Four Foods, One Method

• 01 Acana Wholesome Grains Limited Ingredient Diet Lamb & Pumpkin Swap Remove
• 02 Acana Free-Run Poultry Swap Remove
• 03 Darwin's Natural Pet Products Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen Swap Remove
• 04 NutriSource PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free Swap Remove

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

	01 Acana Wholesome Grains Limited Ingredient Diet Lamb & Pumpkin Swap Remove	02 Acana Free-Run Poultry Swap Remove	03 Darwin's Natural Pet Products Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen Swap Remove	04 NutriSource PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free Swap Remove
01 Protein, Dry Matter Higher Is Better 26-32% dm reads typical mainstream.	01 Wholesome Grains Limited Ingredient Diet Lamb & Pumpkin 30.7%	02 Free-Run Poultry 33.0%	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen 56.0% Best in this row	04 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 30.0%
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 Wholesome Grains Limited Ingredient Diet Lamb & Pumpkin 36% 32.0% as fed	02 Free-Run Poultry 34% 30.0% as fed Best in this row	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen 12% 0.0% as fed	04 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 40% 36.0% 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 Wholesome Grains Limited Ingredient Diet Lamb & Pumpkin 3 of 5	02 Free-Run Poultry 3 of 5	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen 3 of 5	04 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 2 of 5
04 Flagged Additives Level Lower Is Better Matched against the flag list.	01 Wholesome Grains Limited Ingredient Diet Lamb & Pumpkin None	02 Free-Run Poultry None	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen None	04 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free None
05 Brand Recall History Lower Is Better Manufacturer, not recipe.	01 Wholesome Grains Limited Ingredient Diet Lamb & Pumpkin None Best in this row	02 Free-Run Poultry None Best in this row	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen None Best in this row	04 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 1 None in the last 3 years
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 Wholesome Grains Limited Ingredient Diet Lamb & Pumpkin 32.0%	02 Free-Run Poultry 30.0%	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen 0.0%	04 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 36.0%
Kcal / Cup	01 Wholesome Grains Limited Ingredient Diet Lamb & Pumpkin 371	02 Free-Run Poultry 396	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen --	04 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 406
Price / Lb Lowest Across Bag Sizes	01 Wholesome Grains Limited Ingredient Diet Lamb & Pumpkin $4.40 22.5 lb bag, Amazon	02 Free-Run Poultry $3.20 25 lb bag, Amazon	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen -- No price on file.	04 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free -- 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 Wholesome Grains Limited Ingredient Diet Lamb & Pumpkin $2.88	02 Free-Run Poultry $2.03 Best in this row	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen -- No price on file.	04 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free -- No price on file.
First Five Ingredients	01 Wholesome Grains Limited Ingredient Diet Lamb & Pumpkin Lamb, lamb meal, oat groats, whole sorghum, lamb liver	02 Free-Run Poultry Chicken, turkey, chicken meal, whole red lentils, whole pinto beans	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)	04 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free lamb, lamb meal, garbanzo beans, chickpea flour, dried plain beet pulp

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.