Our Product Ratings
We check what a manufacturer says its product does against the research, give the product an overall rating out of five stars, and publish the full report behind that rating.
See rated productsFor companiesRated products
The first ratings will appear here, each with the product's claims, its star rating and a link to the full report.
What a rating means
The stars are our overall judgement of a product measured against what its manufacturer says it does, based on the available evidence. They are not a score for the strength of the research alone, and they do not mean we have physically tested every feature of the product.
We rate products where our evidence base has something real to say, whatever the product category. We are not a veterinary service, and a rating is not veterinary advice for an individual dog.
What each report contains
- The claims the manufacturer makes publicly, which we identify ourselves
- A plain-language conclusion for each claim, with the quality, confidence and applicability of the evidence behind it
- Where the evidence is uncertain, mixed or missing
- How the overall rating was reached
- The date and product version assessed
How each claim is concluded
Inside every report, each claim receives one of these conclusions.
The evidence supports the claim as worded.
The evidence supports a narrower version of the claim.
Relevant studies point in different directions.
The relevant evidence runs against the claim.
Our stated search method found no source at the level the claim requires.
Background statements, claims awaiting essential information, or claims we could not assess.
What a rating does not do
- Tell a company what to formulate, dose or say
- Assess regulatory compliance or permission to make a claim
- Give veterinary advice for an individual animal
- Run new trials or present itself as a new systematic review
Corrections
If we make an error in a rating or report, we correct it free of charge.
Who chooses the products
To begin with, we choose the products ourselves and no company pays for those ratings. Later, companies will be able to commission a rating of their own product. That will be the only way to submit one: we will not run an ongoing free submission service.
A company that commissions a rating pays for the assessment, not for the result. The rating and full report are published whatever they say, and the company does not approve or veto them.
Commissioning a rating
Commissioned ratings are not open yet. Leave your details and we will email you once, when they open, with the terms and price. Every commissioned rating is published.