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The Comparison

Four Foods, One Method

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

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 Holistic Select Adult Health Anchovy & Sardine And Salmon Meal Swap Remove 02 Holistic Select Adult Health Lamb Meal Swap Remove 03 TruDog Garden of Vegan Plant-Based 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 Adult Health Anchovy & Sardine And Salmon Meal 27.8% 02 Adult Health Lamb Meal 25.6% 03 Garden of Vegan Plant-Based 26.1% 04 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 30.0% Best in this row
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 Adult Health Anchovy & Sardine And Salmon Meal 46% 41.5% as fed 02 Adult Health Lamb Meal 48% 43.0% as fed 03 Garden of Vegan Plant-Based 40% 4.8% as fed Best in this row 04 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 40% 36.0% 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 Adult Health Anchovy & Sardine And Salmon Meal 2 of 5 02 Adult Health Lamb Meal 2 of 5 03 Garden of Vegan Plant-Based 0 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 Adult Health Anchovy & Sardine And Salmon Meal None 02 Adult Health Lamb Meal None 03 Garden of Vegan Plant-Based None 04 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free None
05 Brand Recall History Lower Is Better Manufacturer, not recipe. 01 Adult Health Anchovy & Sardine And Salmon Meal None Best in this row 02 Adult Health Lamb Meal None Best in this row 03 Garden of Vegan Plant-Based None Best in this row 04 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 1 None in the last 3 years
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 Adult Health Anchovy & Sardine And Salmon Meal 41.5% 02 Adult Health Lamb Meal 43.0% 03 Garden of Vegan Plant-Based 4.8% 04 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 36.0%
Kcal / Cup 01 Adult Health Anchovy & Sardine And Salmon Meal 425 02 Adult Health Lamb Meal 454 03 Garden of Vegan Plant-Based -- 04 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 406
Price / Lb Lowest Across Bag Sizes 01 Adult Health Anchovy & Sardine And Salmon Meal $2.80 30 lb bag, PetMeds 02 Adult Health Lamb Meal $2.80 30 lb bag, PetMeds 03 Garden of Vegan Plant-Based -- 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 Adult Health Anchovy & Sardine And Salmon Meal $1.71 02 Adult Health Lamb Meal $1.66 Best in this row 03 Garden of Vegan Plant-Based -- No price on file. 04 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free -- No price on file.
First Five Ingredients 01 Adult Health Anchovy & Sardine And Salmon Meal Brown Rice, Oatmeal, Rice, Anchovy Meal, Sardine Meal 02 Adult Health Lamb Meal Lamb Meal, Oatmeal, Peas, Rice, Chicken Fat (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols) 03 Garden of Vegan Plant-Based Vegetable broth, chickpeas, potatoes, pea protein, carrots 04 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free lamb, lamb meal, garbanzo beans, chickpea flour, dried plain beet pulp

Add A Food

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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