Four Foods, One Method

• 01 Canidae Pure Grain-Free Real Salmon & Sweet Potato Swap Remove
• 02 Merrick Lil’ Plates Grain-Free Real Texas Beef + Sweet Potato with Raw Bites Swap Remove
• 03 Darwin's Natural Pet Products Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen Swap Remove
• 04 K9 Natural Lamb Feast Grain-Free Swap Remove

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

	01 Canidae Pure Grain-Free Real Salmon & Sweet Potato Swap Remove	02 Merrick Lil’ Plates Grain-Free Real Texas Beef + Sweet Potato with Raw Bites Swap Remove	03 Darwin's Natural Pet Products Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef 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 Pure Grain-Free Real Salmon & Sweet Potato 36.7%	02 Lil’ Plates Grain-Free Real Texas Beef + Sweet Potato with Raw Bites 36.0%	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen 56.0% Best in this row	04 Lamb Feast Grain-Free 44.6%
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 Pure Grain-Free Real Salmon & Sweet Potato 36% 32.0% as fed	02 Lil’ Plates Grain-Free Real Texas Beef + Sweet Potato with Raw Bites 37% 32.5% as fed	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen 12% 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. 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 Pure Grain-Free Real Salmon & Sweet Potato 3 of 5	02 Lil’ Plates Grain-Free Real Texas Beef + Sweet Potato with Raw Bites 3 of 5	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen 3 of 5	04 Lamb Feast Grain-Free 5 of 5
04 Flagged Additives Lower Is Better Matched against the flag list.	01 Pure Grain-Free Real Salmon & Sweet Potato 1 Menadione	02 Lil’ Plates Grain-Free Real Texas Beef + Sweet Potato with Raw Bites 1 Menadione	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef 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 Pure Grain-Free Real Salmon & Sweet Potato 1 None in the last 3 years	02 Lil’ Plates Grain-Free Real Texas Beef + Sweet Potato with Raw Bites 1 None in the last 3 years	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen None Best in this row	04 Lamb Feast Grain-Free 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 Pure Grain-Free Real Salmon & Sweet Potato 32.0%	02 Lil’ Plates Grain-Free Real Texas Beef + Sweet Potato with Raw Bites 32.5%	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen 0.0%	04 Lamb Feast Grain-Free 8.5%
Kcal / Cup	01 Pure Grain-Free Real Salmon & Sweet Potato 484	02 Lil’ Plates Grain-Free Real Texas Beef + Sweet Potato with Raw Bites 449	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen --	04 Lamb Feast Grain-Free --
Price / Lb Lowest Across Bag Sizes	01 Pure Grain-Free Real Salmon & Sweet Potato $3.23 22 lb bag, Amazon	02 Lil’ Plates Grain-Free Real Texas Beef + Sweet Potato with Raw Bites $3.55 20 lb bag, PetSmart	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef 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 Pure Grain-Free Real Salmon & Sweet Potato $2.01	02 Lil’ Plates Grain-Free Real Texas Beef + Sweet Potato with Raw Bites $2.16	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen -- No price on file.	04 Lamb Feast Grain-Free -- No calorie figure on file.
First Five Ingredients	01 Pure Grain-Free Real Salmon & Sweet Potato Salmon, Salmon Meal (Source of Glucosamine and Chondroitin Sulfate), Sardine Meal (Source of Glucosamine and Chondroitin Sulfate), Lentils, Sweet Potatoes	02 Lil’ Plates Grain-Free Real Texas Beef + Sweet Potato with Raw Bites Deboned Beef, Pork And Bone Meal, Salmon Meal, Sweet Potatoes, Potatoes	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 Lamb Feast Grain-Free Lamb, Lamb Tripe, Lamb Heart, Lamb Lung, Lamb Liver

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.