The scores
Whiskas Meaty Selections: D (44/100) — Poultry By-Product Meal, Ground Yellow Corn, Ground Wheat, Corn Gluten Meal, Soybean Meal.
Friskies Surfin' & Turfin' Favorites: D (39/100) — Ground Yellow Corn, Corn Gluten Meal, Chicken By-Product Meal, Soybean Meal, Beef Tallow Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols.
How the ingredients compare
The whole gap between these two foods lives in the first few ingredients, because that is where the bulk of the recipe sits. Whiskas leads with poultry by-product meal, then ground yellow corn, ground wheat, corn gluten meal and soybean meal. Friskies opens with ground yellow corn, then corn gluten meal, and only reaches a protein source — chicken by-product meal — at position three, after two plant ingredients in a row. Putting a (concentrated) animal-protein meal ahead of the grain is the single reason Whiskas scores higher.
Neither food names a whole meat, and both lean heavily on corn, wheat, corn gluten and soy to hit their protein numbers cheaply — plant proteins that an obligate carnivore uses less efficiently than animal protein. The fat sources split the two foods the other way: Whiskas preserves its fat with BHA, a synthetic antioxidant some owners prefer to avoid, while Friskies uses beef tallow preserved with mixed tocopherols, a natural (vitamin E–based) preservative. Both foods are AAFCO-complete on paper and both add taurine, the amino acid cats cannot make in sufficient amounts on their own.
Where Whiskas pulls ahead
Whiskas earns its narrow edge on ingredient order. By leading with poultry by-product meal rather than corn, it puts an animal-protein source at the top of the panel, which is the structure you want even in a budget food. By-product meal is still an unnamed, rendered ingredient — not the named whole muscle meat you would find higher up the rubric — but a protein-first opening grades better than a grain-first one, and that is the difference between D/44 and D/39 here.
The honest caveat is the preservative. Whiskas relies on BHA to keep its fat from going rancid, and for owners who specifically avoid synthetic antioxidants that is a real mark against it. If you want to compare current pricing and pack sizes, you can Shop on Amazon →. Just keep the score in perspective: a D is still a below-average food, and the win over Friskies is measured in points, not tiers.
Where Friskies holds its own
Friskies is not far behind, and it actually wins one meaningful sub-point: its fat is beef tallow preserved with mixed tocopherols, a natural antioxidant, rather than the BHA used by Whiskas. For an owner whose main concern is steering clear of synthetic preservatives, that single fact can flip the decision — the rubric still scores Whiskas higher overall, but the preservative trade-off is a fair tie-breaker the other way.
Friskies also has a long-standing reputation for palatability; the Surfin’ & Turfin’ recipe is built to be eaten enthusiastically, which matters if you have a picky cat. Where it loses ground is structure: opening with ground corn and then corn gluten means two plant ingredients land before any animal protein, which is exactly what drags the score to D/39. You can check current options and pricing here — Shop on Amazon →.
The bottom line
So which should you buy? If these are genuinely your only two options, Whiskas edges it for leading with a protein meal instead of corn — unless you are actively avoiding BHA, in which case Friskies and its natural tocopherols is the defensible pick. But the more useful takeaway is that both sit at the bottom of the rubric, and an owner who can spend even slightly more should step up to a named-meat food. A C-tier option like Iams or a reformulated Fancy Feast (B/75) is a genuine upgrade over either of these, not a sideways move. Read the full breakdowns in our Whiskas review and Friskies review before you decide.