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In The Kibble
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The Comparison

Four Foods, One Method

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

These foods are different formats, so cost is shown but not ranked: wet and kibble are priced on very different amounts of water.

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 Blue Wilderness Rocky Mountain Swap Remove 02 Purina ONE SmartBlend Vibrant Maturity 7+ Formula Swap Remove 03 OC Raw Dog Complete Meals Beef & Produce Grain-Free Frozen Swap Remove 04 K9 Natural Lamb Feast Grain-Free Swap Remove
01 Protein, Dry Matter Higher Is Better 26-32% dm reads typical mainstream. 01 Wilderness Rocky Mountain 31.1% 02 SmartBlend Vibrant Maturity 7+ Formula 31.8% 03 Complete Meals Beef & Produce Grain-Free Frozen 56.3% Best in this row 04 Lamb Feast Grain-Free 44.6%
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 Wilderness Rocky Mountain 41% 37.0% as fed 02 SmartBlend Vibrant Maturity 7+ Formula 42% 36.5% as fed 03 Complete Meals Beef & Produce Grain-Free Frozen 0% 0.0% as fed 04 Lamb Feast Grain-Free 9% 8.5% as fed Best in this row
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 Wilderness Rocky Mountain 3 of 5 02 SmartBlend Vibrant Maturity 7+ Formula 2 of 5 03 Complete Meals Beef & Produce Grain-Free Frozen 5 of 5 04 Lamb Feast Grain-Free 5 of 5
04 Flagged Additives Lower Is Better Matched against the flag list. 01 Wilderness Rocky Mountain None Best in this row 02 SmartBlend Vibrant Maturity 7+ Formula 1 Menadione 03 Complete Meals Beef & Produce Grain-Free Frozen None Best in this row 04 Lamb Feast Grain-Free None Best in this row
05 Brand Recall History Lower Is Better Manufacturer, not recipe. 01 Wilderness Rocky Mountain 2 None in the last 3 years 02 SmartBlend Vibrant Maturity 7+ Formula 6 None in the last 3 years 03 Complete Meals Beef & Produce Grain-Free Frozen None Best in this row 04 Lamb Feast Grain-Free 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 Wilderness Rocky Mountain 37.0% 02 SmartBlend Vibrant Maturity 7+ Formula 36.5% 03 Complete Meals Beef & Produce Grain-Free Frozen 0.0% 04 Lamb Feast Grain-Free 8.5%
Kcal / Cup 01 Wilderness Rocky Mountain 373 02 SmartBlend Vibrant Maturity 7+ Formula 363 03 Complete Meals Beef & Produce Grain-Free Frozen -- 04 Lamb Feast Grain-Free --
Price / Lb Lowest Across Bag Sizes 01 Wilderness Rocky Mountain $2.92 24 lb bag, PetSmart 02 SmartBlend Vibrant Maturity 7+ Formula $1.61 31.1 lb bag, Chewy 03 Complete Meals Beef & Produce Grain-Free Frozen -- No price on file. 04 Lamb Feast Grain-Free $37.50 8 lb bag, Chewy
Cost / 1,000 Kcal What the same amount of energy costs, so a denser food is not penalized for a higher price per pound. 01 Wilderness Rocky Mountain $1.83 02 SmartBlend Vibrant Maturity 7+ Formula $0.94 03 Complete Meals Beef & Produce Grain-Free Frozen -- No price on file. 04 Lamb Feast Grain-Free -- No calorie figure on file.
First Five Ingredients 01 Wilderness Rocky Mountain Deboned Beef, Beef Meal, Chicken Meal, Oatmeal, Barley 02 SmartBlend Vibrant Maturity 7+ Formula Chicken, rice flour, corn protein meal, chicken by-product meal, soybean meal 03 Complete Meals Beef & Produce Grain-Free Frozen Beef, Ground Beef Bone, Beef Tripe, Beef Liver, Beef Heart 04 Lamb Feast Grain-Free Lamb, Lamb Tripe, Lamb Heart, Lamb Lung, Lamb Liver

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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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