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Perthshire, UK Suitable for all breeds of dogs
Click here for more info.
In general, unless your dog has health issues, you probably won't have to worry about these figures. Click here for more information
Mixing bowl composition
This is the ingredients list as printed on the packaging or manufacturer's website.
Think of the 'mixing bowl' composition like a recipe - all the ingredients you would need to put in a 'mixing bowl' in order to make the food.
Ingredients have to be listed in descending order of their weight so the higher it appears, the more there is.
Highlighted ingredients
Ingredients that we believe to be controversial or inferior are highlighted in yellow with particularly low grade, highly contentious or excessively vague ingredients in red.
As fed composition
While the 'mixing bowl' composition is useful for knowing what went into the food, it doesn't always reflect what your dog is actually eating. This is because the processes that turn the ingredients into the finished pet food can significantly alter the relative weights of the ingredients.
For this reason we've calculated the approximate 'as fed' percentages for the main ingredient categories in the finished product.
Please note that these figures are very approximate. They are estimates based on the information provided by the manufacturer in the ingredients list so the clearer the terminology and the more percentages they provide, the more accurate our estimates will be. Wherever information is lacking, we always assume the worst.
Ingredient categories
◉ Meat ingredients: includes all meat and fish ingredients except isolated fats/oils.
◉Added oils and fats: includes all isolated oil and fat ingredients.
◉ Carb-rich ingredients: includes all ingredients derived from grains, pseudo-grains, potatoes and other starchy root vegetables, sweet potato and legumes (except whole peas which are categorised under fruit and veg) except for isolated protein and extracted oils. Also includes fibre supplements.
◉ Fruit and veg: includes all whole vegetables and fruits.
◉ Other: all other ingredients. Mostly made up by nutritional supplements and additives.
For more information on any ingredient, please take a look at our Dog Food Ingredient Glossary
The dry matter level of a nutrient is the percentage there would be in the food if all of the water was removed.
With water taken out of the equation, these figures allow the nutrient levels of foods of different types (like wet and dry) to be compared on an even playing field.
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94 out of 100 - Excellent
Our unique product ratings are calculated based on a number of characteristics including the quality and quantity of the stated ingredients, certain nutritional and technological additives and the processing methods used to create the food. They are designed to indicate how beneficial we think a food is likely to be for the majority of dogs when fed on a daily basis for an extended period. Click here for more information
Country of origin: United Kingdom
A technological additive is any substance added to a pet food "for a technological purpose and which favourably affects the characteristics of feed".
The most common categories of technological additives include preservatives and antioxidants, gelling agents and thickeners and probiotics.
While the primary effects of technoloical additives are certainly 'favourable' (increased shelf life in the case of preservatives & antioxidants, better food texture and consistency in the case of gelling agents and thickeners etc.) some have been linked to health problems in pets and should be treated with caution.
Unfortunately, many technological additives do not have to be declared by the manufacturer so just because they do not appear on the label does not necessarily mean they are not in the food. If in doubt, ask the manufacturer directly exactly what technological additives their foods contain.
Adam Broadhead• 2 months ago
There's a lot to like about Bella and Duke (great support, community, deliveries, choice) but fibre content isn't one.
I'd say if it's a complete food then it shouldn't need supplementing yet I have to add fibre (and many add lots of fish and veg to the meals) which further bloats the cost. I have to do this as m dog suffers from anal gland issues on the food.
So if you compare the official B&D site you can see the breakdown of the Premium Beef as:
Composition
Beef 80% (beef meat and bone, beef tripe, beef liver, beef kidney, beef spleen, beef trachea)
Seasonal vegetables and berries
Kelp
Pure olive oil
Herring oil
Product typical analysis
Moisture 65.2%
Total fat 16.4%
Protein 15.0%
Ash 2.8%
Fibre 1.1%
Note the fibre here is 1.1 not 11.1 as shown above.
Aside from the gland issues my dog has a good coat and looks and acts bright but it's frustrating messing about with additional extras, this coupled with having a young child running about and overall cost has me moving away from raw.
Mark Antrobus• 5 months ago
Don’t understand all about dog foods rating? This food has gone from 98% to 75% to now 81%. How can we trust these ratings? If you are a trusted site please explain? I think your whole credibility is at stake here with my simple question????
Lisa Mead
Mark Antrobus• 5 months ago
I have the same question Mark. My 2 dogs have been on Bella & Duke for about 6 months and are doing great on it. I made a note on 14 July 2023 that Bella & Duke's Superfood Enriched Dog Food had a 99% rating on AADF. Today, I don't see B&D's Superfood Enriched line listed at all, and there is a discrepancy between the ratings that come up when you enter "Bella & Duke" in the Search bar and the main product info page. Through the Search bar, it gives 93% for the B&D Adult Complete food, but when you click through to the main listing the exact same food has an 81% rating. I'd like to know what's going on because yes, it brings the reliability of the AADF website into question.
All About Dog Food
Mark Antrobus• 5 months ago
Hi Mark and Lisa - thanks for the comments and apologies for the confusion caused. You're quite right that Bella & Duke's scores have changed a few times recently. In July we completed a major update to our rating algorithm which meant a lot of ratings changed. You can find more details here. Since then B&D have amended their formulas and our ratings have been updated accordingly. The current rating of 81% is correct. The main factors holding it back from scoring higher are the general lack of individual ingredient percentages as well as the use of broad umbrella terms like 'seasonal vegetables' and 'seasonal berries'. Without knowing exactly what ingredients are used or how much there are of each it's impossible for us to score the foods higher at this stage. I hope that helps
All About Dog Food
Mark Antrobus• 5 months ago
Oh and the search bar is provided by Google so it always takes a little time for it to catch up after an update. It should all be fixed the next time Google crawls the site
AlexMerenda• 8 months ago
The packaging has been prone to splits since they've changed it a while back now but as the food is frozen there's no mess and still very easy to store.
Been on BnD for a few years now and the extra info you get from them whether it's pod casts or the FB community group is invaluable.
Kathy McMahon• 8 months ago
My dog loves the lamb, some cartons are broken but the food is always frozen so that's not a worry for me, my cat also is very happy on B&D cat food.
It's the best frozen food I have bought so far.
Tracy Hester• 8 months ago
recently they went over to flimsy packaging. since then i have received a lot of broken packages. they claim to test their meat to make sure its got no bacteria yet the packages are broken and open to all sorts of bacteria. i have complained and the last batch i got had half the packages broken, so no improvement. they have also put their prices up too.
IanB• 3 years ago
It isn’t clear how Bella & Duke’s advertising this as ‘premium’ can be justified, when if you compare the ingredients list with the much cheaper working dog range, there isn’t much difference and nothing in this one that justifies the price difference?