Three Foods, One Method

• 01 Canidae Pure Grain-Free Real Duck & Sweet Potato Swap Remove
• 02 Merrick Lil’ Plates Grain-Free Real Chicken + Sweet Potatoes Swap Remove
• 03 K9 Natural Lamb Feast Grain-Free Swap Remove

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

	01 Canidae Pure Grain-Free Real Duck & Sweet Potato Swap Remove	02 Merrick Lil’ Plates Grain-Free Real Chicken + Sweet Potatoes Swap Remove	03 K9 Natural Lamb Feast Grain-Free Swap Remove	+ Add A Food
01 Protein, Dry Matter Higher Is Better 26-32% dm reads typical mainstream.	01 Pure Grain-Free Real Duck & Sweet Potato 36.1%	02 Lil’ Plates Grain-Free Real Chicken + Sweet Potatoes 36.0%	03 Lamb Feast Grain-Free 44.6% Best in this row
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 Duck & Sweet Potato 35% 31.5% as fed	02 Lil’ Plates Grain-Free Real Chicken + Sweet Potatoes 35% 31.5% as fed	03 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 Duck & Sweet Potato 3 of 5	02 Lil’ Plates Grain-Free Real Chicken + Sweet Potatoes 3 of 5	03 Lamb Feast Grain-Free 5 of 5
04 Flagged Additives Lower Is Better Matched against the flag list.	01 Pure Grain-Free Real Duck & Sweet Potato None Best in this row	02 Lil’ Plates Grain-Free Real Chicken + Sweet Potatoes 1 Menadione	03 Lamb Feast Grain-Free None Best in this row
05 Brand Recall History Lower Is Better Manufacturer, not recipe.	01 Pure Grain-Free Real Duck & Sweet Potato 1 None in the last 3 years	02 Lil’ Plates Grain-Free Real Chicken + Sweet Potatoes 1 None in the last 3 years	03 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 Duck & Sweet Potato 31.5%	02 Lil’ Plates Grain-Free Real Chicken + Sweet Potatoes 31.5%	03 Lamb Feast Grain-Free 8.5%
Kcal / Cup	01 Pure Grain-Free Real Duck & Sweet Potato 513	02 Lil’ Plates Grain-Free Real Chicken + Sweet Potatoes 440	03 Lamb Feast Grain-Free --
Price / Lb Lowest Across Bag Sizes	01 Pure Grain-Free Real Duck & Sweet Potato $3.41 22 lb bag, Amazon	02 Lil’ Plates Grain-Free Real Chicken + Sweet Potatoes $3.05 20 lb bag, Yow Pet Supplies	03 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 Duck & Sweet Potato $2.11	02 Lil’ Plates Grain-Free Real Chicken + Sweet Potatoes $1.89	03 Lamb Feast Grain-Free -- No calorie figure on file.
First Five Ingredients	01 Pure Grain-Free Real Duck & Sweet Potato Duck, Duck Meal, Turkey Meal, Sweet Potatoes, Peas	02 Lil’ Plates Grain-Free Real Chicken + Sweet Potatoes Deboned Chicken, Chicken Meal, Turkey Meal, Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes	03 Lamb Feast Grain-Free Lamb, Lamb Tripe, Lamb Heart, Lamb Lung, Lamb Liver

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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.