Pedigree Tins with Jelly: Mixed Selection Chunks 6 x 385g review

Our scoring puts all four entries here in the Average band, a fair distance below the Excellent band the typical adult wet food reaches. The reason sits in the labelling rather than in the jelly. With four of the five entries written as category terms, protein and processing has little concrete to grade: Poor on the largest selection, Average on the carrot version, Good on the other two. Transparency comes back Good on three of the four and Outstanding on that largest selection.

Say it plainly: the analysis is not the problem. Protein converts to 41.1% of dry matter. That is a strong figure for something fed out of a tin, and fat sits moderate at 21.7%. A dog eating this is being fed properly. The band is a measure of how much the maker pins down as named meat, not a judgement on the dinner.

Ingredients, as declared: With Beef and Liver Mix: Meat and Animal Derivatives* (including a Mix of Beef 2% and Liver 4%), Cereals, Vegetable Protein Extracts, Minerals, Derivatives of Vegetable Origin (including Dried Beet Pulp 0.5%), With Chicken: Meat and Animal Derivatives* (including Chicken 4% and Liver 4%), Cereals, Vegetable Protein Extracts, Minerals, Derivatives of Vegetable Origin (including Dried Beet Pulp 0.5%), With Lamb and Liver Mix: Meat and Animal Derivatives* (including a Mix of Lamb 2% and Liver 4%), Cereals, Vegetable Protein Extracts, Minerals, Derivatives of Vegetable Origin (including Dried Beet Pulp 0.5%), *97% Natural

Start with the jelly, because it is what separates this range from the brand's gravy tins. It is set with cassia gum, declared as a technological additive at 2100 mg per kilo. Cassia gum comes from the seeds of the senna plant and is used across wet pet food to firm up a gel. Plenty of labels never mention their thickener at all, so seeing it printed with a figure beside it is a small point in this one's favour.

The animal block is the familiar big brand construction. Meat and animal derivatives sits first, a legal umbrella that can take in any warm blooded land animal in any proportion and can shift between batches without the wording changing. Within it the label does pin a little down: chicken at 4%, or beef and lamb at 2% as part of a mix, each with liver at 4%. Liver earns its place, carrying a dense load of the vitamins and minerals a dog uses daily.

Behind the meat come cereals and vegetable protein extracts, and neither of those is named. Derivatives of vegetable origin follows, with dried beet pulp declared at 0.5% inside it. Vegetable protein extract is plant protein separated out and added back. It counts towards the protein figure exactly as meat does. Bear it in mind while reading the analysis. Estimated carbohydrate converts to 24.1% of dry matter where the typical adult wet food runs at 15.8%.

The analysis is the friendliest part of the label. Protein reads 7.2% as fed and converts to 41.1% of dry matter, fat 3.8% and 21.7%, and fibre is very low at 0.3%. Energy comes in at 77 kcal per 100g against 97 for the typical adult wet food, so these are light tins and portions run large. The added panel is short and fully dosed, with vitamin D3 at 300 IU, vitamin E at 20.0 mg and copper, iodine, iron, manganese and zinc each printed per kilo.

The same three recipes cut as chunks rather than the standard shape, with no carrots behind them. Handy for a dog that likes a piece to chew on.

£2.55 a kilo. The tins are 385g and 400g, in cases of 6, 12 and 24.

As a guide, feeding works out at around £2.78 a day for a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition, or roughly 1091 grams. Behind that sits about 840 kcal a day, the standard maintenance estimate (110 × bodyweight^0.75). A gram of wet food carries few calories. A day's portion therefore comes to close to three tins.