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Pets At Home · dry

Pets at Home Essentials Dry Adult review

One of the weakest dry foods we have rated. Just 4% declared meat content, and the label keeps too much vague. Feeding it costs about 17p a day for a typical adult dog - the breakdown below shows exactly what that buys.

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DryWeight management
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ODF Score 8/100 Avoid
Our community ratingNo owner reviews yet - be the first.
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Top 98%scores higher than 2% of rated foodsacross all 3075 foods we've scored
Avoidscore bandthe dot marks where it sits among every food we've rated
£0.17 approx.per day for a 10 kg dogcheaper than 99% of dry foods
4%declared meat content
United Kingdombrand origin
348kcal per 100 g

Where the points went

The full breakdown, exactly as the algorithm scored it. How our rating works

Ingredient quality
Weighted ingredient quality 34/100 across 8 ingredients (declared percentages used for 3, position estimates for the rest). Named meat is only 16% of the recognised recipe, so the quality score is anchored down towards a plant-led food.
12.4 / 40
Label clarity
Vague category terms on the label (Cereals, Meat and Animal Derivatives, Oils and Fats) - naming points withheld; no percentages declared at all - the recipe is unverifiable; meat sources named (+2); variable-composition wording - fixed-formula points withheld.
2 / 15
Additives
Unnamed preservative - the label does not say which (-4).
6 / 10
Red flags
Cereals leads the label (-10); Meat and Animal Derivatives at position 2 (-16); Oils and Fats at position 4 (-12); Derivatives of Vegetable Origin at position 8 (-6); penalties capped at -25 (uncapped: -44).
-25 / 0
Meat content
Declared meat content 4%.
3.8 / 15
Nutritional balance
Estimated carbohydrate 52% dry matter (high); fat 10.9% DM in the healthy band; moisture not declared - 8% assumed for the dry-matter maths; fibre 3.3% DM (+2); ash 9.8% DM - sensible mineral load (+0.8).
3.3 / 10
Processing
Assumed extruded kibble (standard high-heat process).
6 / 10
ODF Score
Algorithm v1.4.1 · scored August 19, 2026 · full methodology public
8 / 100

Our analysis

Breaking the 8 down: the biggest single loss is ingredient quality, where it takes 12.4 of a possible 40. On top of that, 25 points are deducted outright for red-flag ingredients - a penalty applied before anything else is counted, which is why the total lands where it does.

The label declares 4% meat, which is a low figure, and a declared low figure is still more honest than silence, and the ingredient list leans on vague groupings instead of naming what is actually in the bag.

At about 17p a day to feed a 10kg dog, the question is not whether it is cheap but whether the label justifies the price - and on our scoring, it does not.

Ingredients

Straight from the label, grouped by role - every ingredient is coloured by our published classification and links to its full page.

Meat & fish

Meat and Animal Derivatives Including 4% ChickenIncluding 4% Chicken 4%Oils and Fats

Carbs & grains

CerealsDerivatives of Vegetable OriginIncluding 0.1% Chicory Extract 0.1%Yucca Extract 0.01%

Fruit & veg

Vegetables Including 5% PeasIncluding 5% Peas 5%

Supplements & extras

YeastsSeedsMinerals
Good qualityAcceptable / watch the amountRed flagGeneric / neutralOutlined = first five on the label
Additives (as declared on the label)
Vitamin a 17000 IU, Vitamin D3 1500 IU, Vitamin E 70mg, Iodine (Calcium Iodate Anhydrous) 2.5mg, Selenium ( Sodium Selenite ) 0.1mg, Copper ( Copper II Sulphate Pentahydrate ) 8mg, Iron (Iron II Sulphate Monohydrate) 60mg, Manganese (Manganese II Oxide) 50mg, Zinc (Zinc Oxide) 100mg. Antioxidants ; Preservatives.

Feeding & cost

What a bag actually costs to feed - worked out per dog, not per pack.

Pack sizeRRPPer kg
12 kg£13.49£1.12

How heavy is your dog?

A typical 10 kg adult dog needs about 154 g a day = £0.17 / day, £5.17 / month.

How we work this out
  1. Energy: an adult dog at rest needs about 95 × weight0.75 kcal a day (the FEDIAF maintenance formula - a 10 kg dog works out near 534 kcal).
  2. Portion: divide that by this food's energy density, 348 kcal/100g, to get the grams above - a denser food needs fewer grams.
  3. Cost: multiply the grams by this food's price, £1.12 / kg, for the daily cost, then by 30.4 days for the month.

Estimates scale to your dog's weight and the food's calorie density - a denser food needs fewer grams. A rough guide; always follow the pack. Try the full feeding calculator

Nutrition

Declared analysis converted to a dry-matter basis, so wet and dry foods compare fairly.

Protein

23.9 % DM
Directory average: 28.2

Fat

10.9 % DM
Directory average: 14.8

Est. carbs

52.2 % DM
Directory average: 45.2

Fibre

3.3 % DM
Directory average: 3.6

Ash

9.8 % DM
Directory average: 7.9

Energy

348 kcal/100g
Directory average: 365.3

Moisture isn't declared on this label - dry-matter figures assume 8% (typical for a dry food) and are marked estimated.

Carbohydrates are estimated: 100% minus protein, fat, fibre, ash and moisture.

Similar foods that score higher

Same type and life stage, better ODF Score, comparable price per day.

More from Pets At Home

Other foods in this range, whatever they score - the full picture, not just the top of the list.

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This is label analysis, not veterinary advice - if your dog has a health condition, talk to your vet before switching foods.

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