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The Comparison

Four Foods, One Method

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

Four Foods, One Method. Each row is one measure; the best figure in a row is marked.
01 Abound Pro Vet Formulated Healthy Weight Adult Chicken & Oatmeal Swap Remove 02 Abound Grain Free All Life Stages Salmon & Sweet Potato Swap Remove 03 Darwin's Natural Pet Products Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen Swap Remove 04 TruDog Garden of Vegan Plant-Based Swap Remove
01 Protein, Dry Matter Higher Is Better 26-32% dm reads typical mainstream. 01 Pro Vet Formulated Healthy Weight Adult Chicken & Oatmeal 30.0% 02 Grain Free All Life Stages Salmon & Sweet Potato 27.8% 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen 53.6% Best in this row 04 Garden of Vegan Plant-Based 26.1%
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 Pro Vet Formulated Healthy Weight Adult Chicken & Oatmeal 41% 37.0% as fed 02 Grain Free All Life Stages Salmon & Sweet Potato 46% 41.0% as fed 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen 7% 0.0% as fed 04 Garden of Vegan Plant-Based 40% 4.8% 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 Pro Vet Formulated Healthy Weight Adult Chicken & Oatmeal 2 of 5 02 Grain Free All Life Stages Salmon & Sweet Potato 2 of 5 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen 4 of 5 04 Garden of Vegan Plant-Based 0 of 5
04 Flagged Additives Lower Is Better Matched against the flag list. 01 Pro Vet Formulated Healthy Weight Adult Chicken & Oatmeal 1 Menadione 02 Grain Free All Life Stages Salmon & Sweet Potato None Best in this row 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen None Best in this row 04 Garden of Vegan Plant-Based None Best in this row
05 Brand Recall History Lower Is Better Manufacturer, not recipe. 01 Pro Vet Formulated Healthy Weight Adult Chicken & Oatmeal 2 None in the last 3 years 02 Grain Free All Life Stages Salmon & Sweet Potato 2 None in the last 3 years 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen None Best in this row 04 Garden of Vegan Plant-Based 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 Pro Vet Formulated Healthy Weight Adult Chicken & Oatmeal 37.0% 02 Grain Free All Life Stages Salmon & Sweet Potato 41.0% 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen 0.0% 04 Garden of Vegan Plant-Based 4.8%
Kcal / Cup 01 Pro Vet Formulated Healthy Weight Adult Chicken & Oatmeal -- 02 Grain Free All Life Stages Salmon & Sweet Potato -- 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen -- 04 Garden of Vegan Plant-Based --
First Five Ingredients 01 Pro Vet Formulated Healthy Weight Adult Chicken & Oatmeal Chicken, brown rice, chicken meal, barley, poultry fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols) 02 Grain Free All Life Stages Salmon & Sweet Potato Deboned salmon, chicken meal, sweet potatoes, garbanzo beans, peas 03 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 04 Garden of Vegan Plant-Based Vegetable broth, chickpeas, potatoes, pea protein, carrots

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The comparison holds four foods. Use Swap on a column to put a different one in its place.

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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