Three Foods, One Method

• 01 Merrick Lil’ Plates Small Breed Thanksgiving Grain-Free Swap Remove
• 02 Merrick Lil’ Plates Small Breed Texas Steak Grain-Free Swap Remove
• 03 K9 Natural Baked & Coated Wild-Ocean Fish Swap Remove

Three Foods, One Method. Each row is one measure; the best figure in a row is marked.

	01 Merrick Lil’ Plates Small Breed Thanksgiving Grain-Free Swap Remove	02 Merrick Lil’ Plates Small Breed Texas Steak Grain-Free Swap Remove	03 K9 Natural Baked & Coated Wild-Ocean Fish Swap Remove	+ Add A Food
01 Protein, Dry Matter Level Higher Is Better 26-32% dm reads typical mainstream.	01 Lil’ Plates Small Breed Thanksgiving Grain-Free 44.4%	02 Lil’ Plates Small Breed Texas Steak Grain-Free 44.4%	03 Baked & Coated Wild-Ocean Fish 44.4%
02 Carbohydrate Load, Dry Matter Lower Is Better Estimated, 6% ash assumed. iEstimated, 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 Lil’ Plates Small Breed Thanksgiving Grain-Free 17% 0.0% as fed	02 Lil’ Plates Small Breed Texas Steak Grain-Free 20% 0.0% as fed	03 Baked & Coated Wild-Ocean Fish 24% 21.5% as fed
03 Named Proteins In The First Five Count of named animal proteins. iThe 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 Lil’ Plates Small Breed Thanksgiving Grain-Free 5 of 5	02 Lil’ Plates Small Breed Texas Steak Grain-Free 5 of 5	03 Baked & Coated Wild-Ocean Fish 4 of 5
04 Flagged Additives Level Lower Is Better Matched against the flag list.	01 Lil’ Plates Small Breed Thanksgiving Grain-Free None	02 Lil’ Plates Small Breed Texas Steak Grain-Free None	03 Baked & Coated Wild-Ocean Fish None
05 Brand Recall History Lower Is Better Manufacturer, not recipe.	01 Lil’ Plates Small Breed Thanksgiving Grain-Free 1 None in the last 3 years	02 Lil’ Plates Small Breed Texas Steak Grain-Free 1 None in the last 3 years	03 Baked & Coated Wild-Ocean Fish None Best in this row
Starch, As Fed iEstimated, 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 Lil’ Plates Small Breed Thanksgiving Grain-Free 0.0%	02 Lil’ Plates Small Breed Texas Steak Grain-Free 0.0%	03 Baked & Coated Wild-Ocean Fish 21.5%
Kcal / Cup	01 Lil’ Plates Small Breed Thanksgiving Grain-Free --	02 Lil’ Plates Small Breed Texas Steak Grain-Free --	03 Baked & Coated Wild-Ocean Fish 423
Price / Lb Lowest Across Bag Sizes	01 Lil’ Plates Small Breed Thanksgiving Grain-Free $10.42 12 x 3.5 oz bag, Amazon	02 Lil’ Plates Small Breed Texas Steak Grain-Free -- No price on file.	03 Baked & Coated Wild-Ocean Fish $7.87 16 lb bag, Chewy
Cost / 1,000 Kcal What the same amount of energy costs, so a denser food is not penalized for a higher price per pound.	01 Lil’ Plates Small Breed Thanksgiving Grain-Free $23.71	02 Lil’ Plates Small Breed Texas Steak Grain-Free -- No price on file.	03 Baked & Coated Wild-Ocean Fish $4.43
First Five Ingredients	01 Lil’ Plates Small Breed Thanksgiving Grain-Free DEBONED TURKEY, TURKEY BROTH, CHICKEN BROTH, CHICKEN LIVER, DEBONED CHICKEN	02 Lil’ Plates Small Breed Texas Steak Grain-Free BEEF, BEEF BROTH, VENISON BROTH, BEEF LIVER, DRIED EGG WHITES	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.