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.
Open Your Saved Comparison- 01 Rachael Ray Nutrish Grain Free Chicken & Sweet Potato Swap Remove
- 02 NutriSource PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree 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 TruDog Raw Beef Meal Bites Grain-Free Swap Remove
| 01 Rachael Ray Nutrish Grain Free Chicken & Sweet Potato Swap Remove | 02 NutriSource PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree 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 TruDog Raw Beef Meal Bites Grain-Free Swap Remove | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 Protein, Dry Matter Higher Is Better 26-32% dm reads typical mainstream. | 01 Grain Free Chicken & Sweet Potato 28.9% | 02 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 30.0% | 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen 56.0% Best in this row | 04 Raw Beef Meal Bites Grain-Free 43.5% |
| 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 Chicken & Sweet Potato 43% 39.0% as fed | 02 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 40% 36.0% as fed | 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen 12% 0.0% as fed | 04 Raw Beef Meal Bites Grain-Free 9% 8.0% 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 Chicken & Sweet Potato 2 of 5 | 02 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 2 of 5 | 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen 3 of 5 | 04 Raw Beef Meal Bites Grain-Free 5 of 5 |
| 04 Flagged Additives Level Lower Is Better Matched against the flag list. | 01 Grain Free Chicken & Sweet Potato None | 02 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free None | 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen None | 04 Raw Beef Meal Bites Grain-Free None |
| 05 Brand Recall History Lower Is Better Manufacturer, not recipe. | 01 Grain Free Chicken & Sweet Potato None Best in this row | 02 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 1 None in the last 3 years | 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen None Best in this row | 04 Raw Beef Meal Bites Grain-Free 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 Chicken & Sweet Potato 39.0% | 02 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 36.0% | 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen 0.0% | 04 Raw Beef Meal Bites Grain-Free 8.0% |
| Kcal / Cup | 01 Grain Free Chicken & Sweet Potato 365 | 02 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 406 | 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen -- | 04 Raw Beef Meal Bites Grain-Free 233 |
| Price / Lb Lowest Across Bag Sizes | 01 Grain Free Chicken & Sweet Potato $1.57 28 lb bag, Walmart | 02 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free -- No price on file. | 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen -- No price on file. | 04 Raw Beef Meal Bites Grain-Free -- 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 Grain Free Chicken & Sweet Potato $0.97 | 02 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free -- No price on file. | 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen -- No price on file. | 04 Raw Beef Meal Bites Grain-Free -- No price on file. |
| First Five Ingredients | 01 Grain Free Chicken & Sweet Potato Chicken, Salmon Meal, Canola Meal, Sweet Potato, Pea Starch | 02 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free lamb, lamb meal, garbanzo beans, chickpea flour, dried plain beet pulp | 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 Raw Beef Meal Bites Grain-Free Beef, Beef Heart, Beef Liver, Beef Lung, Beef Kidney |
Add A Food
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.
Think You Know What Your Dog Can Eat?
Ten everyday foods. Safe, In Moderation or Never. No googling, no second guesses. Then share your score with your friends, however embarrassing it turns out to be.
115 foods in the deck. Grapes are in there. So is cheese.
Think You
Know?
Ten foods, one at a time. Call each one Safe, In Moderation or Never, then flip the card to see if you had it right. The ones you miss are listed at the end.
Keys: 1 Safe 2 Moderation 3 Never Enter Next
Copied. Paste it anywhere your friends will see it.
Want the reason behind every answer? The 80-page e-book, $7.99
Now, is your dog's food any good?
Look it up: estimated starch, calories per cup and every ingredient, for 3,207 foods.



