Forthglade Lightly Baked Adult Dry Food Reviewed
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This is not a puppy food. Forthglade Lightly Baked Adult Dry (Chicken) is sold for dogs aged one year and over, in a 6 kg resealable bag, and is built on one named meat: chicken, listed at 50% of the recipe. If you have an adult dog, no chicken problem, and an interest in something a little different from standard kibble, it is worth a closer look.
The Amazon.co.uk listing shows 4.6 out of 5 from 244 ratings at the time of writing. That is a modest number of ratings, so read the score as a good sign and not a settled verdict.
What "lightly baked" does and doesn't tell you
The listing says the food is "lightly baked to seal in the goodness", and that each bite-sized piece retains the natural flavour and aroma of the ingredients. That is all it says about the process. There is no explanation of temperatures, times, or how this differs from the way most dry food is made, and no moisture figure. So we cannot tell you that it is nutritionally better, only that the maker presents it as gentler. Treat it as a description of the manufacturing style, not as evidence of a benefit.
What the listing can support is a list of ingredients and some numbers.
The recipe
Chicken (50%) is split into dried chicken at 25% and fresh chicken at 25%. After that come dried sweet potato (26%), dried peas, dried beet pulp, chicken gravy, dried alfalfa, minerals, chicory root extract (0.5%), dried brewer's yeast, chicken fat, dried botanicals (dandelion leaf and marigold) and yucca extract (0.02%). The listing marks most of these as natural ingredients.
It is a short and readable list, with one meat and one main carbohydrate, though it does include peas and beet pulp.
| Analytical constituent | Listed figure |
|---|---|
| Crude protein | 33.0% |
| Crude fat | 11.0% |
| Crude ash | 7.5% |
| Crude fibre | 3.5% |
The listing also gives added vitamins and trace elements per kilogram. These are standard additions to a complete food and unremarkable. Without a calorie figure in the text we reviewed, you will need the bag to work out feeding amounts. The listing's directions say it is a complete food for dogs one year and over, to be served on its own or mixed with Forthglade wet food, adjusting amounts if you mix. We cover the arithmetic of mixing in how to mix wet and dry food without overfeeding.
The claims, one by one
The listing calls it hypoallergenic and grain free, with 50% single-source chicken. The first is not defined on the page, and the second is a fair description of the ingredient list: chicken is the only meat. But chicken appears in several forms, so a dog allergic to chicken cannot eat it. Our piece on what hypoallergenic means on UK labels explains the wider picture.
Other statements are the maker's own. The listing says the food has no animal derivatives or cheap fillers that cause it to swell, and that added botanicals help support a healthy digestive system. The bag is described as resealable and recyclable, and the company holds B Corp certification. These tell you about the company's approach, not about how your dog will do on the food. If your dog has recurring digestive upsets or itching, a vet visit comes before a diet change.
Changing over
The listing is more specific than most here. It says dogs' tummies can be sensitive to change, and to introduce the food gradually over two weeks, starting with a 50/50 mix with the current food and slowly increasing the proportion of the new one. Following that is sensible advice, and a good baseline whichever food you are moving to. Make sure fresh water is always available, which the listing also advises.
Drawbacks
There are real limits. It suits only dogs of one year and over. It contains chicken in several forms. It contains peas and sweet potato, which is fine for most dogs but is not a low-carbohydrate recipe, and sweet potato is the second-largest ingredient. The 6 kg bag is the only size listed. The ratings count is lower than for the best-known foods. And "lightly baked" is a description of a process the listing does not explain.
Who it suits
Forthglade Lightly Baked suits an adult dog on a healthy diet where the owner wants a simple chicken recipe with a short ingredient list and a clear transition plan. It is a poor fit for puppies, dogs with chicken allergies, and dogs on vet-prescribed diets. If you are comparing it with a similarly positioned brand, Forthglade against Lily's Kitchen puts them side by side, and if you want the brand's other dry recipe, see the cold pressed review. The 6 kg bag is the only size on this listing.
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