How to Read a Dog Food Label in the UK

Updated September 2026

Dog food labels can look as though they were written for nutritionists rather than ordinary dog owners.

Percentages, ingredients, analytical constituents, additives, feeding tables, and marketing claims compete for your attention.

You do not need to understand every number before you can make a sensible choice.

I would start with a few much more useful questions:

Is the food complete or complementary?

Is it intended for dogs?

Is it suitable for your dog’s life stage?

How much does the manufacturer suggest feeding?

Does the food suit the individual dog?

Then you can look more closely at the composition and nutritional information.

This guide explains what the main parts of a UK dog food label actually mean and which information I would pay most attention to.

For a broader guide to choosing and feeding dog food, start with my Dog Food & Nutrition Guide.

Summary

• Look for “complete” or “complementary” before worrying about marketing claims.
• A complete food is designed to provide the nutrients required when fed as directed.
• Complementary foods are intended to be used alongside other food rather than as the sole diet.
• Check that the food is intended for dogs and appropriate for your dog’s life stage.
• “Composition” tells you what ingredients have been used.
• Ingredients are normally listed in descending order by weight.
• UK labels may use individual ingredient names or legally permitted category descriptions.
• “Analytical constituents” include figures such as protein, fat, fibre and ash.
• Crude ash refers to the mineral content measured during analysis. It does not mean manufacturers add fireplace ash to the food.
• Do not directly compare the protein percentage on wet and dry food without considering their very different moisture levels.
• Feeding quantities on the packet are starting points rather than exact prescriptions for every dog.
• Front-of-pack terms should not distract you from nutritional completeness, suitability, feeding amounts and how your dog actually does on the food.

Start with complete or complementary

This is probably the first thing I would look for on a dog food packet.

UK pet food labels should tell you whether the product is complete or complementary.

What does complete dog food mean?

Complete dog food is intended to provide the nutrients your dog needs when fed as directed and is appropriate for that dog’s life stage.

For most healthy dogs, a suitable complete commercial food provides a straightforward nutritional foundation.

The British Veterinary Association’s dog feeding guidance recommends looking for “complete,” not “complementary,” when choosing your dog’s main diet.

“Complete” does not mean:

• your dog must eat that particular food
• it is automatically the best food on the market
• every dog will tolerate it
• you can feed unlimited quantities
• it is suitable for every age or medical condition

You still need to consider the individual dog.

What does complementary dog food mean?

Complementary food is intended to be fed alongside other food.

Examples can include:

• training treats
• chews
• some mixers
• toppers
• some wet foods
• some raw products
• certain supplements

A product can look exactly like a normal meal and still be complementary.

That is why I would check the label rather than judging it by the photograph on the packet.

My Dog Treats: How to Choose the Right Treats for Your Dog guide explains how complementary treats can fit into the wider daily diet.

Check the species

This sounds obvious, but the label should tell you which animal the food is intended for.

Dogs and cats have different nutritional requirements.

Something safe for both species doesn’t mean a complete cat food should routinely become a dog’s main diet, or vice versa.

Look for wording showing clearly that the product is intended for dogs.

Check the life stage

Next, look at who the food is designed to feed.

You may see descriptions such as:

• puppy
• growth
• junior
• adult
• maintenance
• senior
• large breed puppy
• small breed adult

A growing puppy does not have exactly the same nutritional requirements as a mature adult dog.

This is especially important for large and giant breed puppies, where appropriate energy and mineral balance matters during skeletal development.

If you are feeding a puppy, read my Puppy Feeding Guide: What, How Much and How Often Should You Feed a Puppy?

PDSA also recommends choosing a complete food appropriate to the dog’s life stage rather than assuming the same food suits every age.

Find the composition

The ingredients section on pet food is usually headed “Composition”.

Ingredients must be listed in descending order by weight.

That makes the first few ingredients worth looking at, but I would not use the ingredients list as the only way of deciding whether a food is good or bad.

There is much more to nutrition than identifying one appealing ingredient at the top of a list.

The WSAVA nutrition guidance specifically warns against relying too heavily on an ingredient list when assessing the overall nutritional quality of a pet food.

[EXTERNAL LINK: WSAVA Global Nutrition Guidelines]

Why do some labels say “meat and animal derivatives”?

UK pet food manufacturers can declare ingredients in different legally permitted ways.

Some products list individual ingredients.

Others use recognised categories such as:

• meat and animal derivatives
• cereals
• oils and fats
• vegetables
• derivatives of vegetable origin

A category description such as “meat and animal derivatives” is therefore not automatically evidence of poor-quality food.

It is a legal way to declare ingredients.

GOV.UK explains that pet food manufacturers can declare ingredients using prescribed categories, while UK Pet Food provides further guidance on how these declarations work.

UK Pet Food’s pet-food labelling guidance explains the composition rules in more detail.

[EXTERNAL LINK: UK Pet Food, Labelling]

What if the packet says “with chicken”?

If a manufacturer highlights a particular ingredient, such as chicken, the percentage of that ingredient also needs to be declared according to the labelling rules.

So rather than relying on the photograph of chicken on the front, turn the packet around and read the actual composition.

That gives you more useful information than the picture.

Does the first ingredient tell me which food is best?

Not on its own.

Ingredient order is useful information, but it does not tell you:

• the nutritional quality of the finished food
• how digestible each ingredient is
• whether the finished food provides the correct nutrient balance
• how much of the food your dog needs each day
• how the manufacturer controls quality
• whether the individual dog will thrive on it

It is tempting to compare packets by looking for the highest percentage of meat or the shortest ingredient list.

I would use the ingredient list as one part of the decision rather than turning it into a competition.

What are analytical constituents?

This is one of the more technical-looking parts of the packet.

You will normally see figures for things such as:

• crude protein
• crude oils and fats
• crude fibre
• crude ash
• moisture where it needs to be declared

These figures describe measured components of the finished food.

The UK Pet Food labelling guidance explains that these form part of the legally required information provided on pet-food labels.

What does crude protein mean?

Crude protein is an analytical measurement used to estimate the protein present in the food.

The word “crude” does not mean the protein is poor quality, unfinished or raw.

It is part of the technical terminology used in feed analysis.

A larger protein percentage is also not automatically evidence that one food is better than another.

Dogs need sufficient appropriate protein, but the suitability of a complete diet cannot be judged from one percentage alone.

What does crude fat mean?

You may see this written as:

• crude oils and fats
• oils and fats
• fat content

Fat is an important energy source and provides essential fatty acids.

Again, more is not automatically better.

A high-energy food may be useful for one dog and completely inappropriate for another.

Age, activity, body condition and health all matter.

What does crude fibre mean?

Crude fibre is another laboratory measurement.

It does not represent every type of dietary fibre in the food, so I would avoid comparing foods by assuming the packet with the highest fibre figure must be healthier.

Fibre can have important roles in digestive health, stool quality and satiety, but the appropriate amount depends on the complete diet and the individual dog.

What is crude ash in dog food?

The word “ash” understandably puts some owners off.

It does not mean somebody has scooped ash from a fire into your dog’s dinner.

Crude ash is a laboratory measure representing the mineral content remaining after the organic material in a food sample has been burned during analysis.

Those minerals include nutrients that dogs actually need.

UK Pet Food describes crude ash as the mineral content of the food determined through this analytical process.

[EXTERNAL LINK: UK Pet Food, Understanding Pet Food Labels]

I would therefore not reject a food simply because the packet includes the word “ash”.

What does moisture tell me?

Moisture becomes particularly important when comparing wet and dry food.

A tin or pouch containing a high proportion of water will naturally show much lower-looking percentages for protein, fat and other nutrients than a dry food.

That does not necessarily mean the wet food contains less protein nutritionally.

You are comparing products containing very different amounts of water.

For example, a wet food showing 9% protein cannot sensibly be compared directly with a dry food showing 25% protein without accounting for moisture.

UK Pet Food explains that wet and dry foods need to be compared on a dry-matter basis if you want to make a meaningful direct nutrient comparison.

[EXTERNAL LINK: UK Pet Food, Proteins in Pet Food]

My separate Wet, Dry, Fresh or Raw Dog Food? A Practical UK Guide looks more closely at the differences between food formats.

[INTERNAL LINK: ADD /wet-dry-fresh-raw-dog-food/ WHEN PUBLISHED]

Do I need to calculate dry matter every time I buy dog food?

No.

Most owners do not need to stand in a pet shop with a calculator every time they buy a bag of food.

The important lesson is simply this:

Do not assume a wet food containing 9% protein is automatically much lower in protein than a dry food containing 25%.

Water changes the apparent percentages dramatically.

If you genuinely need to compare nutrient levels because of a medical condition, speak to your vet rather than trying to make clinical feeding decisions from the front of a packet.

What are additives?

Dog food labels may also contain a section headed “Additives”.

The word can sound negative, but an additive is not automatically something undesirable.

Pet-food additives can have different functions.

These may include:

• providing particular nutrients
• maintaining product quality
• helping with preservation
• influencing texture
• contributing to appearance, smell or taste

Some vitamins and trace elements may appear in this section.

UK Pet Food explains that additives subject to legal maximum levels must be declared when added, while some other additives may be declared voluntarily.

[EXTERNAL LINK: UK Pet Food, Labelling]

Rather than assuming “additive” means bad, I would look at why the ingredient or nutrient is there and consider the food as a whole.

Read the feeding guide

The feeding table deserves more attention than it often receives.

It gives you the manufacturer’s starting recommendation for how much food to offer.

It may use:

• current bodyweight
• ideal bodyweight
• expected adult puppy weight
• age
• activity
• neuter status
• combinations of these factors

But a feeding guide cannot know your individual dog.

Two dogs weighing 20kg may need quite different amounts because their:

• activity differs
• body composition differs
• metabolism differs
• age differs
• treats differ
• health differs

Start with an appropriate manufacturer’s recommendation and then monitor the dog in front of you.

My How Much Should I Feed My Dog? guide explains this in more detail.

Weigh the food rather than relying on a cup

Where practical, I prefer weighing dry food in grams rather than using a mug, cup or handful.

A small daily measuring error becomes much larger when repeated twice a day for months.

The same principle applies to treats.

If your dog receives a substantial amount of food during training, include it in their overall daily intake.

My Training Rewards for Dogs guide explains how I use different rewards without assuming that every useful behaviour requires a large high-value treat.

[INTERNAL LINK: /training-rewards.html]

Does the packet tell me exactly how many calories my dog needs?

No.

Even when calorie information is available, your dog’s energy needs can vary.

Packet quantities are feeding guides, not promises that every 15kg dog should receive the same number of grams.

Look at:

• weight
• waist
• ribs
• body condition
• muscle condition
• activity
• appetite
• changes over time

If your dog’s weight is changing unexpectedly, don’t just keep reducing or increasing their food without considering why.

Discuss unexplained weight change with your vet.

Do not forget treats, chews and toppers

A feeding guide normally refers to the main food.

It does not know that your dog also had:

• six training treats
• a dental chew
• half a stuffed Kong
• cheese during recall practice
• bits of chicken
• leftovers from somebody’s dinner
• a lick mat

All of those still count.

My Dog Treats: How to Choose the Right Treats for Your Dog guide looks at treats, chews and training food in more detail.

What about words such as natural, premium or fresh?

This is where I would separate useful label information from advertising.

Words on the front of a packet may help describe or sell a product, but they should not distract from the more useful questions on the back.

I would still ask:

Is it complete?

Who is it designed for?

What does the feeding guide say?

Who makes it?

How does my dog actually do on it?

The WSAVA’s food-selection guidance recommends looking beyond attractive marketing language and considering nutritional adequacy, manufacturer expertise, quality control and whether the company can answer detailed questions about its food.

WSAVA’s Selecting a Pet Food guidance is useful if you want to look beyond the packet itself.

[EXTERNAL LINK: WSAVA, Selecting a Pet Food]

Look at who makes the food

The company details on a packet are more useful than they may seem at first.

The label should identify the business responsible for the product.

A responsible manufacturer should also be able to answer reasonable questions about its food.

You might ask:

• Who formulates the diet?
• What nutritional expertise does the company have?
• What quality-control procedures are used?
• Where is the product manufactured?
• Can they provide more detailed nutritional information?
• What is the calorie content if it is not obvious on the packet?

WSAVA recommends considering the manufacturer’s nutritional expertise and quality-control processes rather than judging food from the ingredients list alone.

Why do batch numbers and best-before dates matter?

These may look like boring bits of packaging, but they matter if something goes wrong.

UK pet-food labels include traceability information such as a batch number or manufacturing date, together with the company’s details and minimum storage-life information.

If you ever need to contact a manufacturer about:

• unusual food appearance
• damaged packaging
• contamination concerns
• an unexpected reaction
• a product recall

keep the packet.

A photograph of the batch number can also be useful.

Do not throw away all the identifying information immediately after pouring a large bag of food into a storage container.

Should I decant dog food into another container?

If you use a storage container, keep the original packaging, or at least retain the important information from it.

That includes:

• brand
• exact product
• batch number
• best-before date
• feeding instructions

Keeping food dry, clean and stored according to the manufacturer’s instructions also matters.

What if my dog needs a veterinary diet?

A dog with a diagnosed health condition is a different situation from a healthy adult dog choosing between ordinary complete foods.

Conditions that may affect feeding include:

• kidney disease
• gastrointestinal disease
• diabetes
• pancreatitis
• confirmed food allergy
• urinary problems
• obesity
• liver disease

Do not choose a therapeutic diet simply because one nutrient percentage looks attractive.

Your vet is considering the complete nutrient profile and your dog’s medical history.

Likewise, do not stop a prescribed diet because another packet has a shorter ingredient list.

What if my dog seems allergic to an ingredient?

An ingredient list can help when a genuine adverse food reaction is being investigated.

However, repeatedly switching between foods because a dog scratches, has soft stools or develops an ear problem can make identifying the cause harder.

If your vet recommends a controlled elimination diet, follow that plan carefully.

Treats, chews, flavoured medications and household scraps can all interfere with a dietary trial.

My 60-second dog-food label check

If I were standing in a shop comparing a food I had never used before, this is the order I would read the packet.

1. Complete or complementary?

If it will be the dog’s main food, I want to know whether it is complete.

2. Which dog is it designed for?

Check species and life stage.

3. What does the feeding guide say?

Look at how much actually needs to be fed.

4. What is in the composition?

Read the ingredient information without treating the first ingredient as the entire nutritional assessment.

5. What do the analytical constituents show?

Look at protein, fat, fibre, ash and moisture in context.

6. Am I comparing like with like?

Do not directly compare wet and dry percentages without considering moisture.

7. Who makes it?

Look for proper company and contact information.

8. Does it suit my dog?

A label cannot tell you everything about the dog standing beside you.

How I use feeding information when caring for dogs

When I am dog walking or house sitting, I am not there to reinterpret somebody’s dog’s diet.

I follow the owner’s instructions.

Clear food information is especially useful when caring for pets.

I like to know:

• exactly which food the dog eats
• how much they receive
• how the food is measured
• normal meal times
• permitted treats
• foods they must not receive
• whether medication is given with food
• where food should be stored
• what the dog’s normal appetite looks like

If I notice a significant change in appetite, digestion or behaviour around food, I tell the owner.

I do not swap a dog onto another product because its ingredient list looks more fashionable.

Frequently asked questions

What is the most important thing on a dog food label?

For a dog’s normal main diet, I would start by checking whether the food is complete, intended for dogs and suitable for the correct life stage.

Is complementary dog food bad?

No.

Complementary simply describes how the product is intended to be used.

Many perfectly suitable treats and chews are complementary foods.

The problem would be treating a complementary product as a nutritionally complete main diet when it is not designed for that purpose.

Does “meat and animal derivatives” mean poor-quality meat?

Not necessarily.

It is one of the legally permitted category descriptions used on pet-food labels.

The wording itself is not enough to judge the nutritional quality of the finished product.

Is a food better if meat is the first ingredient?

Not automatically.

Ingredient order is useful information, but it does not describe the complete nutritional quality, digestibility or suitability of the finished diet.

Is more protein always better?

No.

The dog’s nutritional needs and the overall balance of the food matter more than simply choosing the packet with the largest protein percentage.

Why does wet food look low in protein?

Because it contains much more water.

Compare wet and dry foods on a dry-matter basis for a meaningful, direct comparison.

Is crude ash bad for dogs?

No.

Crude ash measures the mineral content remaining after laboratory analysis. It does not mean ash has simply been added to the food.

Does “natural” mean healthier?

Do not rely on one marketing description to decide whether a food is appropriate.

Check nutritional completeness, life stage, feeding guidance and how well the food suits the individual dog.

Should I follow the feeding guide exactly?

Treat it as a starting point.

Monitor your dog’s weight and body condition, and adjust as needed.

Ask your veterinary team for advice when you are unsure.

Where can I find more information if the label does not answer my question?

Contact the manufacturer.

A responsible company should be able to provide further information about its food, including nutritional details that may not fit on the packet.

Related Finchley Dog Walker guides

Dog Food & Nutrition Guide

How Much Should I Feed My Dog?

Dog Treats: How to Choose the Right Treats for Your Dog

Training Rewards for Dogs

Puppy Feeding Guide: What, How Much and How Often Should You Feed a Puppy?

Wet, Dry, Fresh or Raw Dog Food? A Practical UK Guide

Final thoughts

You do not need to become a canine nutritionist to read a dog food packet more confidently.

Start with the information that actually helps you make a decision.

Check whether the food is complete.

Check who it is designed for.

Read the feeding instructions.

Then look at the composition and analytical constituents in context.

Don’t let one attractive ingredient, one large percentage, or one marketing phrase make the decision for you.

And remember that the packet is still only part of the picture.

The food also needs to suit the individual dog.

Their age, health, activity, body condition, preferences and how they actually respond to the diet all matter.

If your dog has a medical condition, unexpected weight change, persistent digestive problems, suspected food allergy or another nutritional concern, ask your veterinary team for individual advice.

This guide provides general information about understanding dog-food labels and feeding healthy dogs. It does not replace individual veterinary or veterinary nutrition advice. Speak to your veterinary practice if your dog has a medical condition, is growing, is pregnant, has a significant weight issue, develops persistent digestive or skin problems, or needs a therapeutic or homemade diet.