Four Foods, One Method

• 01 Merrick Real Beef, Lamb and Bison Grain Free Swap Remove
• 02 Merrick Lil’ Plates Small Breed Thanksgiving Grain-Free Swap Remove
• 03 TruDog Raw Turkey Meal Bites Grain-Free Swap Remove
• 04 Darwin's Natural Pet Products Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen Swap Remove

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

	01 Merrick Real Beef, Lamb and Bison Grain Free Swap Remove	02 Merrick Lil’ Plates Small Breed Thanksgiving Grain-Free Swap Remove	03 TruDog Raw Turkey Meal Bites Grain-Free Swap Remove	04 Darwin's Natural Pet Products Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen Swap Remove
01 Protein, Dry Matter Higher Is Better 26-32% dm reads typical mainstream.	01 Real Beef, Lamb and Bison Grain Free 40.9%	02 Lil’ Plates Small Breed Thanksgiving Grain-Free 44.4%	03 Raw Turkey Meal Bites Grain-Free 54.3%	04 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 Real Beef, Lamb and Bison Grain Free 21% 0.6% as fed	02 Lil’ Plates Small Breed Thanksgiving Grain-Free 17% 0.0% as fed	03 Raw Turkey Meal Bites Grain-Free 16% 15.0% as fed Best in this row	04 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 Real Beef, Lamb and Bison Grain Free 5 of 5	02 Lil’ Plates Small Breed Thanksgiving Grain-Free 5 of 5	03 Raw Turkey Meal Bites Grain-Free 4 of 5	04 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 Real Beef, Lamb and Bison Grain Free None	02 Lil’ Plates Small Breed Thanksgiving Grain-Free None	03 Raw Turkey Meal Bites Grain-Free None	04 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 Real Beef, Lamb and Bison Grain Free 1 None in the last 3 years	02 Lil’ Plates Small Breed Thanksgiving Grain-Free 1 None in the last 3 years	03 Raw Turkey Meal Bites Grain-Free None Best in this row	04 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 Real Beef, Lamb and Bison Grain Free 0.6%	02 Lil’ Plates Small Breed Thanksgiving Grain-Free 0.0%	03 Raw Turkey Meal Bites Grain-Free 15.0%	04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen 0.0%
Kcal / Cup	01 Real Beef, Lamb and Bison Grain Free --	02 Lil’ Plates Small Breed Thanksgiving Grain-Free --	03 Raw Turkey Meal Bites Grain-Free 231	04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen --
Price / Lb Lowest Across Bag Sizes	01 Real Beef, Lamb and Bison Grain Free -- No price on file.	02 Lil’ Plates Small Breed Thanksgiving Grain-Free $10.42 12 x 3.5 oz bag, Amazon	03 Raw Turkey Meal Bites Grain-Free -- No price on file.	04 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 Real Beef, Lamb and Bison Grain Free -- No price on file.	02 Lil’ Plates Small Breed Thanksgiving Grain-Free $23.71	03 Raw Turkey Meal Bites Grain-Free -- No price on file.	04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen -- No price on file.
First Five Ingredients	01 Real Beef, Lamb and Bison Grain Free Deboned Beef, Beef Broth, Beef Liver, Deboned Lamb, Deboned Bison	02 Lil’ Plates Small Breed Thanksgiving Grain-Free DEBONED TURKEY, TURKEY BROTH, CHICKEN BROTH, CHICKEN LIVER, DEBONED CHICKEN	03 Raw Turkey Meal Bites Grain-Free Turkey, Turkey Heart, Turkey Liver, Herring Oil (source of Omega 3 Fatty Acids), Mixed Tocopherols (preservative)	04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen White fish (Pollock), Turkey neck, Turkey heart, Broccoli, Sweet potato

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.