Rocco

Rocco Real Hearts: Chicken with whole Chicken Hearts review

Name: Rocco Rocco Real Hearts: Chicken with whole Chicken Hearts
Brand: Rocco

WetAdult

Flavour

Rocco Real Hearts is built on one simple idea: whole chicken hearts left whole in the tin, so dinner has something to chew rather than arriving as a smooth paste. Beef with whole Chicken Hearts and Chicken with whole Chicken Hearts both keep starch remarkably low, at an estimated 14.0% and 6.5% of dry matter where the typical adult wet food sits at 15.8%. The one thing holding these pages back is that neither label prints its recipe.

Where to buy: coming soon

Live retailer pricing is coming soon. Once we have prices from UK retailers, the best price, cost per day and where to buy will appear here.

Our view

Likely to suit

Some dogs want their dinner to have texture, and that is the whole thought behind these tins.

Fussy eaters who lose interest in smooth wet food, since whole hearts give the bowl something to work at
Dogs kept on very little starch, with the carbohydrate estimate at 14.0% of dry matter in the beef tin and 6.5% in the chicken
An owner who wants protein at the front, since it converts to 42.0% of dry matter in the beef tin and 52.0% in the chicken tin
Dogs that need a dense meal, since the beef tin is estimated at 121 kcal per 100g where adult wet food typically carries 97
Households that like to alternate the animal while keeping the format the same, with a beef tin and a chicken tin to swap between

Worth watching

Before you order a case, there are a few things these labels leave unsaid.

Neither tin publishes an ingredient list, so the share of hearts against everything else is not printed anywhere
For a dog with a diagnosed allergy, an elimination diet needs a printed list, and neither recipe gives one
We estimate the energy on both tins, since neither is declared, so treat portion sizes as a starting point
Fat converts to 34.0% of dry matter in the beef tin, which makes it a rich bowl for a dog that finds fatty food heavy going

Written by our editorial team. Independent guidance, not veterinary advice.

The Details

Dog fit

Some dogs want their dinner to have texture, and that is the whole thought behind these tins. Before you order a case, there are a few things these labels leave unsaid.

Food type

Wet

Life stage

Adult

Main protein

Chicken

The score, in context

Neither tin carries a score here, and the missing piece is the recipe. Rocco declares the analysis and the added vitamins and minerals but not the ingredients, and reading a food properly means reading its list first. The energy figures are ours rather than the maker's too, so even the portion arithmetic begins from an estimate. What the analysis does show is genuinely promising, with protein high and starch very low in both tins, and if the lists are ever published we will read them and place the range gladly.

Ingredient notes

Heart is the point of the range, and it is a good thing to build around. Heart is dense working muscle, not offal in the usual sense, and it is rich in protein and very palatable. Leaving the hearts whole gives a dog something to bite on. Owners of picky eaters tend to notice the difference at the bowl before they notice anything else.

The two tins read quite differently once moisture is taken out. The beef tin declares 75.0% moisture. On a dry matter basis that is 42.0% protein and 34.0% fat, a rich and energy dense build. The chicken tin declares 80.0% moisture and converts to 52.0% protein with fat down at 26.0%, which is the leaner of the two by a clear margin.

Starch is the quiet strength on both labels. The estimated carbohydrate lands at 14.0% of dry matter in the beef tin and just 6.5% in the chicken, both at or under the 15.8% typical for adult wet food. The chicken figure is low enough to suggest very little cereal or root vegetable in the recipe.

The added vitamins and trace elements are dosed per kilo: vitamin D3 at 200 IU, vitamin E at 30mg, biotin at 300mcg, zinc at 15mg, manganese at 3mg and iodine at 0.75mg. There is no copper on either label, which is worth a note if you keep track of trace elements, though a meat rich recipe carries a good deal of its own.

What is missing is the list. Chicken hearts are named on the front of both tins, and the analysis backs up the idea of a meat led recipe. No percentages are published, and nothing tells you what sits alongside the hearts. The numbers point one way and the labelling simply does not follow them up.

How this variety differs

Chicken alongside the hearts, keeping the whole tin to one bird. Protein converts to 52.0% of dry matter with the estimated carbohydrate at just 6.5%, and at an estimated 85 kcal per 100g it is much the lighter meal, so portions are generous for the calories.

Price and value

Both tins are £3.38 a kilo, sold in 400g and 800g sizes.

For a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition, take an estimated 840 kcal a day (110 × bodyweight^0.75, the standard maintenance estimate). The beef tin then works out at about 693 grams and £2.34 a day, and the chicken tin at about 987 grams and £3.34. Both of those sums rest on our own energy estimate, since Rocco declares none.

Nutritional analysis