Victor Max-5 Pro: our recipe review

Victor · Max-5 Pro · Dry food · Adult maintenance

On the facts printed on its own label, Victor Max-5 Pro scores 83 out of 100 on our rubric: a strong label by the standards of this database. The panel opens with Beef Meal, and the first ingredient signal earns 16 of its 20 points. At 30% crude protein it ranks 15 of the 34 Victor recipes we scored for protein. Crude fat reads 20%.

At 403 kcal a cup it sits mid range for energy, so standard portion maths applies. Its adequacy claim rests on formulation: balanced on paper against the AAFCO nutrient profiles rather than fed to dogs in a trial. The brand carries one FDA posted recall event in our check, set out below with its date.

The panel runs to 54 ingredient lines. 5 of them are animal source lines and 12 are plant lines. The first added fat appears at line 3, so 2 lines sit ahead of it in the recipe by weight. Salt appears at line 12 of 54: ingredients listed after salt are present in small amounts, a standard reading aid for long panels. The vitamin and mineral pack begins around line 19; the 36 lines from there on are mostly supplements, preservatives and functional extras rather than staple foods.

The label facts

How the score breaks down

Ingredient notes: the first ten, one by one

Definitions below are written from AAFCO's ingredient definitions in our own words. They describe what an ingredient is, never what a brand claims about it. Names that appear in our ingredient dictionary link to it; the dictionary counts how many scored recipes carry each ingredient.

• Beef Meal. Beef Meal is the named animal rendered and ground, with water and most fat cooked off before it is weighed. Per kilo it carries far more protein than the fresh meat does.
• Grain Sorghum. Grain Sorghum is a plant ingredient, bringing energy, fibre or plant protein to the panel.
• Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols). Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols) is rendered fat from the named source. Fat is the densest energy in the recipe and carries much of its flavour.
• Natural Flavor. Natural Flavor is a flavouring: a spray or powder added so the food tastes stronger to the dog. It is not a protein source and our rubric does not count it as one.
• Whole Grain Brown Rice. Whole Grain Brown Rice is a milled grain used for energy and to bind the kibble. Whole grain forms keep the bran and bring gentle fibre with them.
• Menhaden Fish Meal. Menhaden Fish Meal is the named animal rendered and ground, with water and most fat cooked off before it is weighed. Per kilo it carries far more protein than the fresh meat does.
• Dehydrated Alfalfa Meal. Dehydrated Alfalfa Meal has already had its water taken out before it is weighed in, so a kilo of it stands for several kilos of the fresh meat. It is one of the most protein dense forms an ingredient can take.
• Duck Meal. Duck Meal is the named animal rendered and ground, with water and most fat cooked off before it is weighed. Per kilo it carries far more protein than the fresh meat does.
• Potassium Chloride. Potassium Chloride belongs to the vitamin and mineral pack that brings the recipe up to a complete profile. Minerals named as proteinates are bound to protein, a form the gut absorbs more readily.
• Carrot Powder. Carrot Powder is a fruit or vegetable inclusion. At panel positions like this the amounts are small; treat them as garnish with benefits, not a nutrient pillar.

The brand's recall record

2023: One rolling Salmonella recall ran through autumn 2023 at Victor's maker, Mid America Pet Food: it opened in September 2023 with one lot of Hi-Pro Plus, expanded in October to Victor Select Beef Meal and Brown Rice lots, and expanded again in November to every dog and cat food the maker produced at its Texas plant. The FDA and CDC investigation linked the strain to human illness, including infants. Under our counting rules the expansions are one event.

The event dates from autumn 2023 and involves Salmonella at the brand's maker, Mid America Pet Food. It is the reason this otherwise strong label loses recall points.

See the full dog food recall tracker for recent events across all brands.

Other Victor recipes we scored

Those are the twelve highest scoring of the 33 other Victor recipes we scored. The full comparison, flagship review included, is on the Victor brand review.

Feeding it

Switch foods gradually over about a week, mixing more of the new food into the old each day. Portion by calories, not by the look of the bowl: our feeding calculator works out a daily amount from your dog's weight, and this recipe's calorie line above is the number it needs.

What that means at the bowl, for a typical neutered adult (resting energy 70 times body weight to the power 0.75, times 1.6; treats come out of the same budget):

Puppies, pregnant dogs and very active dogs need more; older and weight watching dogs need less. The calculator linked above adjusts for those cases.