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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.

Four Foods, One Method. Each row is one measure; the best figure in a row is marked.
01 Earthborn Holistic Venture Limited Ingredient Grain-Free Roasted Lamb & Butternut Squash Swap Remove 02 Earthborn Holistic Small Breed Swap Remove 03 Darwin's Natural Pet Products Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen Swap Remove 04 TruDog Raw Beef Meal Bites Grain-Free Swap Remove
01 Protein, Dry Matter Higher Is Better 26-32% dm reads typical mainstream. 01 Venture Limited Ingredient Grain-Free Roasted Lamb & Butternut Squash 28.9% 02 Small Breed 31.1% 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen 56.5% Best in this row 04 Raw Beef Meal Bites Grain-Free 43.5%
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 Venture Limited Ingredient Grain-Free Roasted Lamb & Butternut Squash 38% 34.5% as fed 02 Small Breed 40% 36.0% as fed 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen 13% 0.0% as fed 04 Raw Beef Meal Bites Grain-Free 9% 8.0% 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 Venture Limited Ingredient Grain-Free Roasted Lamb & Butternut Squash 2 of 5 02 Small Breed 2 of 5 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen 3 of 5 04 Raw Beef Meal Bites Grain-Free 5 of 5
04 Flagged Additives Level Lower Is Better Matched against the flag list. 01 Venture Limited Ingredient Grain-Free Roasted Lamb & Butternut Squash None 02 Small Breed None 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen None 04 Raw Beef Meal Bites Grain-Free None
05 Brand Recall History Level Lower Is Better Manufacturer, not recipe. 01 Venture Limited Ingredient Grain-Free Roasted Lamb & Butternut Squash None 02 Small Breed None 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen None 04 Raw Beef Meal Bites Grain-Free 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 Venture Limited Ingredient Grain-Free Roasted Lamb & Butternut Squash 34.5% 02 Small Breed 36.0% 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen 0.0% 04 Raw Beef Meal Bites Grain-Free 8.0%
Kcal / Cup 01 Venture Limited Ingredient Grain-Free Roasted Lamb & Butternut Squash 345 02 Small Breed 400 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen -- 04 Raw Beef Meal Bites Grain-Free 233
First Five Ingredients 01 Venture Limited Ingredient Grain-Free Roasted Lamb & Butternut Squash Lamb, Butternut Squash, Pumpkin, Tapioca, Lamb Meal 02 Small Breed Turkey Meal, Brown Rice, Dried Egg, Tapioca, Canola Oil (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols) 03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen White fish (Pollock), Turkey neck, Turkey heart, Broccoli, Sweet potato 04 Raw Beef Meal Bites Grain-Free Beef, Beef Heart, Beef Liver, Beef Lung, Beef Kidney

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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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