Seven Pet Seven Grain Free Adult: Chicken, Sweet Potato & Herbs review

Five of the seven finish in our Excellent band, with the lamb and the turkey a step behind them in Good. The typical adult dry food, by comparison, comes in at our Good band, so even the quietest member of this range is ahead of the middle of the market.

The spread inside the range is narrow and comes down to how much meat protein survives the process. The chicken declares the most animal content at 55%, though it is the Angus beef that finishes highest of the seven and the lamb that comes in lowest. Pick the meat that suits your dog and pay no attention to the ordering.

Ingredients, as declared: Chicken 55% (including Freshly Prepared Chicken 31%, Dehydrated Chicken 21%, Chicken Digest 3%), Vegetables (including Sweet Potato (26%), Peas (6%), Potato), Digestive Care Pack (Beet Fibre, Fructooligosaccharides (96 mg/kg), Mannanoligosaccharides (24 mg/kg)), Flaxseed, Fish Oil,Minerals, Herbs (0.3% including Marjoram, Basil, Oregano, Sage, Thyme, Parsley).

Half the bag is one named animal in six of the seven recipes, and 55% in the chicken. Every label prints the split, typically a fresh share of 28% to 31% with a dried share of 18% to 21% behind it. That split matters. Water is what fresh meat mostly brings, and it leaves again in the oven. The dried share arrives concentrated. Protein converts to between 27.7% and 32.1% of dry matter across the range.

The digest entries, at 1% to 3%, are palatants named to the same animal as the meat, which is a tidier way of doing it than the generic animal digest so many kibbles use.

The constant is sweet potato, at 22% to 26% by recipe. Peas follow at 6% to 9%, then potato, and there is no grain in any of them. The rest sits under the umbrella terms of vegetables and fruit and vegetables. The entries that matter do carry percentages, and plenty of labels manage less.

Every variety carries the same Digestive Care Pack of beet fibre with FOS at 96 mg/kg and MOS at 24 mg/kg. Those are prebiotic fibres rather than live bacteria, feeding the population a dog already has, and flaxseed sits alongside as the plant omega source in each recipe.

All seven carry fish oil. Marine omega 3s reach a dog in the form they use most readily, and skin and coat are the better for it. So the beef, the pork, the lamb and the birds all carry fish. Bear that in mind where fish is excluded.

The mineral panel is printed with quantities on every label, with zinc and iron at 50 mg, manganese at 35 mg and iodine at 1 mg per kilo. Copper at 15 mg and selenium at 0.3 mg appear on most of the seven, though the lamb and salmon labels list a shorter set.

The meatiest label of the seven at 55% chicken, made up of 31% freshly prepared, 21% dehydrated and 3% chicken digest, and one of the five to reach our Excellent band. A herb blend at 0.3% and the highest fibre in the range at 4.5% round it out.

£5 a kilo across all seven varieties, sold in 2kg and 12kg bags.

As a guide, a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition works out at 225 to 237 grams a day depending on the variety. That assumes about 840 kcal a day (110 × bodyweight^0.75, the standard maintenance estimate), and lands between £1.12 and £1.18 a day. On the label the ask is 180 to 320 grams for a dog of 10kg to 20kg. Go by your dog's waistline where the two differ.