| Review Details | |
|---|---|
| Rating | [nyrating] |
| Website | Woolworths |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Available from | Woolworths |
Apollo
Apollo is a homebrand offering from Woolworths, marketed as a phantom brand. It’s very similar to their Baxters brand, with this being the more “premium” option.
Is it very good?
Nope…
The formula for Apollo is very similar to Baxters, so I recommend reading that review first as it saves me covering all the nasty stuff again. It’s a product mostly comprising of meat waste (by-products) and problematic grains and grain by-products. Apollo sees the addition of corn which will explain the marginally higher amount of protein in this food compared with Baxters.
This food contains food colourings. That’s not a good thing in this day and age, and believe it or not dogs really don’t care about the colour of their food. It also contains food acids, and I’m slightly confused they’ve listed “food” as an ingredient in “food”. Does that sound bizarre to you? Hey guys, this food contains “food”….
Humectants is another mysterious ingredient, and is probably glycerin. This would be used to keep the food moist, but also prevents your dog absorbing nutrients which really isn’t a good thing when they’re eating a food with little nutrition in the first place.
Calcium Propionate (spelled incorrectly on the packaging) is a potentially carcinogenic chemical preservative and anti-fungal.
Potassium Choloride is used to balance the pH of a poorly formulated food and can cause intestinal ulcers.
Sodium Bisulphate is another chemical, likely used as a salmonella preventative. It’s a corrosive powder used to coat a kibble post-production to ensure it doesn’t get contaminated after cooking. A tablespoon of human grade sodium bisulphate can cause burning in the mouth, diarrhea, vomiting, and low blood pressure, so imagine what pet grade sodium bisulphate could do to your dog?
I’m sure the preservatives and antioxidants won’t be natural like we find in better foods, they’ll be chemicals.
Does this strike you as a quality product to you? It doesn’t to me. Don’t buy it. 1 star.
Where to buy?
Woolworths
Good points…
Nothing… it’s cheap, but you get less than what you pay for. Your vets bills will be huge.
Bad points…
All of it.
Guaranteed Analysis
| [gauge title=”Protein” width=”210px” label=”%” value=”24″ min=”0″ max=”100″ color=”#F3832D”] | [gauge title=”Fat” width=”210px” label=”%” value=”10″ min=”0″ max=”100″ color=”#F3832D”] | [gauge title=”Est. Carbs” width=”210px” label=”%” value=”48″ min=”0″ max=”100″ color=”#F3832D”] |
* Carbohydrates aren’t listed on pet food labels. This value is calculated based on levels of protein, fat, moisture, and ash. Estimated values for moisture and ash have been used where these values haven’t been given (moisture of 10%, and ash of 8%).
Ingredients
Meat and Meat by-products (derived from poultry and beef), Wholegrain Cereals and Cereal by-products (derived from wheat and corn), Peas, Poultry Tallow, Humectants, Salt, Kelp Meal, Potassium Sorbate, Food Acids, Calcium Proprionate, Choline Chloride, Potassium Chloride, Essential Vitamins and Minerals, Lysine, Sodium Bisulphate, Colours, Preservatives and Antioxidants.
I brought this dog food for my little dog and there was a piece of hard plastic in it luckily I noticed it’s she would have choked on it .Won’t be buying again.
Hi Carol, could you add this report to the following page please – https://www.apog.com.au/recall-issue-log/apollo-woolworths/
Any chance you have a photo of the plastic?
Can I print this review out and sticky tape it to the bags of this food in Woolies?? Hmmm hahaha
Maybe people would then OPEN THEIR EYES!
Ha ha, yes, of course! It’s about awareness and improving the health of our pets!
Your amazing website is essentially the reason why my dogs are healthy now! Thank you! Before when we only had our older dog he’d been fed supermarket dry and tinned food til he was 6! 🙁 Not homebrand though, but still equally crap. (I suppose that’s why Woolworths is selling phantom brands now). He was always a little overweight in his adulthood and always had horrible dry flakey fur and skin. The vet blamed it on pollen/grass allergies and prescribed prednisolone. This Spring he has had no meds and no allergies (I have though!), and not even the itches or patchy hair loss like before! Since changing him to Black Hawk kibble and also Prey Model Raw and BARF he has been AMAZINGLY healthy. Trim, shiny, soft and with a fluffy thick coat. Now I’m going to have to tone down the oils as they’ve both been getting a bit TOO oily and shiny! 🙂
I’m glad to hear his condition has improved so much!
It’s staggering how many vets overlook nutrition as being vital to health
Not only that but there’s no mention of what colours or preserves were used, kelp meal and peas makes it look better but doesn’t bring anything to the table since it’s a crap food.
Once again no mention of what vitamins and minerals, some foods only add a few and those few if not chelated are useless to begin with anyways.
You would think with the crazy amount of info on the net these days and peoples testimonials on real foods vs processed foods they’d have been a little more cautious about the ingredients, but after all most big companies are profit first with your dog preferably not being on their list of concerns at all.
When you see “vitamins and minerals” listed like that it’s just a vitamin pack bought from overseas to meet AAFCO guidelines. It’s the easy option for manufacturing pet food on a budget. It’s so much better seeing quality brands list vitamins and minerals individually as it really shows whether they’ve used quality inclusions.