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Royal Canin · Size Health Nutrition Medium Adult · Dry food · Adult maintenance, medium breed dogs
This is the round's clearest clash between two ways of judging food. Royal Canin's system is nutrient led: the recipe is built to hit precise nutrient targets for a medium adult dog, the kibble is shaped for that jaw size, and the brand's feeding research operation is one of the largest in the industry. None of that is visible on an ingredient panel.
Our rubric can only score what the panel shows, and the panel shows brewers rice first, chicken by-product meal as the protein base, wheat and corn protein meal in the first ten, and 23% protein. On label facts alone, that is the weakest formulation in this round, and the score says so plainly. Readers who value the brand's research and their vet's advice over panel reading will weigh it differently, and the page would rather show its working than hide the disagreement.
| Maker | Mars Petcare |
|---|---|
| Format | Dry food |
| Life stage | Adult maintenance, medium breed dogs |
| First 10 ingredients, in label order |
|
| Guaranteed analysis | Crude protein (min) 23% · crude fat (min) 12% · crude fibre (max) 3.4% · moisture (max) 10.5% |
| Calories | 3,616 kcal/kg, 340 kcal/cup, as labelled |
| AAFCO adequacy | Formulated to meet AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles for maintenance. |
| 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 | 4 / 20 | Brewers rice, a plant ingredient, is first. No recipe in this round loses more points here. |
| Animal protein depth, first 10 ingredients | 4 / 15 | Two named animal ingredients in the first ten (chicken fat and fish oil); points deducted for chicken by-product meal as the protein base. |
| Protein level for the life stage | 7 / 15 | 23.0% crude protein (min) sits in the 22 to 23.9% band. |
| Fat level fit | 7 / 10 | 12.0% crude fat (min) sits in the 12 to 13.9% band. |
| Whole foods versus filler-flagged ingredients | 1 / 10 | Three flagged ingredients in the first ten: brewers rice, wheat 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 | 7 / 10 | Formulated to meet AAFCO profiles for adult maintenance. |
| FDA recall history | 10 / 10 | No FDA posted recall events found in our November 2026 check. |
| Price tier | Not scored | Not scored in this round: no verified price data yet. |
| Total | 50 / 100 | Scaled from 50 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 11 more Royal Canin recipes from their own labels, each with its own page, its own ingredient notes and the same rubric:
| Recipe | Score / 100 | Protein | Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fresh Health Nutrition Adult | 70 | 6.5% | Wet food |
| Golden Retriever Puppy | 64 | 27% | Dry food |
| Adult in Gel | 64 | 6.5% | Wet food |
| Poodle Puppy | 62 | 31% | Dry food |
| Great Dane Adult | 59 | 21% | Dry food |
| Maltese Adult | 59 | 22% | Dry food |
| Mature Adult in Gel | 57 | 7.5% | Wet food |
| Small Adult | 53 | 25% | Dry food |
| Medium Adult | 50 | 23% | Dry food |
| Medium Adult 7+ | 50 | 23% | Dry food |
| Pug Adult | 50 | 23% | Dry food |
No FDA posted dog food recall events for this brand were found in our November 2026 check of FDA recall records. That is a statement about what we could verify, not proof of a perfect history.
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.