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The Comparison

Four 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.

Four Foods, One Method. Each row is one measure; the best figure in a row is marked.
01 Annamaet Small Breed Salmon Swap Remove 02 Annamaet Salcha Formula Grain-Free Swap Remove 03 Darwin's Natural Pet Products Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen Swap Remove 04 Stella & Chewy's Stella & Chewy’s Wild Red : Whole Prey Chicken & Lamb Swap Remove
01 Protein, Dry Matter Higher Is Better 26-32% dm reads typical mainstream. 01 Small Breed Salmon 26.7% 02 Salcha Formula Grain-Free 33.3% 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen 56.0% Best in this row 04 Stella & Chewy’s Wild Red : Whole Prey Chicken & Lamb 46.7%
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 Small Breed Salmon 49% 44.0% as fed 02 Salcha Formula Grain-Free 38% 34.5% as fed Best in this row 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen 12% 0.0% as fed 04 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 Small Breed Salmon 2 of 5 02 Salcha Formula Grain-Free 2 of 5 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen 3 of 5 04 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 Small Breed Salmon None 02 Salcha Formula Grain-Free None 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen None 04 Stella & Chewy’s Wild Red : Whole Prey Chicken & Lamb None
05 Brand Recall History Lower Is Better Manufacturer, not recipe. 01 Small Breed Salmon None Best in this row 02 Salcha Formula Grain-Free None Best in this row 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen None Best in this row 04 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 Small Breed Salmon 44.0% 02 Salcha Formula Grain-Free 34.5% 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen 0.0% 04 Stella & Chewy’s Wild Red : Whole Prey Chicken & Lamb 0.0%
Kcal / Cup 01 Small Breed Salmon 479 02 Salcha Formula Grain-Free 522 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen -- 04 Stella & Chewy’s Wild Red : Whole Prey Chicken & Lamb --
Price / Lb Lowest Across Bag Sizes 01 Small Breed Salmon $3.92 12 lb bag, Amazon 02 Salcha Formula Grain-Free $3.27 25 lb bag, Amazon 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen -- No price on file. 04 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 Small Breed Salmon $2.43 02 Salcha Formula Grain-Free $1.99 Best in this row 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen -- No price on file. 04 Stella & Chewy’s Wild Red : Whole Prey Chicken & Lamb -- No price on file.
First Five Ingredients 01 Small Breed Salmon Salmon Meal, Brown Rice, Millet, Rolled Oats, Lamb Meal 02 Salcha Formula Grain-Free Chicken Meal, Lentils, Duck Meal, Field Peas, Chickpeas 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen Antibiotic-Free Meat (72.41%): Ground Lean Beef Meat, Beef Hearts, Beef Livers. Organic Vegetables (24.43%): Cabbage, Lettuce, Squash (seasonal) 04 Stella & Chewy’s Wild Red : Whole Prey Chicken & Lamb Cage-Free Chicken, Chicken Broth, Beef Broth, Pumpkin, Organic 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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