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Hill's Science Diet · Adult Chicken and Barley Recipe (Adult 1-6) · Dry food · Adult maintenance
This recipe's strongest card is evidence: its adequacy claim rests on feeding trials, which only two brands in this round can say. Chicken is first, there are no colours or artificial preservatives on the label facts, and the lean fat level suits dogs whose weight creeps up.
Our rubric then scores what the label shows, and it shows a grain led recipe: protein at 20%, two points above the adult floor, with brewers rice, wheat, corn and corn protein meal all in the first ten. Add the brand's 2019 canned food vitamin D recall, and the total lands where it lands. Owners whose vets recommend this food should follow their vet; our score grades the label, not the clinic.
| Maker | Hill's Pet Nutrition (Colgate-Palmolive) |
|---|---|
| Format | Dry food |
| Life stage | Adult maintenance |
| First 10 ingredients, in label order |
|
| Guaranteed analysis | Crude protein (min) 20% · crude fat (min) 11.5% · crude fibre (max) 4% · moisture (max) 10% |
| Calories | 3,675 kcal/kg, 365 kcal/cup, as labelled |
| AAFCO adequacy | Animal feeding tests using AAFCO procedures substantiate that this food provides complete and balanced nutrition for maintenance of adult dogs. |
| Price | Not listed in this round. We publish a price only when we have verified it from a dated listing, and we had not for this recipe when the label was read. |
| Signal | Points | What the label shows |
|---|---|---|
| First ingredient | 20 / 20 | Chicken, a named whole meat, is the first ingredient. |
| Animal protein depth, first 10 ingredients | 10 / 15 | Three named animal ingredients in the first ten: chicken, chicken meal and chicken fat. |
| Protein level for the life stage | 5 / 15 | 20.0% crude protein (min) sits in the 20 to 21.9% band, just above the adult floor. |
| Fat level fit | 5 / 10 | 11.5% crude fat (min) sits in the 10 to 11.9% band: a lean, weight conscious profile. |
| Whole foods versus filler-flagged ingredients | 1 / 10 | Four flagged ingredients in the first ten: brewers rice, whole grain wheat, whole grain corn and corn protein meal. |
| Artificial colours and preservatives | 10 / 10 | No artificial colours or preservatives appear in the label facts we publish. |
| AAFCO adequacy basis | 10 / 10 | Substantiated by AAFCO feeding tests, the strongest adequacy basis in this round. |
| FDA recall history | 6 / 10 | One FDA posted recall event found (2019, canned foods, vitamin D). |
| Price tier | Not scored | Not scored in this round: no verified price data yet. |
| Total | 67 / 100 | Scaled from 67 of 100 available points. The method is published in full on the dog food hub. |
The review above covers this brand's flagship recipe in full. We also read and scored 12 more Hill's Science Diet recipes from their own labels, each with its own page, its own ingredient notes and the same rubric:
| Recipe | Score / 100 | Protein | Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult Sensitive Stomach & Skin Grain Free Chicken & Potato Recipe | 91 | n/a | Dry food |
| Adult Sensitive Stomach & Skin Chicken Recipe | 87 | n/a | Dry food |
| Adult Sensitive Stomach & Skin Small & Mini Chicken Recipe | 87 | n/a | Dry food |
| Adult Sensitive Stomach & Skin Large Breed Chicken & Barley Recipe | 87 | n/a | Dry food |
| Adult Small Bites Chicken & Barley Recipe | 76 | n/a | Dry food |
| Adult Large Breed Chicken & Barley Recipe | 76 | n/a | Dry food |
| Adult Perfect Digestion Small Bites Chicken & Barley Recipe | 76 | n/a | Dry food |
| Puppy Large Breed Chicken & Brown Rice Recipe | 76 | n/a | Dry food |
| Puppy Small Bites Chicken & Brown Rice Recipe | 76 | n/a | Dry food |
| Puppy Sensitive Stomach & Skin Salmon & Vegetable Stew | 75 | n/a | Wet food |
| Adult Healthy Mobility Large Breed Chicken Meal, Barley & Brown Rice Recipe | 67 | n/a | Dry food |
| Adult 7+ Chicken Meal, Barley & Rice Recipe | 67 | n/a | Dry food |
2019: Hill's recalled canned dog foods in January 2019 over excessive and potentially elevated vitamin D levels, an event the FDA followed with an investigation; the recall expanded in March and May 2019 and counts as one event.
The 2019 event covered canned foods across the Science Diet and Prescription Diet lines. It was serious, it is counted once as a single event, and its expansions are not double counted.
See the full dog food recall tracker for recent events across all brands.
Change foods gradually over about a week, mixing increasing amounts of the new food into the old, so the change does not upset your dog's stomach. Portion by calories, not by the look of the bowl: our feeding calculator works out a daily amount from your dog's weight. And because no ingredient list can answer what is safe for a dog to eat as a treat or a table scrap, check our Can Dogs Eat section before sharing food off your own plate.
Label read November 2026. Scores follow the rubric published on the dog food hub. This review is general information about a product label, not veterinary advice, and it is not a feeding trial: we score what a buyer can verify from the label and the public record.
Last updated: November 2026. Checked against the sources named on this page.