Fancy Feast Savory Centers (Wet) Review

Fancy Feast Savory Centers wet product range is made up of four recipes which each receive the Cat Food Advisor rating, 4 stars.

This range of recipes is high in protein, derived from good quality animal sources and fish. Carbohydrate content is low and each formula is rich in fat and moisture.

The table below shows each recipe in the range including our rating and the AAFCO nutrient profile: Growth (kitten), Maintenance (adult), All Life Stages, Supplemental or Unspecified.

Recipe and Label Analysis

Fancy Feast Savory Centers Paté with Salmon and a Gourmet Gravy Center Wet Cat Food recipe was selected to represent the other products in the line for a detailed recipe and nutrient analysis.

Label and nutrient data below are calculated using dry matter basis.

Ingredients Analysis

The first ingredient is chicken broth. Broths are of only modest nutritional value. Yet because they add both flavor and moisture to a cat food, they are a common component in many wet products.

The second ingredient is chicken. Chicken is considered “the clean combination of flesh and skin… derived from the parts or whole carcasses of chicken”. ¹

Chicken is naturally rich in the 11 essential amino acids required by a cat to sustain life.

The third ingredient is liver. Normally, liver can be considered a quality component. However, in this case, the source of the liver is not identified. For this reason, it’s impossible to judge the quality of this item.

The fourth ingredient is meat by-products, an item made from slaughterhouse waste. This is what’s left of slaughtered animals after all the prime striated muscle cuts have been removed.

With the exception of hair, horns, teeth and hooves, this item can include almost any other part of the animal. ²

What’s worse, this particular item is anonymous. So, the meat itself can come from any combination of cattle, pigs, sheep or goats — which can make identifying specific food allergies impossible.

Although most meat by-products can be nutritious, we do not consider such vaguely described (generic) ingredients to be as high in quality as those derived from a named animal source.

The fifth ingredient is salmon. Salmon is an oily marine and freshwater fish not only high in protein but also omega 3 fatty acids, essential oils needed by every cat to sustain life.

The sixth ingredient is glycine. Glycine is an amino acid. This is usually included to improve protein quality of the food. Glycine is seen as a positive addition to this food.

The seventh ingredient is locust bean gum, a gelling or thickening agent found in some wet pet foods. Extracted from the seeds of the carob tree, locust bean gum can add a notable amount of dietary fiber to a cat food.

The eighth ingredient is guar gum, a gelling or thickening agent found in many wet pet foods. Refined from dehusked guar beans, guar gum can add a notable amount of dietary fiber to any product.

From here the list goes on to include a number of other items. But to be realistic, ingredients located this far down the list (other than nutritional supplements) are not likely to affect the overall rating of the product.

However, this food contains menadione which is a controversial form of vitamin K linked to liver toxicity, allergies and the abnormal break-down of red blood cells.

Since vitamin K isn’t required by AAFCO in its nutrient profiles, we question the use of this item in any feline recipe.

Nutrient Analysis

Based on its ingredients alone, Fancy Feast Savory Centers Paté with Salmon and a Gourmet Gravy Center Wet Cat Food recipe  looks like an above-average wet product.

The dashboard displays a dry matter protein reading of 50%, a fat level of 30.6% and an estimated carbohydrate level of 11.4%.

As a group, the brand features an above-average protein content of 50% and an above-average fat level of 30.6%. Together these figures suggest a carbohydrate content of 11.4% for the overall product line, alongside a fat to protein ratio of 61%.

This means this Fancy Feast Savory Centers range contains higher than average protein, lower than average carbohydrate and higher than average fat, when compared to typical  wet cat food.

Has Fancy Feast Savory Centers (Wet) cat food been recalled in the past?

No, Fancy Feast cat food has never been recalled, but other Purina brands have multiple times.

The last one was in July 2021 when cans of Purina Pro Plan Complete Essentials Tuna Entree in Sauce Wet Cat Food were recalled as they may have contained plastic.

In March 2019, Purina issued a recall of one of its Muse cat foods.

In 2012, a single lot of Purina Veterinary Diets OM Overweight Management Feline Formula was recalled due to low levels of thiamine. Production Code #11721159.

In June 2011, Friskies issued a small recall due to the potential risk of salmonella contamination. This recall only affected a small range of Friskies products — the Friskies Grillers Blend dry cat food recipe in 3.15lb and 16 lb bags with best-by dates of August 2012.

In the same year, some other Purina dry cat foods were recalled due to suspected salmonella contamination. The products affected were: Purina ONE Vibrant Maturity 7+ dry cat food, 3.5 lb. and 7 lb. bags, with a “Best by” date of May 2012 and Production Code #03341084 or #03351084 and Purina Cat Chow Naturals, 6.3 lb., Production Code #10331083 13, with “Best by” date of August 2012.

You can view a complete list of all cat food recalls since 2021 here.

To stay on top of any cat food product recalls, sign up for our free email alerts, here.

About

Fancy Feast was created in 1982 and was likely the first cat food brand to capitalize on the gourmet concept, though it is now one of the cheaper brands on the market.

The brand is owned by Nestlé Purina PetCare which is an American subsidiary of the Swiss corporation Nestlé, based in St. Louis, Missouri. It produces and markets pet food, treats, cat and dog litter. 

The cat food brands owned by Purina are: Beyond, Breeze, DenaLife, Fancy Feast, Friskies, Kit & Kaboodle, Petivity, Purina Cat Chow, Purina ONE, Purina Pro Plan, Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets, Tidy Cats and Whisker Lickin’s.