Wainwright's Insects With Superfoods Cans review

The can takes a place in our Good band, a step under the typical adult wet food, which is still a strong result for a protein this unusual. Insect at 53% is the biggest reason. The energy figure is declared on the label instead of being worked back from the analysis, and too few labels do that. Calcium converts to 0.96% of dry matter, a comfortable level for an adult dog.

Two pillars read Outstanding here: nutritional balance and transparency. The other two read Average for protein and processing and Good for value. The starch is what holds the reading back. Carbohydrate is estimated at 21.2% of dry matter, where the typical adult wet food runs at 15.8%. The potato flakes and the two pea entries account for it. The vegetable oil is the one entry on the list that could say more about itself.

Ingredients, as declared: Insect (53%) (Insect Puree (49%), Insect Protein Meal (4%)), Potato Flakes (4%), Pea Protein, Dried Peas (1.3%, equivalent to 4% peas), Dried Sweet Potato (1%, equivalent to 4% Sweet Potato), Dried Carrot (1%, equivalent to 9% Carrot), Minerals, Brewers Yeast, Vegetable Oil (0.5%), Blueberry (0.5%), Dried Spinach (0.1%), Goji Berry (0.1%), Dried Seaweed (0.1%), Yucca Extract (0.1%), Chicory Extract (0.1% (as a source of Prebiotic Fructo-oligosaccharide)), Dried Herbs (Mint, Parsley, Rosemary (0.3%))

Insect at 53% is split in print between insect puree at 49% and insect protein meal at 4%, which is more detail than most novel protein foods offer. Insect protein is highly digestible and shares nothing with beef, chicken, lamb or fish. That is precisely why it earns its place when the familiar meats have caused trouble. Protein converts to 36.0% of dry matter, fat to 28.0%.

Potato flakes at 4% and dried peas at 1.3% (equivalent to 4% peas on the label) carry most of the starch, with dried sweet potato and dried carrot at 1% each. Pea protein follows the potato flakes without a percentage. It is what pea processing leaves behind, and a common way of lifting a protein figure without adding more of the animal ingredient. It is worth knowing it is in there, though the insect share is high enough that it is plainly not doing the heavy lifting.

Brewers yeast, blueberry at 0.5%, dried spinach at 0.1%, goji berry at 0.1% and dried seaweed at 0.1% are the superfoods of the name, and all of them sit at trace level. Seaweed brings iodine and a spread of minerals, while yucca extract and chicory extract at 0.1% each are there for digestion, the chicory as a prebiotic fibre.

Vegetable oil at 0.5% is the one entry that could be more forthcoming. The term covers any oil of plant origin, and a named oil would tell you a great deal more. The oil is only 0.5% of the can, and most of the fat comes from the insect itself. The quibble is with the labelling, not with the recipe.

The additive panel is dosed throughout. Vitamin A at 2,250IU, vitamin D3 at 328IU and vitamin E at 26mg, then zinc at 24mg, iron at 12.5mg, copper at 2.5mg, manganese at 2mg, iodine at 0.45mg and selenium at 0.04mg. Selenium arrives in the sodium selenite form that the great majority of complete foods use.

£6.30 a kilo, in a single 395g can.

A 15kg adult dog in moderate condition needs roughly 840 kcal a day (110 × bodyweight^0.75, the standard maintenance estimate). At the declared 110 kcal per 100g that comes to about 764 grams a day, or £4.81. The label's own guide for a dog of 12kg to 25kg spans 395 to 1086.2 grams a day, which leaves plenty of room to adjust.