Three Foods, One Method

• 01 NutriSource PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free Swap Remove
• 02 Merrick Lil’ Plates Small Breed Chicken Grain-Free Swap Remove
• 03 K9 Natural Lamb Feast Grain-Free Swap Remove

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

	01 NutriSource PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free Swap Remove	02 Merrick Lil’ Plates Small Breed Chicken Grain-Free 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 Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 30.0%	02 Lil’ Plates Small Breed Chicken Grain-Free 44.4%	03 Lamb Feast Grain-Free 44.6% 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 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 40% 36.0% as fed	02 Lil’ Plates Small Breed Chicken Grain-Free 20% 0.0% 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. 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 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 2 of 5	02 Lil’ Plates Small Breed Chicken Grain-Free 5 of 5	03 Lamb Feast Grain-Free 5 of 5
04 Flagged Additives Level Lower Is Better Matched against the flag list.	01 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free None	02 Lil’ Plates Small Breed Chicken Grain-Free None	03 Lamb Feast Grain-Free None
05 Brand Recall History Lower Is Better Manufacturer, not recipe.	01 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree 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 Lamb Feast Grain-Free 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 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 36.0%	02 Lil’ Plates Small Breed Chicken Grain-Free 0.0%	03 Lamb Feast Grain-Free 8.5%
Kcal / Cup	01 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 406	02 Lil’ Plates Small Breed Chicken Grain-Free --	03 Lamb Feast Grain-Free --
Price / Lb Lowest Across Bag Sizes	01 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free -- No price on file.	02 Lil’ Plates Small Breed Chicken Grain-Free -- No price on file.	03 Lamb Feast Grain-Free $37.50 8 lb bag, Chewy
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 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free -- No price on file.	02 Lil’ Plates Small Breed Chicken Grain-Free -- No price on file.	03 Lamb Feast Grain-Free -- No calorie figure on file.
First Five Ingredients	01 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free lamb, lamb meal, garbanzo beans, chickpea flour, dried plain beet pulp	02 Lil’ Plates Small Breed Chicken Grain-Free DEBONED CHICKEN, CHICKEN BROTH, TURKEY BROTH, CHICKEN LIVER, DRIED EGG WHITES	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.