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The Comparison

Three Foods, One Method

The same five measures, applied to each food from its own figures.

Prices are the lowest per pound we found across bag sizes, from our latest checks. Stores change prices often.

Three Foods, One Method. Each row is one measure; the best figure in a row is marked.
01 The Honest Kitchen Grain Free Beef Whole Food Clusters for Small Breeds Swap Remove 02 Darwin's Natural Pet Products Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen Swap Remove 03 K9 Natural Baked & Coated Wild-Ocean Fish Swap Remove + Add A Food
01 Protein, Dry Matter Higher Is Better 26-32% dm reads typical mainstream. 01 Grain Free Beef Whole Food Clusters for Small Breeds 29.5% 02 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen 53.6% Best in this row 03 Baked & Coated Wild-Ocean Fish 44.4%
02 Carbohydrate Load, Dry Matter Lower Is Better Estimated, 6% ash assumed. Estimated, not measured. It is what is left of the guaranteed analysis once protein, fat, fiber and moisture are taken out, with ash assumed at 6%. That leftover is mostly starch but also carries sugars and the fiber a crude-fiber test misses, so read it as a close estimate rather than an exact figure. Measured as fed, the same basis as the bag. 01 Grain Free Beef Whole Food Clusters for Small Breeds 39% 34.0% as fed 02 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen 7% 0.0% as fed 03 Baked & Coated Wild-Ocean Fish 24% 21.5% as fed Best in this row
03 Named Proteins In The First Five Count of named animal proteins. The count matches any named animal word in the opening five ingredients, so it also counts animal fats and flavourings as proteins. It is shown because it is one of the five measured lines, but it is too rough to call a winner on. 01 Grain Free Beef Whole Food Clusters for Small Breeds 2 of 5 02 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen 4 of 5 03 Baked & Coated Wild-Ocean Fish 4 of 5
04 Flagged Additives Level Lower Is Better Matched against the flag list. 01 Grain Free Beef Whole Food Clusters for Small Breeds None 02 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen None 03 Baked & Coated Wild-Ocean Fish None
05 Brand Recall History Lower Is Better Manufacturer, not recipe. 01 Grain Free Beef Whole Food Clusters for Small Breeds 1 None in the last 3 years 02 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen None Best in this row 03 Baked & Coated Wild-Ocean Fish None Best in this row
Starch, As Fed Estimated, not measured. It is what is left of the guaranteed analysis once protein, fat, fiber and moisture are taken out, with ash assumed at 6%. That leftover is mostly starch but also carries sugars and the fiber a crude-fiber test misses, so read it as a close estimate rather than an exact figure. Measured as fed, the same basis as the bag. 01 Grain Free Beef Whole Food Clusters for Small Breeds 34.0% 02 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen 0.0% 03 Baked & Coated Wild-Ocean Fish 21.5%
Kcal / Cup 01 Grain Free Beef Whole Food Clusters for Small Breeds 455 02 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen -- 03 Baked & Coated Wild-Ocean Fish 423
Price / Lb Lowest Across Bag Sizes 01 Grain Free Beef Whole Food Clusters for Small Breeds $6.86 10 lb bag, Chewy 02 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen -- No price on file. 03 Baked & Coated Wild-Ocean Fish $7.87 16 lb bag, Chewy
Cost / 1,000 Kcal Lower Is Cheaper To Feed What the same amount of energy costs, so a denser food is not penalized for a higher price per pound. 01 Grain Free Beef Whole Food Clusters for Small Breeds -- No calorie figure on file. 02 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen -- No price on file. 03 Baked & Coated Wild-Ocean Fish $4.43
First Five Ingredients 01 Grain Free Beef Whole Food Clusters for Small Breeds Beef, peas, potatoes, beef liver, lentils 02 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen White Fish (Pollock), Turkey Neck, Turkey Gizzard, Beef Liver, Broccoli 03 Baked & Coated Wild-Ocean Fish Salmon, Herring, Cod, Whitefish, Dehydrated Herring

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Every figure here is the food's own. Protein and carbohydrate are converted to dry matter so foods of different moisture can be set beside each other; starch is estimated from the guaranteed analysis with ash assumed at 6.0%, and the recall record belongs to the manufacturer rather than to the recipe. Two rows are printed but never marked: the named-protein count, because the detection behind it is too rough to call a winner on, and calories, because neither more nor fewer is better without knowing the dog.

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