Four Foods, One Method

• 01 NutriSource PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free Swap Remove
• 02 Wellness Core Digestive Health Whitefish & Brown Rice Swap Remove
• 03 TruDog Garden of Vegan Plant-Based Swap Remove
• 04 Darwin's Natural Pet Products Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen Swap Remove

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 Wellness Core Digestive Health Whitefish & Brown Rice Swap Remove	03 TruDog Garden of Vegan Plant-Based Swap Remove	04 Darwin's Natural Pet Products Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen 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 Core Digestive Health Whitefish & Brown Rice 33.3%	03 Garden of Vegan Plant-Based 26.1%	04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen 56.0% 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 Best in this row	02 Core Digestive Health Whitefish & Brown Rice 42% 38.0% as fed	03 Garden of Vegan Plant-Based 40% 4.8% as fed Best in this row	04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef 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 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 2 of 5	02 Core Digestive Health Whitefish & Brown Rice 3 of 5	03 Garden of Vegan Plant-Based 0 of 5	04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen 3 of 5
04 Flagged Additives Level Lower Is Better Matched against the flag list.	01 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free None	02 Core Digestive Health Whitefish & Brown Rice None	03 Garden of Vegan Plant-Based None	04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen 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 Core Digestive Health Whitefish & Brown Rice 2 None in the last 3 years	03 Garden of Vegan Plant-Based None Best in this row	04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef 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 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 36.0%	02 Core Digestive Health Whitefish & Brown Rice 38.0%	03 Garden of Vegan Plant-Based 4.8%	04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen 0.0%
Kcal / Cup	01 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 406	02 Core Digestive Health Whitefish & Brown Rice 394	03 Garden of Vegan Plant-Based --	04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen --
Price / Lb Lowest Across Bag Sizes	01 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free -- No price on file.	02 Core Digestive Health Whitefish & Brown Rice $3.54 22 lb bag, Amazon	03 Garden of Vegan Plant-Based -- No price on file.	04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef 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 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free -- No price on file.	02 Core Digestive Health Whitefish & Brown Rice $2.14	03 Garden of Vegan Plant-Based -- No price on file.	04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen -- No price 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 Core Digestive Health Whitefish & Brown Rice Whitefish, Whitefish Meal (source of Glucosamine), Herring Meal (source of Chondroitin Sulfate), Brown Rice, Oatmeal	03 Garden of Vegan Plant-Based Vegetable broth, chickpeas, potatoes, pea protein, carrots	04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen Antibiotic-Free Meat (72.41%): Ground Lean Beef Meat, Beef Hearts, Beef Livers. Organic Vegetables (24.43%): Cabbage, Lettuce, Squash (seasonal)

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.