Flourish Grain Free Large/Giant Breed: Turkey review

Our scoring places this in the Good band, level with the typical adult dry food. Turkey at half the recipe with every share printed, calcium held at 1.52% of dry matter and a joint trio given real doses all count in its favour. Estimated carbohydrate is 42.4% of dry matter against the 46.2% typical, transparency reads Outstanding and the other three pillars Good. The one honest deduction is that the plant proteins sitting behind the turkey flatter the headline protein figure a little.

Ingredients, as declared: Turkey 50% (including Freshly Prepared Turkey 28%, Dried Turkey 18%, Turkey Fat 2% & Turkey Stock 2%), Sweet Potato (24%), Peas (7%), Potato, Beet Pulp, Pea Protein, Potato Protein, Omega 3 Supplement, Vegetable Stock, Linseed, Minerals, Vitamins, Cranberry (0.2%), Glucosamine (170 mg/kg), Methylsulfonylmethane (170 mg/kg), Chondroitin Sulphate (125 mg/kg), Fructooligosaccharides (FOS, 96 mg/kg), Mannanoligosaccharides (MOS, 24 mg/kg)

Turkey at 50% is printed in four parts: 28% freshly prepared, 18% dried, 2% turkey fat and 2% turkey stock. Only the first two carry meaningful protein, and of those the dried share survives cooking best. In the finished kibble, the 18% does most of the work. Turkey is also naturally leaner than chicken, which suits a big dog whose weight is worth keeping an eye on.

Sweet potato at 24% and peas at 7% lead the plant side, with potato behind them. No grain appears anywhere in the recipe. Beet pulp handles the fibre, declared at 3.0%, and energy settles at 367 kcal per 100 grams against 357 for the typical adult dry food.

Two entries here are worth reading twice: pea protein and potato protein. Both are by-products of processing rather than muscle meat, and both lift a protein figure without matching the quality or digestibility of animal protein. Where they sit on the list they are not dominating anything, but they are part of the reason 29.0% protein can be declared.

The joint trio comes with numbers on it: glucosamine and methylsulfonylmethane at 170 mg/kg apiece, chondroitin sulphate at 125 mg/kg. Both glucosamine and chondroitin are cartilage components, and the evidence for supplementing them is mixed. The useful thing here is that the numbers are printed and you can judge them for yourself.

Omega 3 arrives twice here, once from linseed in its plant form and once from the unnamed supplement beside it. Cranberry at 0.2%, the prebiotic pair at 96 mg/kg and 24 mg/kg, and a full quantified mineral panel finish the list. Calcium works out at 1.52% of dry matter, a level a fully grown large breed dog is comfortable on.

£4.00 a kilo, sold in a 15 kg bag.

A 15kg adult in moderate condition would need around 229 grams a day, which comes to £0.92, taking the usual maintenance estimate of about 840 kcal daily (110 × bodyweight^0.75). Most dogs on this bag are a good deal heavier than a 15kg adult, so expect the daily figure to climb with them.