How to Read a Dog Food Label

Dog food labels are heavily regulated in the UK but designed by marketing departments. The result is packaging that is legally accurate but often misleading. Understanding what each section actually means lets you make a genuine assessment of the food, independent of the imagery, branding, or front-of-pack claims.

The Ingredient List

Ingredients are listed in descending order by weight before processing. The first ingredient is present in the highest quantity. This sounds straightforward, but there are a few important nuances.

Named vs unnamed sources. "Fresh chicken" is specific and verifiable. "Meat and animal derivatives" is a catch-all category that can legally include almost any part of any animal. Better quality foods use named ingredients throughout the list.

The water effect. Fresh or wet ingredients (fresh chicken, fresh salmon) are listed at their pre-cooking weight, which includes their moisture content — typically 70 to 80% water. After cooking, their actual contribution to the finished product is much smaller. A food listing "fresh chicken" as the first ingredient ahead of a named dried meat may actually contain less animal protein than one listing "dried chicken" further down.

Splitting. Some manufacturers split a single ingredient into multiple categories to push it down the list. For example, "cereals (rice 15%, wheat 10%, maize 5%)" totals 30% but each appears lower in the list than it would if combined. Look for foods that are transparent about ingredient proportions.

The Guaranteed Analysis

This section lists the minimum or maximum percentages of key nutrients: protein, fat, crude fibre, and moisture. These are listed on an as-fed basis, meaning the moisture content is included in the calculation.

To compare foods fairly — particularly when comparing dry to wet, or different moisture-level foods — you need to convert to a dry matter basis. Subtract the moisture percentage from 100, then divide the nutrient percentage by that number.

For example, a wet food showing 8% protein and 80% moisture: 8 / (100 - 80) = 40% protein on a dry matter basis. That is significantly higher than it appears.

Descriptive Claims and What They Mean

UK pet food regulations define specific thresholds for labelling claims:

• "With chicken" or "contains chicken": the food must contain at least 4% of that ingredient
• "Rich in chicken" or "high in chicken": at least 14% required
• "Chicken dinner", "chicken feast", or similar: at least 26% required
• "Chicken for dogs" (ingredient as the product name): at least 26% required

This means "Chicken Dinner for Dogs" and "Dog Food with Chicken" can look similar on a shelf but contain very different amounts of chicken.

Additives

Additives are listed separately from ingredients and include vitamins, minerals, and preservatives. Natural preservatives (rosemary extract, tocopherols) are generally preferable to artificial ones (BHA, BHT, ethoxyquin). Vitamins and minerals are necessary additions to ensure nutritional completeness and are not a concern.

Artificial colours serve no nutritional purpose and are there purely to make the food look appealing to the owner. Dogs do not see colour the same way humans do. Their presence in a food is not a safety concern but it is a quality indicator — better manufacturers do not bother with them.

What to Actually Use This For

When comparing two foods, check:

1. Is the first ingredient a named meat source?
2. Are the key ingredients specific or vague?
3. What does the protein percentage look like on a dry matter basis?
4. Are there artificial colours, flavours, or preservatives?

Furra's FurScore does this assessment systematically for every product in our directory, so you do not have to work through the label maths every time. Browse and compare at furra.co.uk.