GreenAcres Light/Senior review

Our bands put this in Good territory, level with the typical adult dry food, so it reads as an even everyday pick. The reasons are easy to see on the label. Protein converts to 22.0% of dry matter and estimated carbohydrate to 56.7%, where 46.2% is typical for adult dry food. Energy is 351 kcal per 100g against a typical 357. Transparency reads Outstanding and value keeps step with the headline in Good, while protein and processing reads Average and nutritional balance Poor. In fairness to the recipe, a light and senior food is meant to be leaner than average, and starch is the usual trade for that.

Ingredients, as declared: White Rice (33%), Turkey Meal (20%), Barley (10%), Oats, Beet Pulp, Dried Peas, Linseed, Brown Rice (4.5%), Turkey Digest (3%), Turkey Fat, Alfalfa, Salmon Oil (1%), Minerals, Seaweed Meal, Parsley, Nettle, Chicory Root (1000mg/kg), Dried Cranberry, Glucosamine (300mg/kg), Chondroitin (230mg/kg), Yucca Extract (200mg/kg), Rosemary Extract.

Every animal named on this list is turkey. Turkey meal at 20% supplies the protein, turkey digest at 3% is the palatant that keeps an older appetite interested, and turkey fat is the added fat. That kind of consistency is rarer than it sounds, and it makes the recipe easy to reason about for a dog with a poultry history, with one exception covered further down.

White rice at 33% is the largest single entry. Barley at 10% comes next, with oats and brown rice at 4.5%. White rice is among the easiest starches for a dog to break down, barley adds fibre and micronutrients, and between them they take carbohydrate to 56.7% on a dry matter basis. Beet pulp and dried peas sit alongside them, working on stool quality and adding a little plant protein.

The exception to the turkey rule is salmon oil at 1%, in there for its omega 3s alongside linseed. It is a small entry doing real work for skin, coat and joints, and it is genuinely fish, so a strict fish free plan will not survive it.

The senior thinking shows further down the list. Glucosamine at 300mg/kg and chondroitin at 230mg/kg make up the joint pair, chicory root at 1000mg/kg feeds the friendly gut bacteria as a prebiotic, and yucca extract at 200mg/kg is aimed squarely at kennel smells. Dried cranberry, seaweed meal, parsley and nettle all sit at trace level, seasoning more than substance. Rosemary extract handles the preserving.

The mineral panel is dosed per kilo and printed in full: zinc at 100mg, iron at 50mg, manganese at 40mg, copper at 12mg, iodine at 1.5mg and selenium at 0.25mg, all in sulphate form. Vitamin A is generous at 36000 IU with vitamin E at 190mg and vitamin D3 at 2000 IU. For a food this plain, that is a thorough bit of label writing.

£4.29 a kilo, sold in 2kg and 12kg bags.

A 15kg adult in moderate condition works out at around 239 grams a day, or £1.03, based on a maintenance need of roughly 840 kcal (110 × bodyweight^0.75). The label asks 205 to 255 grams for a dog between 15kg and 20kg, so the two land close together and the waistline can settle the rest.