Nature's Variety Freeze Dried Complete Chicken Dog Food
Freeze-dried rawCompleteAdultGrain-free
Good points
- 80% meat
- Low starch, about 6% carbs
- Freeze-dried, not extruded
Worth knowing
- Added plant protein, starch or fibre
First ingredients: Chicken (80%), Carrots (5%), Apples (5%), Pea Fibre (1%), Butternut Squash (1%)… All ingredients
Retailer’s own label, fully checked- Meat
- 80%
- Protein, dry weight
- 42%
- Carbs, dry weight
- ~6%
- kcal/100 g
- 430
Ingredients
Listed first: Chicken. 80% of the recipe is declared meat.
- Meat 80%
- Plants 13%
- Other 1%
- No amount given 6%
Chicken (80%), Carrots (5%), Apples (5%), Pea Fibre (1%), Butternut Squash (1%), Sweet Potato (1%), Minerals (1%), Blackberries, Cranberries, Flaxseed, Chicory Root, Kale, Peppermint, Coconut Oil, Beet Pulp, Green Tea, Yucca, Rosemary, Parsley, Dandelion Root, Hawthorn Leaf
Meat named animal protein
Additives
Vitamin A, Vitamin D, Vitamin E, Iron (Ii) Sulphate Monohydrate, Calcium Iodate Anhydrous, Copper (Ii) Sulphate Pentahydrate, Zinc Sulphate Monohydrate
How we read this label
First ingredient: “Chicken”. It names the animal.
| On the label | We read it as | Share on the label |
|---|---|---|
| Chicken (80%) | Named meat | 80% |
| Carrots (5%) | Vegetable, fruit or plant | 5% |
| Apples (5%) | Vegetable, fruit or plant | 5% |
| Pea Fibre (1%) | Vegetable, fruit or plant | 1% |
| Butternut Squash (1%) | Vegetable, fruit or plant | 1% |
| Sweet Potato (1%) | Vegetable, fruit or plant | 1% |
| Minerals (1%) | Other | 1% |
| Blackberries | Vegetable, fruit or plant | Not given |
| Cranberries | Vegetable, fruit or plant | Not given |
| Flaxseed | Vegetable, fruit or plant | Not given |
| Chicory Root | Vegetable, fruit or plant | Not given |
| Kale | Vegetable, fruit or plant | Not given |
| Peppermint | Other | Not given |
| Coconut Oil | Fat, stock, extract or other processed ingredient | Not given |
| Beet Pulp | Vegetable, fruit or plant | Not given |
| Green Tea | Vegetable, fruit or plant | Not given |
| Yucca | Other | Not given |
| Rosemary | Vegetable, fruit or plant | Not given |
| Parsley | Vegetable, fruit or plant | Not given |
| Dandelion Root | Other | Not given |
Read automatically from the label. Spotted a misreading? Tell us
Nutrition
Protein 42% and carbs about 6%, with the water taken out.
| Nutrient | As sold | Dry weight |
|---|---|---|
| Protein | 39% | 42% |
| within the usual 40 to 49% for freeze-dried and air-dried foods | ||
| Fat | 32% | 34% |
| Carbohydrate | ~6% | ~6.4% |
| below the usual 7 to 14% for freeze-dried and air-dried foods | ||
| Fibre | 6% | 6.4% |
| Ash | 11% | 12% |
| Moisture | 6% | taken out |
Carbohydrate is our estimate: what is left after the other shares. The usual range is the middle half of the freeze-dried and air-dried foods we rate.
Energy430 kcal/100 gCalculated from the analysis.
Why it scores 75
Starch scored best (17.9 of 20). How it’s made scored lowest (14 of 20).
How much meat?
31.6 / 45 points- Meat on the label28 / 35 points
80% declared meat, as weighed before cooking; full marks at 100%.
- Protein level3.6 / 10 points
Protein is 41.5% of the food with the water taken out. Nothing at 20% or less, full marks at 80%.
How much starch?
17.9 / 20 pointsEstimated carbohydrate: About 6.4% carbohydrate with the water taken out (our estimate). Full marks with no carbohydrate, none at 60% or more.
How processed?
14 / 20 pointsHow it’s made: Freeze-dried: 15 of 20. Minus 1 for added plant protein, starch or fibre.
What kind of meat?
12 / 15 points- How the meat is listed12 / 12 points
The label lists the meat as fresh, which earns 100% of these points. Fresh or raw named meat earns all of them, dried 70%, meal half, hydrolysed a quarter, an unnamed category none.
- Organ meat0 / 3 points
No organ meat named.
No ingredient deductions.
Each bar is as long as the points it is worth, out of 100 in all.
Against other freeze-dried and air-dried foods
What the score means
One scale for every food: meat (45 points), starch (20), how it’s made (20) and kind of meat (15), minus points for a few listed ingredients. It rates the recipe, not your dog.
75 and over is excellent, 60 to 74 good, 45 to 59 fair and under 45 weak.
How we rate foods →Ingredient notes
3 noted, none cost points: mint, parsley and yucca extract. 25 flagged nothing.
- 3 noted
- 25 nothing flagged
- MintNoted, no points takenFeed material (herb)
Why it’s noted and sources
Mint can upset a dog's stomach if eaten in large amounts; at the small amounts used in food, EU assessors found it safe.
- ParsleyNoted, no points takenFeed material (vegetable)
Why it’s noted and sources
Only large amounts cause problems (sun sensitivity); the small amounts used in food aren't a concern.
- Yucca extractNoted, no points takenFeed material (flavouring)
Why it’s noted and sources
Added to reduce stool odour. The ASPCA lists the yucca plant as toxic to dogs, and in a dog study the extract raised a liver enzyme at 750 mg/kg of food, though not at 500. Labels rarely give the amount. We note it, but take no points off.
25 ingredients with nothing flagged
Apples, beet pulp, blackberries, carrot, chicken, chicory root extract, coconut oil, cranberries, dandelion root, green tea extract, hawthorn, kale, linseed (flaxseed), minerals, pea fibre, pumpkin, rosemary, sweet potato, tocopherols (vitamin E)
Allowed up to a legal maximum, none declared above it: vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol)
We couldn’t read an amount we can check on the label, so no points were taken: copper, iodine, iron, vitamin A (retinyl acetate), zinc
Checked against the EU Catalogue of Feed Materials and FEDIAF guidelines.
Sources for these ingredients
- Reg (EU) No 68/2013 - EU Catalogue of Feed Materials (EUR-Lex)Apples, beet pulp, blackberries, carrot, chicken, chicory root extract, coconut oil, cranberries, dandelion root, green tea extract, kale, linseed (flaxseed), minerals, pumpkin, rosemary, sweet potato
- FEDIAF Nutritional Guidelines for Complete and Complementary Pet Food for Cats and Dogs (2025)Apples, blackberries, chicory root extract, coconut oil, cranberries, dandelion root, green tea extract, kale, pumpkin, vitamin A (retinyl acetate), zinc
- ASPCA Animal Poison ControlHawthorn
- ASPCA Animal Poison ControlRosemary
- Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2015/1152Tocopherols (vitamin E)
- Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2016/1095 (EUR-Lex)Zinc
- EFSA 2018 opinion on green tea catechins (PMC7009618)Green tea extract
- EFSA FEEDAP (PMC13063795)Cranberries
- EFSA J 2013;11(2):3100 doi:10.2903/j.efsa.2013.3100Iodine
- FDA Animal Health Literacy - Vitamin D toxicity in dogsVitamin D3 (cholecalciferol)
- Fieten 2016 Int J Mol Sci 17(2):196 doi:10.3390/ijms17020196Copper
- FSA register of feed additives (GB)Rosemary
- Reg (EU) 68/2013 Catalogue of feed materials, Part C (legislation.gov.uk)Pea fibre
- Regulation (EU) 2015/861 (EUR-Lex)Iodine
- Regulation (EU) 2017/1492 (EUR-Lex)Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol)
- Regulation (EU) 2018/1039 (EUR-Lex)Copper
Notes come from published sources about each ingredient, not about this food. How we decide
Your dog
Grams a day for your dog
Alternatives
3 dry foods score 5 to 13 points higher.
- Meat
- 96% this food 80%
- Carbs
- about 4% this food about 6%
+13 pointsCompare
Nulo Freeze-Dried Raw Dog Food Turkey with Salmon & Strawberries
85% meatFreeze-dried raw · All ages
Excellent£67.96/kg
- Meat
- 85% this food 80%
- Carbs
- about 0% this food about 6%
+10 pointsCompare
- Carbs
- about 9% this food about 6%
+5 pointsCompare
Carbs are a share of the dry food, with the water taken out.
Sources
Own-label food: checked against the retailer’s label.
Retailer-verified. This is the retailer’s own-label food, so there is no separate maker’s website to check it against. We publish it because the retailer’s label is complete and passes our consistency checks.
Page we read, saved 10 Aug 2026: Jollyes.
Score method v6.1.0 · ingredient notes v2.4.0
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