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In The Kibble
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The Comparison

Three Foods, One Method

The same five measures, applied to each food from its own figures.

These foods are different formats, so cost is shown but not ranked: wet and kibble are priced on very different amounts of water.

Prices are the lowest per pound we found across bag sizes, from our latest checks. Stores change prices often.

Three Foods, One Method. Each row is one measure; the best figure in a row is marked.
01 NutriSource PureVita Salmon & Kale Entree Swap Remove 02 NutriSource Element Series Open Waters Swap Remove 03 K9 Natural Lamb Feast Grain-Free Swap Remove + Add A Food
01 Protein, Dry Matter Higher Is Better 26-32% dm reads typical mainstream. 01 PureVita Salmon & Kale Entree 26.7% 02 Element Series Open Waters 37.8% 03 Lamb Feast Grain-Free 44.6% Best in this row
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 PureVita Salmon & Kale Entree 46% 41.0% as fed 02 Element Series Open Waters 32% 29.0% as fed 03 Lamb Feast Grain-Free 9% 8.5% 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 PureVita Salmon & Kale Entree 2 of 5 02 Element Series Open Waters 4 of 5 03 Lamb Feast Grain-Free 5 of 5
04 Flagged Additives Level Lower Is Better Matched against the flag list. 01 PureVita Salmon & Kale Entree None 02 Element Series Open Waters None 03 Lamb Feast Grain-Free None
05 Brand Recall History Lower Is Better Manufacturer, not recipe. 01 PureVita Salmon & Kale Entree 1 None in the last 3 years 02 Element Series Open Waters 1 None in the last 3 years 03 Lamb Feast 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 PureVita Salmon & Kale Entree 41.0% 02 Element Series Open Waters 29.0% 03 Lamb Feast Grain-Free 8.5%
Kcal / Cup 01 PureVita Salmon & Kale Entree 417 02 Element Series Open Waters 504 03 Lamb Feast Grain-Free --
Price / Lb Lowest Across Bag Sizes 01 PureVita Salmon & Kale Entree -- No price on file. 02 Element Series Open Waters $4.41 24 lb bag, Petflow 03 Lamb Feast Grain-Free $37.50 8 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 PureVita Salmon & Kale Entree -- No price on file. 02 Element Series Open Waters $2.45 03 Lamb Feast Grain-Free -- No calorie figure on file.
First Five Ingredients 01 PureVita Salmon & Kale Entree salmon, salmon meal, oatmeal, barley, brown rice 02 Element Series Open Waters haddock, trout, duck, salmon, salmon meal 03 Lamb Feast Grain-Free Lamb, Lamb Tripe, Lamb Heart, Lamb Lung, Lamb Liver

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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.

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