Cooked Rolls

NOTICE: OUR FACEBOOK GROUP HAS SEEN AN INCREASE IN CONSUMER ISSUES WITH PRIME100 COOKED ROLLS FROM MANUFACTURING ISSUES TO GASTRO-INTESTINAL ISSUES - PLEASE DISCUSS WITH PRIME100 DIRECTLY.

Pet parents often start feeding cooked rolls because they believe them to be a healthier alternative to dry food but sadly many cooked rolls have poor quality ingredients and often high carb percentages - in the end, the only positive thing about them might be the moisture content.

In this article, we'd like to walk you through some supermarket versions as well as Prime100 Rolls (Australia).

To preface what is to follow, I do not recommend people feed cooked rolls over a balanced fresh food diet. Cooked rolls may be ideal for dogs transitioning from a kibble-based diet to something healthier but aren't ready for raw yet or raw is not suitable - I would actually recommend these people feed a gently cooked diet over rolls because at least then it would be lower in carbs and high in meat content which I think would be very challenging for a roll to do because starch is needed to bind it together.

Single protein rolls have a place in the fresh food community for dogs with allergies and sensitivities whose owners don't want to or can't make a balanced homemade diet. Many fresh food feeders use rolls for treats too or the occasional meal or topper.

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Let's start by looking at a supermarket roll called 'Gourmet Adult Chilled Fresh Dog Food Roll Premium Chicken'.

You'll get 3 kilos for $9 (as of 27.07.23) - When I first wrote this article back in 2022, this roll was $1 cheaper.

I'd like to point out that there is no regulation over the terms "premium" & "gourmet", anyone can use them.

There are generally going to be fewer ingredients in a cooked roll than a dry food so where we look at the top 5 ingredients in dry food as being the most predominant, in a cooked roll, we're going to look at most if not all of them.

Here is the ingredient panel:

Fresh Meat from Chicken and Beef and/or Lamb
What this says is that you don't know what you're actually getting, it could be chicken, beef or lamb or a combination of them

Fresh Vegetables (Carrots and Peas)
This is what it says it is. Peas are often used to boost the protein % without using more meat.

Selected Cereals
This means they'll use whichever cereals they can get at the time for the price they want to pay. When we choose to feed our dogs a healthier diet, cereals generally aren't typically part of that plan.

Brown Rice
Carbs are necessary to bind cooked rolls and this is likely why this is included here. Manufacturers know that consumers believe brown rice is healthier so they'll use it to try and make something look like a health food when in fact brown rice is not a species-appropriate ingredient and there are concerns with arsenic if fed on a regular basis (see study here).

Whole Egg
This is what it says it is.

Salt
Sodium is a necessary nutrient so don't get scared of it, it helps cover off Iodine and Chlorine nutritional requirements. Salt is generally added to pet food at 1% of the formula, therefore anything after this word you can pretty much guarantee is less than 1% of the formula.

Natural Gels
This is part of making things stick together - not the ideal of someone who wants to feed a healthier diet to a dog but could be considered a necessary part of the manufacturing process.

Essential Vitamins and Minerals
A mix of synthetic nutrients is used to balance the formula to AAFCO guidelines so pet parents believe it has everything their dog needs.

Colour
There is absolutely no need for the manufacturer to use colour other than to appeal to you the pet parents.

Garlic Oil
I'm not sure what the purpose of this ingredient is. Garlic is safe so we don't have to worry about that.

After looking at these ingredients, there is nothing GOURMET or PREMIUM as per the claims in the product name, unfortunately, there is no regulation over the use of these terms. This wouldn't be a product I would look at putting in the trolley for me personally as it doesn't meet my vision of feeding healthy species-appropriate ingredients to my dog. The strange positive thing about this formula is that it is only 4% carbs which is lower than the Prime100 options we look at coming up.

Ok, now let's look at Prime100, but to be fair, we're first going to look at their supermarket line called 'Prime Pantry' which is a little different from their "top-shelf stuff", so let's compare apples with apples first! This is their Chicken with broccoli & apple formula.

$11.60 (as of 27.07.23) for 1.7 kilos at Woolworths is what you'll pay, and maybe a bit less at the likes of IGA's. When I first wrote this article back in 2022, this roll was only $9.50.

Chicken (including ground chicken bone)

So, with the Prime100 option, we know exactly what protein is being used, and what we also like to see is this roll is a single protein roll which means it can be used for dogs with allergies.

Tapioca

This is your binder, it doesn't offer much other than starch.

Peas, carrots, apple, broccoli
The veggie inclusion and it's important to note the same comment about peas potentially being used to boost protein % without adding more meat.

Flaxseed oil
A nice omega-3 that balances out the omega-6 from the chicken,

Sunflower oil
A disappointing ingredient, not considered a healthy oil and potentially is being used to boost vitamins such as vitamin E and A without adding more expensive ingredients.

Vitamins, minerals
A mix of synthetic nutrients is used to balance the formula to AAFCO guidelines so pet parents believe it has everything their dog needs.

Natural digestive enzymes
A nice inclusion.

Salt
Sodium is a necessary nutrient so don't get scared of it, it helps cover off Iodine and Chlorine nutritional requirements. Salt is generally added to pet food at 1% of the formula, therefore anything after this word you can pretty much guarantee is less than 1% of the formula.

Water sufficient for processing

It is what it says it is.

The formula is called 'Chicken with broccoli & apple' but it has more peas in it than broccoli and apple but savvy consumers don't see peas as something to flex about so you'll not see a manufacturer use that to promote it.

What we do not know is the percentage of animal protein in the formula vs the Prime100 "top shelf" roll - I'm going to assume (not always the smart thing to do) that there is less animal protein in their cheaper product. Prime100 used to provide carbohydrate percentages on their website but they no longer do which is a bit crap but if it's higher, they may not want to highlight that.

If I was going to use this as an every now and then inclusion in my dog's diet or for training treats, I'd be happy to pop it in the trolley but it's not something I want to feed my dog on an everyday basis unless there were little other options just because the binding ingredients don't interest me, I'd prefer something like Sweet Potato but that might not be enough to do the job.

Whilst Prime100's Single protein rolls have had ingredient changes in the first half of 2023, their Prime Pantry Supermarket line seems to have remained the same.

Now, let's look at the Prime100 speciality rolls, these are generally single protein, novel protein and/or for dogs with medical conditions, you can see the whole range here - I'd like to add at this point that I have no relationship with Prime100 or any other dog food company for that matter.

Lots of fresh food feeders use Prime100 as training treats but they are also a great intermediate step between dry food and raw feeding for sensitive dogs. These rolls have a higher price tag than supermarket options because they are apparently of higher quality.

We're going to have a look at the Duck version, they state that this diet is specifically designed to provide a low GI source of protein and functional fibre for dogs. Prime100 suggests this diet is ideal for dogs with food sensitivities or food allergies and as a hypoallergenic alternative for dogs that are food sensitive to common proteins. $22.99 for 2 kilos at Petbarn, this price remains the same since I first wrote this article a year ago.

A year ago the ingredients were: Duck (including ground duck bone), Sweet potato, Tapioca, Potato, Vitamins, minerals, Flaxseed oil, Psyllium husk, Sunflower oil, Evening primrose oil, Salt, Natural digestive enzymes & Celery seed powder.

As of 27.07.23, the ingredients have changed across the range, we often see this when companies have been brought by bigger companies and whilst Prime100 say this is to improve their product, the community of fresh food feeders is sceptical, they believe it's simply to increase profits, so, let's have a look inside.

Australian Duck (including ground duck bone)
A lovely novel protein that many dogs haven't had before so can be used in food elimination trials for dogs with allergies.

Tapioca
This is your binder, it doesn't offer much other than starch.

Bamboo Fibre
Prime100 states that Bamboo fibre acts as a functional prebiotic for digestion. I'm not averse to this ingredient as it helps detox and promotes gastrointestinal health and digestion whilst contributing to a firm stool but I would also suggest that it's helping with the texture of the roll.

Sweet potato
A quality carb that can be gentle on dogs with sensitive digestive systems, can also contribute towards binding the roll.

Vitamins & minerals
We discussed these ingredients in their supermarket roll.

Functional oils (algae, flaxseed, evening primrose)
Lots of lovely beneficial properties especially for skin issue dogs. They've removed the sunflower oil I wasn't keen on too.

Salt
We discussed these ingredients in their supermarket roll.

Any ingredient following Salt can be assumed to be less than 1% of the formula.

Chicory root extract
A fibre source that is also palatable.

Taurine
Prime100 started adding Taurine to their formulas after connections to DCM (a heart condition) were found in some ingredients they were using, this was more focused on dry foods at the time. The link has now been disproven, regardless, Taurine is not a problematic inclusion, although it is the synthetic version.

Celery seed extract
It's an interesting ingredient but there's not much in the recipe, I'm not sure what it's here for but it does contain decent amounts of calcium, iron, magnesium etc.

Natural digestive enzymes
A nice inclusion.

When we compare this roll to the supermarket one, I'd actually go for the supermarket one (even if there was less animal protein), I prefer the ingredients better and fits into many people's budgets, so if you don't have a dog with a medical condition that requires novel proteins, the Prime Pantry supermarket range might just fit the bill but either or in my humble opinion is fine.

Now, Prime100 does also have two different types of Chicken Rolls, let's have a quick look at those, let us start with SPD Chicken and Brown Rice, it's not a novel (aka unique) protein like Duck is but we can still have a gander at its ingredients.

The ingredients have changed since we first wrote this article, the ingredients in 2022 were: Chicken (including ground chicken bone), brown rice, potato, vitamins, minerals, flaxseed oil, psyllium husk, sunflower oil, salt, natural digestive enzymes, celery seed powder.

The ingredients as of 27.07.23 are as follows:
Australian Chicken (including ground chicken bone), tapioca, rice including brown rice, functional oils (algae, flaxseed, sunflower), vitamins & minerals, salt, chicory root extract, taurine, celery seed powder, natural digestive enzymes

So our main ingredients in this formula are Chicken, tapioca, and rice. Although this roll is called Chicken and Brown rice, there is more tapioca in this recipe than rice - that's a bit disappointing to me, but this is potentially a roll used for dogs who need limited ingredients, plain ingredients, etc. So again, if my dog doesn't have any special needs, I'm personally more interested in the Prime Pantry supermarket rolls ingredients.

Prime100's Chicken & Vegetables ingredients are:

Chicken (including ground chicken bone), tapioca, peas, carrots, vitamins, minerals, salt, water sufficient for processing.

So our main ingredients in this formula are Chicken & tapioca even though the roll is called Chicken & Vegetables - for $9 per kilo, you can't be too much of a hater but if I had to choose between this and the Prime Pantry one, I would still get the Prime Pantry one.

Thanks for stopping by to learn more about what's inside the products you buy for your dogs - my thoughts on products are simply that, and assumptions are also made so it's important you make decisions that are right for you, my aim is simply to get you to start reading ingredient labels. Please know that all Prime100 products are complete and balanced and if you have any product questions, please reach out, they have always been great at answering questions.