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The Comparison

Four Foods, One Method

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

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

Four Foods, One Method. Each row is one measure; the best figure in a row is marked.
01 TruDog Grain Free Turkey & Duck Swap Remove 02 NutriSource Element Series Outback Trails Swap Remove 03 Stella & Chewy's Stella & Chewy’s Wild Red : Whole Prey Chicken & Lamb Swap Remove 04 Darwin's Natural Pet Products Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen Swap Remove
01 Protein, Dry Matter Higher Is Better 26-32% dm reads typical mainstream. 01 Grain Free Turkey & Duck 50.0% 02 Element Series Outback Trails 37.8% 03 Stella & Chewy’s Wild Red : Whole Prey Chicken & Lamb 46.7% 04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen 53.6% 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 Grain Free Turkey & Duck 11% 0.0% as fed 02 Element Series Outback Trails 32% 29.0% as fed 03 Stella & Chewy’s Wild Red : Whole Prey Chicken & Lamb 13% 0.0% as fed 04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen 7% 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 Grain Free Turkey & Duck 4 of 5 02 Element Series Outback Trails 4 of 5 03 Stella & Chewy’s Wild Red : Whole Prey Chicken & Lamb 3 of 5 04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen 4 of 5
04 Flagged Additives Level Lower Is Better Matched against the flag list. 01 Grain Free Turkey & Duck None 02 Element Series Outback Trails None 03 Stella & Chewy’s Wild Red : Whole Prey Chicken & Lamb None 04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen None
05 Brand Recall History Lower Is Better Manufacturer, not recipe. 01 Grain Free Turkey & Duck None Best in this row 02 Element Series Outback Trails 1 None in the last 3 years 03 Stella & Chewy’s Wild Red : Whole Prey Chicken & Lamb 2 None in the last 3 years 04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen 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 Grain Free Turkey & Duck 0.0% 02 Element Series Outback Trails 29.0% 03 Stella & Chewy’s Wild Red : Whole Prey Chicken & Lamb 0.0% 04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen 0.0%
Kcal / Cup 01 Grain Free Turkey & Duck 195 02 Element Series Outback Trails 494 03 Stella & Chewy’s Wild Red : Whole Prey Chicken & Lamb -- 04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen --
Price / Lb Lowest Across Bag Sizes 01 Grain Free Turkey & Duck -- No price on file. 02 Element Series Outback Trails $4.41 24 lb bag, Petflow 03 Stella & Chewy’s Wild Red : Whole Prey Chicken & Lamb -- No price on file. 04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support 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 Grain Free Turkey & Duck -- No price on file. 02 Element Series Outback Trails $2.46 03 Stella & Chewy’s Wild Red : Whole Prey Chicken & Lamb -- No price on file. 04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen -- No price on file.
First Five Ingredients 01 Grain Free Turkey & Duck Turkey, turkey broth, turkey liver, ground dried peas, duck 02 Element Series Outback Trails Deboned Lamb, Kangaroo, Deboned Wild Boar, Lamb Meal, Turkey Meal 03 Stella & Chewy’s Wild Red : Whole Prey Chicken & Lamb Cage-Free Chicken, Chicken Broth, Beef Broth, Pumpkin, Organic Carrots 04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen White Fish (Pollock), Turkey Neck, Turkey Gizzard, Beef Liver, Broccoli

Add A Food

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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