Three Foods, One Method

• 01 Merrick Wilderness Blend Grain Free in Gravy Swap Remove
• 02 Merrick Lil’ Plates Small Breed Chicken Grain-Free Swap Remove
• 03 Darwin's Natural Pet Products Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen Swap Remove

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

	01 Merrick Wilderness Blend Grain Free in Gravy Swap Remove	02 Merrick Lil’ Plates Small Breed Chicken Grain-Free Swap Remove	03 Darwin's Natural Pet Products Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen Swap Remove	+ Add A Food
01 Protein, Dry Matter Higher Is Better 26-32% dm reads typical mainstream.	01 Wilderness Blend Grain Free in Gravy 44.4%	02 Lil’ Plates Small Breed Chicken Grain-Free 44.4%	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen 56.5% Best in this row
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 Wilderness Blend Grain Free in Gravy 8% 0.0% as fed	02 Lil’ Plates Small Breed Chicken Grain-Free 20% 0.0% as fed	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen 13% 0.0% 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 Wilderness Blend Grain Free in Gravy 4 of 5	02 Lil’ Plates Small Breed Chicken Grain-Free 5 of 5	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen 3 of 5
04 Flagged Additives Level Lower Is Better Matched against the flag list.	01 Wilderness Blend Grain Free in Gravy None	02 Lil’ Plates Small Breed Chicken Grain-Free None	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen None
05 Brand Recall History Lower Is Better Manufacturer, not recipe.	01 Wilderness Blend Grain Free in Gravy 1 None in the last 3 years	02 Lil’ Plates Small Breed Chicken Grain-Free 1 None in the last 3 years	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen 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 Wilderness Blend Grain Free in Gravy 0.0%	02 Lil’ Plates Small Breed Chicken Grain-Free 0.0%	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen 0.0%
Kcal / Cup	01 Wilderness Blend Grain Free in Gravy --	02 Lil’ Plates Small Breed Chicken Grain-Free --	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen --
Price / Lb Lowest Across Bag Sizes	01 Wilderness Blend Grain Free in Gravy $4.78 12 x 12.6 oz bag, Amazon	02 Lil’ Plates Small Breed Chicken Grain-Free -- No price on file.	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen -- 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 Wilderness Blend Grain Free in Gravy $10.36	02 Lil’ Plates Small Breed Chicken Grain-Free -- No price on file.	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen -- No price on file.
First Five Ingredients	01 Wilderness Blend Grain Free in Gravy Deboned Duck, Beef Broth, Vegetable Broth, Bison, Venison	02 Lil’ Plates Small Breed Chicken Grain-Free DEBONED CHICKEN, CHICKEN BROTH, TURKEY BROTH, CHICKEN LIVER, DRIED EGG WHITES	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen White fish (Pollock), Turkey neck, Turkey heart, Broccoli, Sweet potato

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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.