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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 Nulo FreeStyle Puppy Salmon & Peas Swap Remove 02 Nulo Challenger Organic Ancient Grains Beef, Lamb & Pork Swap Remove 03 Stella & Chewy's Stella & Chewy’s Wild Red : Whole Prey Chicken & Lamb Swap Remove + Add A Food
01 Protein, Dry Matter Higher Is Better 26-32% dm reads typical mainstream. 01 FreeStyle Puppy Salmon & Peas 33.3% 02 Challenger Organic Ancient Grains Beef, Lamb & Pork 38.9% 03 Stella & Chewy’s Wild Red : Whole Prey Chicken & Lamb 46.7% Best in this row
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 FreeStyle Puppy Salmon & Peas 37% 33.0% as fed 02 Challenger Organic Ancient Grains Beef, Lamb & Pork 30% 27.0% as fed Best in this row 03 Stella & Chewy’s Wild Red : Whole Prey Chicken & Lamb 13% 0.0% as fed
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 FreeStyle Puppy Salmon & Peas 4 of 5 02 Challenger Organic Ancient Grains Beef, Lamb & Pork 5 of 5 03 Stella & Chewy’s Wild Red : Whole Prey Chicken & Lamb 3 of 5
04 Flagged Additives Level Lower Is Better Matched against the flag list. 01 FreeStyle Puppy Salmon & Peas None 02 Challenger Organic Ancient Grains Beef, Lamb & Pork None 03 Stella & Chewy’s Wild Red : Whole Prey Chicken & Lamb None
05 Brand Recall History Lower Is Better Manufacturer, not recipe. 01 FreeStyle Puppy Salmon & Peas None Best in this row 02 Challenger Organic Ancient Grains Beef, Lamb & Pork None Best in this row 03 Stella & Chewy’s Wild Red : Whole Prey Chicken & Lamb 2 None in the last 3 years
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 FreeStyle Puppy Salmon & Peas 33.0% 02 Challenger Organic Ancient Grains Beef, Lamb & Pork 27.0% 03 Stella & Chewy’s Wild Red : Whole Prey Chicken & Lamb 0.0%
Kcal / Cup 01 FreeStyle Puppy Salmon & Peas 390 02 Challenger Organic Ancient Grains Beef, Lamb & Pork 438 03 Stella & Chewy’s Wild Red : Whole Prey Chicken & Lamb --
Price / Lb Lowest Across Bag Sizes 01 FreeStyle Puppy Salmon & Peas $5.00 6 lb bag, Amazon 02 Challenger Organic Ancient Grains Beef, Lamb & Pork $4.42 24 lb bag, Chewy 03 Stella & Chewy’s Wild Red : Whole Prey Chicken & Lamb -- No price on file.
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 FreeStyle Puppy Salmon & Peas $3.15 02 Challenger Organic Ancient Grains Beef, Lamb & Pork $2.63 Best in this row 03 Stella & Chewy’s Wild Red : Whole Prey Chicken & Lamb -- No price on file.
First Five Ingredients 01 FreeStyle Puppy Salmon & Peas Deboned Salmon, Deboned Turkey, Turkey Meal, Menhaden Fish Meal, Whole Peas 02 Challenger Organic Ancient Grains Beef, Lamb & Pork Deboned Beef, Deboned Lamb, Salmon Meal, Turkey Meal, Deboned Pork 03 Stella & Chewy’s Wild Red : Whole Prey Chicken & Lamb Cage-Free Chicken, Chicken Broth, Beef Broth, Pumpkin, Organic Carrots

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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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