Cooked Rolls
Pet parents often start feeding cooked rolls because they believe them to be a healthier alternative to dry food but sadly many cooked rolls have poor quality ingredients and high carb percentages - in the end the only positive thing about them might be the moisture content.
In this article, we'd like to walk you through 2 x supermarket versions as well as 3 Prime100 Rolls (Australia)
Let's start by looking at a supermarket called roll called 'Gourmet Adult Chilled Fresh Dog Food Roll Premium Chicken'. $8.00 for 3 kilos.
There are generally going to be fewer ingredients in a cooked roll than a dry food so where we look at the top 5 ingredients in dry food as being the most predominant, in a cooked roll, we're going to look at most if not all of them.
Here is the ingredient panel:
Fresh Meat from Chicken and Beef and/or Lamb
What this says is that you don't know what you're actually getting, it could be chicken, beef or lamb or a combination of them
Fresh Vegetables (Carrots and Peas)
This is what it says it is. Peas are often used to boost the protein % without using more meat.
Selected Cereals
This means they'll use whichever cereals they can get at the time for the price they want to pay. When we choose to feed our dogs a healthier diet, cereals generally aren't part of that plan.
Brown Rice
Carbs are necessary to mind cooked rolls are this is pretty much why this is here. Manufacturers know that consumers believe brown rice is healthier so they'll use it to try and make something look like a health food when in fact brown rice is not a species-appropriate ingredient and there are concerns with arsenic if fed on a regular basis.
Whole Egg
This is what it says it is.
Salt
Sodium is a necessary nutrient so don't get scared of it. Salt is generally added to pet food at 1% of the formula, therefore anything after this word you can pretty much guarantee is less than 1% of the formula.
Natural Gels
This is part of making things stick together - not the ideal of someone who wants to feed a healthier diet to a dog but could be considered a necessary part of the manufacturing process.
Essential Vitamins and Minerals
A mix of synthetic nutrients is used to balance the formula to AAFCO guidelines so pet parents believe it has everything their dog needs.
Colour
There is absolutely no need for the manufacturer to use colour other than to appeal to you the pet parents.
Garlic Oil
I'm not sure what the purpose of this ingredient is. Garlic is safe so we don't have to worry about that.
After looking at these ingredients, there is nothing GOURMET or PREMIUM as per the claims in the product name, unfortunately, there is no regulation over the use of these terms. This wouldn't be a product I would look at putting in the trolley for me personally as it doesn't meet my vision of feeding healthy species-appropriate ingredients to my dog. The strange positive thing about this formula is that it is only 4% carbs which is lower than the Prime100 options we look at coming up.
Ok, now let's look at Prime100, but to be fair, we're first going to look at their supermarket line called 'Prime Pantry' which is a little different from their top-shelf stuff, so let's compare apples with apples first! This is their Chicken with broccoli & apple formula. $9.50 for 1.7 kilos at Woolworths.
Chicken (including ground chicken bone)
So, with the Prime100 option, we know exactly what protein is being used, and what we also like to see is this roll is a single protein roll which means it can be used for dogs with allergies.
Tapioca
This is your binder
Peas, carrots, apple, broccoli
The veggie inclusion and it's important to note the same comment about peas potentially being used to boost protein % without adding more meat.
Flaxseed oil
A nice omega-3 that balances out the omega-6 from the chicken,
Sunflower oil
A disappointing ingredient, not considered a healthy oil and potentially is being used to boost vitamins such as vitamin E and A without adding more expensive ingredients.
Vitamins, minerals
A mix of synthetic nutrients is used to balance the formula to AAFCO guidelines so pet parents believe it has everything their dog needs.
Natural digestive enzymes
A nice inclusion.
Salt
Sodium is a necessary nutrient so don't get scared of it. Salt is generally added to pet food at 1% of the formula, therefore anything after this word you can pretty much guarantee is less than 1% of the formula.
Water sufficient for processing.
It is what it says it is
The formula is called 'Chicken with broccoli & apple' but it has more peas in it than broccoli and apple but savvy consumers don't see peas as something to flex about. If I was going to use this as an every now and then inclusion in my dog's diet or for treats, I'd be happy to pop it in the trolley but it's not something I want to feed my dog on an everyday basis unless there were little other option just because the binding ingredients don't interest me.
Now, let's look at the Prime100 speciality rolls, these are generally single protein, novel protein and/or for dogs with medical conditions, you can see the whole range here - I'd like to add at this point that I have no relationship with Prime100 or any other dog food company.
Lots of fresh food feeders use Prime100 as treats but they are also a great intermediate step between dry food and raw for sensitive dogs. These rolls have a higher price tag than supermarket options because they are simply higher quality.
We're going to have a look at the Duck version, they state that this diet is specifically designed to provide a low GI source of protein and functional fibre for dogs. Prime100 suggests this diet is ideal for dogs with food sensitivities or food allergies and as a hypoallergenic alternative for dogs that are food sensitive to common proteins. $22.99 for 2 kilos at Petbarn.
Duck (including ground duck bone)
A lovely novel protein that many dogs haven't had before so can be used in food elimination trials for dogs with allergies.
Sweet potato
A quality carb that can be gentle on dogs with sensitive digestive systems, can also contribute towards binding the roll.
Tapioca
This is a binder.
Potato
mmmm, I'm a bit disappointed seeing this here, it's a cheap carb and given Prime100 charges a higher price for these rolls, I didn't want to see it in the ingredients panel.
Vitamins, minerals, Flaxseed oil, Psyllium husk, Sunflower oil
We discussed these ingredients in their supermarket roll.
Evening primrose oil
Lots of lovely beneficial properties especially for skin issue dogs.
Salt, Natural digestive enzymes
We discussed these ingredients in their supermarket roll.
Celery seed powder
It's an interesting ingredient but there's not much in the recipe, I'm not sure what it's here for but it does contain decent amounts of calcium, iron, magnesium etc.
When we compare this roll to the supermarket one, I'd actually go for the supermarket one, whilst it has 3% more carbs, I actually like the ingredients better and fits into many people's budgets so if you don't have a dog with a medical condition that requires novel proteins the Prime Pantry supermarket range might just fit the bill.
Now, Prime100 does also have two different types of Chicken Rolls, let's have a quick look at those, let us start with SPD Chicken and Brown Rice, it's not a novel (aka unique) protein like Duck is but we can still have a gander at its ingredients.
Chicken (including ground chicken bone), brown rice, potato, vitamins, minerals, flaxseed oil, psyllium husk, sunflower oil, salt, natural digestive enzymes, celery seed powder.
So our main ingredients in this formula are Chicken, brown rice & potato - that's a bit disappointing to me, but this is potentially a roll used for dogs who need limited ingredients, plain ingredients, etc. So again, if my dog doesn't have any special needs, I'm personally more interested in the Prime Pantry supermarket rolls ingredients.
Prime100's Chicken & Vegetables ingredients are:
Chicken (including ground chicken bone), tapioca, peas, carrots, vitamins, minerals, salt, water sufficient for processing.
So our main ingredients in this formula are Chicken & tapioca - for $14.00, you can't be too much of a hater but if I had to choose between this and the Prime Pantry one, I would still get the Prime Pantry one. I'm not sure what the carb % is of this one as it isn't listed on the website and I haven't asked them about this one.
Thanks for stopping by to learn more about what's inside the products you buy for your dogs. Please know that all Prime100 products are complete and balanced and if you have any product questions, please reach out, they have always been great at answering questions.
Because a manufacturer is unlikely to tell us how much animal matter is in each formula we can only presume that Prime Pantry has less animal matter because it has a higher carb % (approx. 10% vs approx. 13% max) but without asking Prime100 and obtaining transparency from the manufacturer, it's hard for us to know what exactly causes the likes of the SPD Chicken and the Prime Pantry Chicken rolls to have a significant price difference. Of course, I welcome Prime100 to step up and help consumers understand more about the differences between both products ($9.50 for 1.7 kilos for Prime Pantry Chicken vs $20.00 for 2 kilos for Prime 100 SPD Chicken).