Winalot Friday Suppers review

Average is the band these pouches occupy, and the pillars pull in different directions, with nutritional balance reading Excellent, transparency Good and protein and processing Poor. The typical adult wet food finishes two bands higher, in our Excellent band. The distance is mostly starch: potatoes, peas and unnamed cereals give this pouch more carbohydrate than a straight meat tray would carry. Set against that, the chunk share is printed, the fresh vegetable equivalents are printed, and a named fish leads at 14% of the chunks in all three recipes. For a pouch you can pick up on a weekly shop, the label works harder than most.

Ingredients, as declared: Chunks Rich in Cod with Potatoes & Peas, Meat and animal derivatives, Fish and fish derivatives (of which Cod 14% in the chunks*), Cereals, Vegetables (1% of dehydrated potatoes equivalent to 9% potatoes and 1% of dehydrated peas equivalent to 9% peas), Minerals, Various sugars, *pouch contains 40% chunks, ingredients from natural origin. Chunks Rich in Whitefish with Potatoes, Meat and animal derivatives, Fish and fish derivatives (of which white fish 14% in the chunks*), Cereals, Vegetables (1% dehydrated potatoes equivalent to 9% potatoes), Minerals, Various sugars, *pouch contains 40% chunks, ingredients from natural origin. Chunks Rich in Salmon with Carrots, Meat and animal derivatives, Fish and fish derivatives (of which Salmon 14% in the chunks*), Cereals, Vegetables (0.8% dehydrated carrots equivalent to 7.2% carrots), Minerals, Various sugars, *pouch contains 40% chunks, ingredients from natural origin.

The construction is worth understanding before the percentages make sense. Each pouch is 40% chunks with the rest arriving as sauce, and the fish figure of 14% applies to the chunks rather than to the whole pouch. That is a common way of writing a chunks-in-sauce label, and Winalot at least states the chunk share plainly.

Meat and animal derivatives leads every list. The fish that gives each recipe its name is declared, and the animal content behind it is not described at all. Fish and fish derivatives covers the rest of the fish side, again without a species. Neither term is a quality verdict on its own, since both stretch from prime material to the tail end of processing. They do mean the recipe can shift underneath a label that stays the same.

The vegetables are the most transparent part of the list. Cod comes with 1% dehydrated potatoes and 1% dehydrated peas, each equivalent to 9% of the fresh vegetable, whitefish comes with the potatoes alone, and salmon comes with 0.8% dehydrated carrots equivalent to 7.2% carrots. Carrots bring a useful dose of the vitamin A that supports healthy eyes, and peas add fibre and a spread of minerals. Cereals sit behind them unnamed, and between the grain and the vegetables the carbohydrate converts to an estimated 34.9% of dry matter.

Protein converts to 37.1% of dry matter and fat to 17.1%, a leaner pairing than most wet foods and a comfortable one for a dog that finds richer dinners heavy going. Energy is declared rather than estimated at 78 kcal per 100g. The added panel prints vitamin A at 1476 IU/kg and vitamin D3 at 141 IU/kg. Each trace mineral carries its own figure: zinc at 19 mg/kg, iron at 9.9 mg/kg, manganese at 1.2 mg/kg, copper at 1.1 mg/kg and iodine at 0.33 mg/kg.

Sold in 100g pouches, in boxes of 12 and boxes of 40.

Taking 840 kcal a day as the maintenance estimate for a 15kg adult dog in moderate condition (110 × bodyweight^0.75), that comes to roughly 1077 grams a day. The label's own guide is close to it, putting a 10kg dog on 900 grams and a 25kg dog on 1600 grams.