Morrisons Chief Meaty Pate review

The band is Average, and the reasoning is legible on the back of the pack. Transparency reads Good rather than better, because the animal content, the oils and the vegetable entry are all category terms and the only number tied to a species is that 4%. Protein and processing reads Average, which is our shorthand for a recipe that is ordinary rather than objectionable, while nutritional balance comes out Outstanding on the printed analysis. Adult wet food as a category typically reaches Excellent, so the gap is genuine, and it is a gap that closes only when a label decides to say more. Plenty of dogs thrive on food like this, and a pate that goes down easily does a job no ingredient list can do on its own.

Ingredients, as declared: With Beef - Meat and Animal Derivatives (60%, including 4% Beef), Minerals, Oils and Fats (0.2% Fish Oil), Various Sugars, Derivatives of Vegetable origin (0.1% Chicory), With Chicken - Meat and Animal Derivatives (60%, including 4% Chicken), Minerals, Oils and Fats (0.2% Fish Oil), Various Sugars, Derivatives of Vegetable Origin (0.1% Chicory), With Lamb - Meat and Animal Derivatives (60%, including 4% Lamb), Minerals, Oils and Fats (0.2% Fish Oil), Various Sugars, Derivatives of Vegetable origin (0.1% Chicory)

Sixty per cent of this recipe is declared as meat and animal derivatives, which by law covers the fleshy parts and the processing products of slaughtered warm-blooded land animals. As a share it is a strong figure. As a description it tells you very little. The term stretches from excellent meat to the plainest material, and the maker can move the mix around between batches. The named species at 4% is the only animal you can be certain of, and it is what makes the beef a beef and the lamb a lamb.

What is missing from this list is as interesting as what is on it. There is no cereal entry at all, and the estimated carbohydrate lands at 13.2% of dry matter, a shade under the 15.8% typical for adult wet food. For a pate that reads well, because the smooth texture is coming from the meat mix and not from a starch binder poured in to hold it together.

Oils and fats is another umbrella, and the label opens only one corner of it, naming fish oil at 0.2%. Fish oil is a genuine source of omega-3 and a welcome thing to see. The rest of the fat has no source attached to it, which is the usual trade-off with a category term.

Various sugars appear without a quantity, doing what sugar always does in dog food, which is make it more tempting. Derivatives of vegetable origin closes the list, with chicory at 0.1% named inside it. Chicory root works as a prebiotic and carries soluble fibre with it. Even at that level it is a sensible trace to include.

The analysis behind all this is steady. Protein converts to 47.4% of dry matter and fat to 26.3%, both perfectly respectable for a wet recipe, with ash at 10.5% and moisture declared at 81%. Energy is not printed, so we put it at roughly 83 kcal per 100g, which puts these packs on the lighter side and means daily portions run large.

The pate itself is plain and palatable. The label keeps its detail to itself. If your dog is happy on it and holding condition, nothing here is a reason to change course. This label is not built for an owner who wants to know precisely what goes in the bowl.

£2.33 a kilo, in 300g packs sold in sixes.

As a guide, a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition works out at around £2.36 a day, roughly 1014 grams, assuming about 840 kcal a day (110 × bodyweight^0.75, the standard maintenance estimate). The label's own guide for that weight is 750 to 1050 grams a day.