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The Comparison

Four Foods, One Method

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

Four 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 Purina Bella Natural Bites with a Blend of Real Turkey & Chicken Swap Remove 03 Darwin's Natural Pet Products Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen Swap Remove 04 Stella & Chewy's Stella & Chewy’s Wild Red : Whole Prey Chicken & Lamb Swap Remove
01 Protein, Dry Matter Higher Is Better 26-32% dm reads typical mainstream. 01 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 30.0% 02 Bella Natural Bites with a Blend of Real Turkey & Chicken 29.5% 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen 56.5% Best in this row 04 Stella & Chewy’s Wild Red : Whole Prey Chicken & Lamb 46.7%
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 Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 40% 36.0% as fed Best in this row 02 Bella Natural Bites with a Blend of Real Turkey & Chicken 42% 36.5% as fed 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen 13% 0.0% as fed 04 Stella & Chewy’s Wild Red : Whole Prey Chicken & Lamb 13% 0.0% as fed
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 Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 2 of 5 02 Bella Natural Bites with a Blend of Real Turkey & Chicken 2 of 5 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen 3 of 5 04 Stella & Chewy’s Wild Red : Whole Prey Chicken & Lamb 3 of 5
04 Flagged Additives Lower Is Better Matched against the flag list. 01 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free None Best in this row 02 Bella Natural Bites with a Blend of Real Turkey & Chicken 1 Menadione 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen None Best in this row 04 Stella & Chewy’s Wild Red : Whole Prey Chicken & Lamb None Best in this row
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 Bella Natural Bites with a Blend of Real Turkey & Chicken 6 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 04 Stella & Chewy’s Wild Red : Whole Prey Chicken & Lamb 2 None in the last 3 years
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 Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 36.0% 02 Bella Natural Bites with a Blend of Real Turkey & Chicken 36.5% 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen 0.0% 04 Stella & Chewy’s Wild Red : Whole Prey Chicken & Lamb 0.0%
Kcal / Cup 01 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 406 02 Bella Natural Bites with a Blend of Real Turkey & Chicken 357 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen -- 04 Stella & Chewy’s Wild Red : Whole Prey Chicken & Lamb --
First Five Ingredients 01 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free lamb, lamb meal, garbanzo beans, chickpea flour, dried plain beet pulp 02 Bella Natural Bites with a Blend of Real Turkey & Chicken Turkey, Whole Grain Corn, Whole Grain Wheat, Beef Fat Preserved with Mixed-Tocopherols, Corn Gluten Meal 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 04 Stella & Chewy’s Wild Red : Whole Prey Chicken & Lamb Cage-Free Chicken, Chicken Broth, Beef Broth, Pumpkin, Organic Carrots

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The comparison holds four foods. Use Swap on a column to put a different one in its place.

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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