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The Comparison

Three 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.

Three Foods, One Method. Each row is one measure; the best figure in a row is marked.
01 Acana Light & Fit Swap Remove 02 Acana Wholesome Grains Free-Run Poultry & Grains Swap Remove 03 Darwin's Natural Pet Products Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen Swap Remove + Add A Food
01 Protein, Dry Matter Higher Is Better 26-32% dm reads typical mainstream. 01 Light & Fit 37.5% 02 Wholesome Grains Free-Run Poultry & Grains 30.7% 03 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. 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 Light & Fit 35% 31.0% as fed Best in this row 02 Wholesome Grains Free-Run Poultry & Grains 36% 32.0% as fed 03 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. 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 Light & Fit 4 of 5 02 Wholesome Grains Free-Run Poultry & Grains 3 of 5 03 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 Light & Fit None 02 Wholesome Grains Free-Run Poultry & Grains None 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen None
05 Brand Recall History Level Lower Is Better Manufacturer, not recipe. 01 Light & Fit None 02 Wholesome Grains Free-Run Poultry & Grains None 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen None
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 Light & Fit 31.0% 02 Wholesome Grains Free-Run Poultry & Grains 32.0% 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen 0.0%
Kcal / Cup 01 Light & Fit 344 02 Wholesome Grains Free-Run Poultry & Grains 371 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen --
Price / Lb Lowest Across Bag Sizes 01 Light & Fit $3.20 25 lb bag, Amazon 02 Wholesome Grains Free-Run Poultry & Grains $3.12 32 lb bag, Amazon 03 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 Light & Fit $2.34 02 Wholesome Grains Free-Run Poultry & Grains $2.04 Best in this row 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen -- No price on file.
First Five Ingredients 01 Light & Fit Chicken, turkey, chicken meal, turkey meal, whole red lentils 02 Wholesome Grains Free-Run Poultry & Grains Chicken, turkey, chicken meal, oat groats, whole sorghum 03 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)

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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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