The scores
Temptations Classic Chicken Flavor: D/38 — Below average. Chicken by-product meal first, BHA + BHT preservation, four artificial colors. Best-selling cat treat brand by U.S. unit volume; the D/38 score reflects the formulation cost behind the high palatability.
Friskies Party Mix Original Crunch: D/42 — Below average. Whole chicken first (the +4 rubric edge over Temptations), but BHA + BHT preservation and four artificial colors place it in the same low-tier formulation pattern.
How the ingredients compare
The leading ingredients are the structural difference between these two treats:
Temptations: Chicken By-Product Meal, Ground Corn, Animal Fat (preserved with BHA, BHT, and Citric Acid), Rice, Corn Gluten Meal, Brewers Rice, Natural Chicken Flavor, Wheat Flour, Dried Meat By-Products, plus mineral/vitamin premix, four artificial colors (Yellow 5, Red 40, Yellow 6, Blue 2), and supplemental taurine.
Friskies Party Mix: Chicken, Chicken Meal, Brewers Rice, Chicken By-Product Meal, Animal Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), Pea Starch, Barley, Corn Protein Meal, Liver Flavor, Brewers Dried Yeast, Natural And Artificial Flavors, Cassava Root Flour, Turkey By-Product Meal, plus taurine, four artificial colors (Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Red 40, Blue 2), and BHA + BHT.
Both products are mass-market crunchy cat treats with nearly-identical formulation philosophies, separated mainly by where their named-protein opens. Friskies leads with whole chicken (named whole-muscle meat, +12 rubric bonus) and stacks chicken meal at position two. Temptations leads with chicken by-product meal (named-but-not-whole-muscle, −3 rubric position penalty for treat panels). After position one, the panels converge: both stack grain (corn, rice, wheat or barley), both use animal fat with BHA and BHT preservation, both include named flavors, both top off with the same four-color stack (Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Red 40, Blue 2). Both supplement taurine, which is critical for cats (obligate carnivores require dietary taurine for cardiac function and retinal health).
Where Temptations pulls ahead
Lower per-piece calorie density: Temptations runs about 2 kcal per piece vs Friskies Party Mix at 2 kcal per piece — functionally tied. For a 10-lb adult cat with a 25-kcal-per-day treat budget under the 10% rule, both products allow about 12+ treats per day, which is enough for any normal interactive-bonding session.
Brand recognition and shelf availability: Temptations is the best-selling cat treat brand in the U.S. by unit volume. Distribution is universal across grocery, drug, big-box, and pet specialty channels. For owners restocking at a single store visit alongside the primary diet, Temptations is the more convenient default. Shop Temptations on Amazon →
Crunchy-outside, soft-inside texture: Temptations uses a specific extrusion-and-baking pattern that produces a crunchy shell with a soft center, which most cats find highly palatable. The texture engineering is the product’s functional differentiator within the D-tier. For finicky cats that reject other crunchy treats, the texture pattern earns its high consumer rating.
Where Friskies Party Mix holds its own
Whole chicken first (vs by-product meal): Friskies opens with whole chicken (named whole muscle, +12 bonus) followed by chicken meal at position two. Temptations opens with chicken by-product meal (named but not whole muscle, −3 position penalty). The 4-point rubric edge between these otherwise-similar products comes almost entirely from this first-ingredient position. For owners who must pick a mass-market crunchy cat treat, Friskies' whole-chicken-first opening is the marginal upgrade.
Mixed tocopherols on the named animal fat: Friskies preserves its “animal fat” ingredient with mixed tocopherols (vitamin E) — a natural-preservation step. Temptations uses BHA + BHT + citric acid as the animal-fat preservation system. Both products still use BHA + BHT in the broader ingredient panel, so neither earns a clean BHA-free credit, but Friskies' fat-specific preservation is one rubric step cleaner.
Slight palatability advantage for cats avoiding by-product flavors: Some cats reject by-product-meal-first formulations on palatability alone — the rendered organ meat aroma is distinct from whole-muscle aroma. For cats that have rejected Temptations historically, Friskies' whole-chicken-first opening sometimes lands better at the food bowl. Shop Friskies Party Mix on Amazon →
The bottom line
Both products are D-grade, separated by 4 rubric points on first-ingredient position alone. The BHA + BHT preservation and four-color additive stack are nearly identical, and both are firmly in the “mass-market crunchy cat treat” category that compounds rubric deductions across multiple axes. The right framing is not “which D-tier treat is best” but “is a D-tier treat the right tool here at all?” For cats that respond well to crunchy textures and have no health-related dietary restrictions, either product works as an occasional reward within the 10% rule. For owners who want a meaningfully cleaner panel without giving up the crunchy texture, alternatives like PureBites Freeze-Dried Chicken Cat (A/95) deliver actual top-tier formulation at a price point most owners can absorb.
Read our full reviews of Temptations Classic Chicken Flavor and Friskies Party Mix Original Crunch for the complete ingredient-by-ingredient breakdown.