So just what is a ‘complete’ dog food and why is it called that? To label a dog food ‘complete’ means that the product must contain all the nutrients a pet needs to support its daily life when fed as directed. This term in itself sounds simple enough, however its simplicity leads to vast interpretation and therefore creating a whole scale of complete foods within the dog food market that are hugely different in quality from one another.
It's clear to see that the UK dog food market alone is flooded with brands all seeming to offer the same thing: ‘a complete food for dogs’. However, unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth. While all complete foods may conform to certain legislation and regulations around nutrients, the quality of these nutrients can vary massively, as can how ethically sourced the ingredients are and how sustainable the manufacturing process is. These factors are approached by different companies in different ways with varying levels of assiduity.
To navigate the seemingly endless list of companies all offering something different, there are a few things you can look out for to assist in making an informed decision when choosing the right food for your dog. Important factors to look at are: quality of ingredients; the way they’re processed; and the temperature they’re ‘cooked’ at.
The answer lies mostly in the labelling; without spending hours speaking to each company to ascertain exactly what goes into their food, where it comes from and why, you have to rely on the information the company has chosen to freely declare. On examining the packaging, it may seem that all companies label their foods in similar ways, and this is true to a certain extent because pet food manufacturers are allowed to declare their ingredients in one of two ways: labelling by category (for example, oils and fats); or labelling by meat and animal proteins. On every single packet of food (including human’s) ingredients are listed in quantity order with the highest first, something to bear in mind when reviewing the examples below.
Labelling dog food by categories allows manufacturers to have fluctuations and/or changes to recipes without notifying the customer or changing the labelling on the bags. For example, in the Beef flavoured dry food below, cereals are listed first but with no indication to their percentage quantity, meaning one batch’s cereal could consist of just rice whilst the next batch could be a mixture of rice, wheat, barley and maize. Whilst these fluctuations go mostly unnoticed by dog and owner there are an increasing number of dogs becoming intolerant to such inconsistencies.
Labelling by meat and animal proteins differs from above as all proteins, fats and fibre sources are clearly defined and separately declared in their specified quantities.
After exploring the right quality ingredients that go into dog food, it is also important to consider the process at which it is ‘cooked’. Like when choosing the right ingredients, it is also vital that those ingredients are processed correctly to ensure their intrinsic nutritional values stay intact. Eden’s food is produced using a cutting-edge technology called ‘Freshtrusion’. This journey begins with trusted farms and fisheries, where the finest human-grade quality fresh meats and fish are collected, providing provenance and traceability. Gently steam cooking each meat at circa 82ºC (180ºF) protects the proteins and ensures maximum digestibility and nutritional value to the pet.
Dog foods containing dried meat meal are typically cooked at a much higher temperature which can denature the protein and result in it being less digestible and, therefore, of lower nutritional value. On the other hand, Eden’s food is gently cooked ensuring the proteins are protected and thus provide increased bioavailability to the pet.
Furthermore, Eden has taken the time and effort to produce dog foods that not only supply the dog with its minimal daily nutrition requirements but also go far beyond this. Using specialist ingredients can enhance and enrich a dog's life. See below for some examples of specialist ingredients Eden add;
When the UK was part of the European Union it was subject to FEDIAF regulations surrounding pet food. Since leaving the EU, the UK now adheres to the Food Stands Agency’s regulations and legislation. However, our food still follows strict regulations from both regulatory bodies.
To assist in navigating all this information there is an unbiased central directory that has comprehensive feeding guidance and dynamic food comparison pages. The website is here