Four Foods, One Method

• 01 Merrick Real Beef, Lamb and Bison Grain Free Swap Remove
• 02 Merrick Lil’ Plates Small Breed Chicken Grain-Free Swap Remove
• 03 TruDog Raw Beef Meal Bites Grain-Free Swap Remove
• 04 Darwin's Natural Pet Products Darwin’s Natural Pet Products BioLogics Raw Chicken for Healthy Dogs 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 Chicken Grain-Free Swap Remove	03 TruDog Raw Beef Meal Bites Grain-Free Swap Remove	04 Darwin's Natural Pet Products Darwin’s Natural Pet Products BioLogics Raw Chicken for Healthy Dogs 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 Chicken Grain-Free 44.4%	03 Raw Beef Meal Bites Grain-Free 43.5%	04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products BioLogics Raw Chicken for Healthy Dogs Grain-Free Frozen 57.7% 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 Chicken Grain-Free 20% 0.0% as fed	03 Raw Beef Meal Bites Grain-Free 9% 8.0% as fed Best in this row	04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products BioLogics Raw Chicken for Healthy Dogs Grain-Free Frozen 12% 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 Chicken Grain-Free 5 of 5	03 Raw Beef Meal Bites Grain-Free 5 of 5	04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products BioLogics Raw Chicken for Healthy Dogs Grain-Free Frozen 5 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 Chicken Grain-Free None	03 Raw Beef Meal Bites Grain-Free None	04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products BioLogics Raw Chicken for Healthy Dogs 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 Chicken Grain-Free 1 None in the last 3 years	03 Raw Beef Meal Bites Grain-Free None Best in this row	04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products BioLogics Raw Chicken for Healthy Dogs 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 Chicken Grain-Free 0.0%	03 Raw Beef Meal Bites Grain-Free 8.0%	04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products BioLogics Raw Chicken for Healthy Dogs Grain-Free Frozen 0.0%
Kcal / Cup	01 Real Beef, Lamb and Bison Grain Free --	02 Lil’ Plates Small Breed Chicken Grain-Free --	03 Raw Beef Meal Bites Grain-Free 233	04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products BioLogics Raw Chicken for Healthy Dogs Grain-Free Frozen --
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 Chicken Grain-Free DEBONED CHICKEN, CHICKEN BROTH, TURKEY BROTH, CHICKEN LIVER, DRIED EGG WHITES	03 Raw Beef Meal Bites Grain-Free Beef, Beef Heart, Beef Liver, Beef Lung, Beef Kidney	04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products BioLogics Raw Chicken for Healthy Dogs Grain-Free Frozen Chicken, Chicken Necks (bone in), Chicken Gizzards, Chicken Liver, Chicken Hearts

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.