

£4.90 a kilo, in bags of 2kg and 12kg.

Around 241 grams a day suits a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition, about £1.18, if you assume the standard 840 kcal maintenance figure (110 × bodyweight^0.75). For actual weight loss, the vet's target rather than the maintenance sum should set the portion.