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Step Up Dry Food Adult: Chicken With Fish review

Name: Step Up Dry Food Adult: Chicken With Fish
Brand: Step Up

53.7/100Good

DryAdult

Flavour

A plain, unfussy kibble for every day, with all three recipes in our Good band. The meat is concentrated meal and partly named by family, which is what holds the range at that level. Everything else is set out plainly, with percentages against the grains, the peas and the extras, and a fully dosed vitamin and mineral panel underneath.

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Our view

Likely to suit

Multi-dog homes. The three recipes swap only the meat
Grain-tolerant dogs, with rice, whole barley and oats behind the meat
A prebiotic in every bag, as dried chicory closes each list
Stiffening joints, on the chicken with fish recipe, which declares glucosamine and chondroitin
Households avoiding wheat: none appears in the range
Big eaters, since the 14kg bag is what the range is built around

Worth watching

Salmon oil in all three, so no version is fish-free
Poultry names a family and not a bird, which rules the range out for a dog with a specific poultry problem
Carbohydrate runs high, from 48.9% to 53.2% of dry matter against 46.2% for a typical adult dry food

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

How this scores

How we score

53.7/100Good

Protein and processingAverage

Nutritional balanceAverage

TransparencyOutstanding

ValueGood

The details

Dog fit

Listed for adult dogs of every size. Weigh the first few meals against the label's table and let the waistline settle the amount.

Food type

Dry

Life stage

Adult

Breed size

Toy, Small, Medium, Large, Giant

Main protein

Chicken

The score, in context

Chicken 55.3
Chicken 53.7
Beef 51.9

All three Good. Typical dry food: Good.

The three finish close together, so the animal on the front can make the choice.

What's in it

Poultry Meal18.5%Chicken is 14.5% inside it. A meal counts for far more in the bag than the same share of fresh meat.
Rice
Whole Barley16%Keeps its bran.
Maize
Dried Peas9%Adds a little plant protein to the declared figure.
Fish Meal4%The second animal.
Whole Grain Oats, Poultry Fat4% eachThe lowest fat in the range.
Beet Pulp, Poultry Gravy, Minerals
Dried Apple, Dried Sweet Potato, Salmon Oil, Dried Chicory1% down to 0.5%Garnishes, coat oil and an inulin-rich root for the gut.
Glucosamine, Chondroitin0.025%, 0.015%Joint support, on this recipe only.

The fullest panel in the range: vitamins A, D3 and E, taurine at 500mg and L-carnitine at 100mg per kilo, with the same sulphate and oxide trace minerals.

Moisture is not declared, so the dry matter figures assume 8%.

Named ingredients

Poultry Meal (18.5% incl. Chicken 14.5%), Rice, Whole Barley (16%), Maize, Dried Peas (9%), Fish Meal (4%), Whole Grain Oats (4%), Poultry Fat (4%), Beet Pulp, Poultry Gravy, Minerals, Dried Apple (1% equivalent to 6.5% Apple), Dried Sweet Potato (1% equivalent to 3% Sweet Potato), Salmon Oil (0.5%), Dried Chicory, Glucosamine (0.025%), Chondroitin (0.015%)

Against the range

Second animal: Fish meal, 4%; Lamb meal or turkey meal on the others.
Fat, as fed: 9%; 11% on the other two.
Energy: 345 kcal per 100g; The lowest; the others reach 363 and 369.
Joint support: Glucosamine and chondroitin; None on the other two.

The most interesting recipe of the three, and the one for a steadier dog.

Three recipes on one construction. A concentrated meat meal leads each, then rice, whole barley at 16% and maize, with dried peas at 8% or 9% and whole grain oats at 4%. All of the meat is meal and none of it fresh, and part of it is named only by family: poultry meal, poultry fat and poultry gravy.

The tail is the same everywhere: dried apple, dried sweet potato, salmon oil at 0.5% and dried chicory. There is no wheat in the range. What changes is the lead meal, the second animal and the fat level, and only the chicken with fish recipe adds joint support.

Nutritional analysis

Declared analysis

Energy

345 kcal/100g

Protein

23%

Fat

Fibre

3.5%

Ash

7.5%

Dry weight

Protein

25%

Fat

9.8%

Fibre

3.8%

Ash

8.2%

Carbs

53.2%

As-fed composition

Estimated breakdown of the finished product by ingredient category, from the declared ingredient list and ingoing weights. These are estimates, not measurements.

Meat

27.2%

Added water

4.1%

Carbs

61.3%

Veg

1.5%

Oils

4.5%

Other

1.4%