Europa Super Food 65/35 Puppy: Scottish Salmon review

Both recipes land in our Excellent band, clear of the Good band where the typical puppy dry food sits. The meat shares are the reason, backed by two declared calcium figures and a carbohydrate load that stays under the typical in each bag. Transparency reads Outstanding on both bags and protein and processing Good. On the turkey nutritional balance is Outstanding, and on the salmon Excellent, with value Excellent on both bags. The incompletely printed plant side is what keeps them from pushing higher still.

Ingredients, as declared: Salmon 65% (Freshly Prepared Scottish Salmon 35%, Salmon 30%), Dill*, Spinach*, Fennel*, Asparagus*, Tomato*, Other Functional Ingredients (chart labels; the starred vegetables carry no printed percentages)

Animal ingredients at 65% is a high share for a dry puppy food, and the analyses back the claim rather than leaving it on the front of the bag. Protein converts to 44.0% of dry matter in the turkey recipe and 36.4% in the salmon, while carbohydrate is estimated at 20.7% and 35.9% respectively, both under the 39.0% typical for a puppy dry food.

Each bag then lists a run of starred botanicals with no percentages against them, parsley and papaya and pumpkin in one, dill and spinach and fennel in the other. They are the super food of the name, and without figures the honest reading is that they garnish recipes which already stand on their meat.

Both bags print calcium, converted at 1.52% of dry matter on one and 1.3% on the other. Both figures sit inside the range growth works to. No line on a puppy label does more work than that one, and having it on both bags means a big pup is not being reared on guesswork.

The plant side is where these labels stop short. Each list names the meats and the botanicals and then closes without naming the carbohydrate that holds a kibble together. The estimated carbohydrate figures in the table are the clearest read available on that part of the recipe.

Neither bag prints an additive panel with vitamin and trace element doses either, so the analysis and the ingredients are what you have to work with. What they show is a pair of meat led recipes with a light starch load and a declared calcium figure, which is a sound place for growth to start.

The Scottish salmon recipe keeps to one fish throughout: 65% salmon, split between freshly prepared Scottish salmon at 35% and salmon at 30%, with no other animal named anywhere on the printed list. For a pup kept to one protein, this is the version to take.

It analyses at 33.5% protein and 15.0% fat, converting to 36.4% and 16.3% of dry matter, with carbohydrate estimated at 35.9% of dry matter and energy declared at 382 kcal per 100g. Calcium converts to 1.3% of dry matter, inside the growth range. Dill, spinach, fennel, asparagus and tomato are the starred additions here, again with no figures beside them.

£5.67 a kilo for the free range turkey recipe and £9.17 a kilo for the Scottish salmon, both sold in 15kg bags.

Fifteen kilos is a lot of bag to work through, and how quickly you do it depends on the month you are in. Weigh out what the growth chart calls for now and revisit it as your pup changes shape.