Four Foods, One Method

• 01 The Honest Kitchen Grain-Free Chicken Swap Remove
• 02 The Honest Kitchen Whole Grain Beef & Oat Swap Remove
• 03 K9 Natural Lamb Feast Grain-Free Swap Remove
• 04 Darwin's Natural Pet Products Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen Swap Remove

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

	01 The Honest Kitchen Grain-Free Chicken Swap Remove	02 The Honest Kitchen Whole Grain Beef & Oat Swap Remove	03 K9 Natural Lamb Feast Grain-Free Swap Remove	04 Darwin's Natural Pet Products Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen Swap Remove
01 Protein, Dry Matter Higher Is Better 26-32% dm reads typical mainstream.	01 Grain-Free Chicken 29.5%	02 Whole Grain Beef & Oat 26.1%	03 Lamb Feast Grain-Free 44.6%	04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen 56.0% 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 Grain-Free Chicken 42% 36.5% as fed	02 Whole Grain Beef & Oat 43% 38.0% as fed	03 Lamb Feast Grain-Free 9% 8.5% as fed Best in this row	04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen 12% 0.0% as fed
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 Grain-Free Chicken 1 of 5	02 Whole Grain Beef & Oat 3 of 5	03 Lamb Feast Grain-Free 5 of 5	04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen 3 of 5
04 Flagged Additives Level Lower Is Better Matched against the flag list.	01 Grain-Free Chicken None	02 Whole Grain Beef & Oat None	03 Lamb Feast Grain-Free None	04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen None
05 Brand Recall History Lower Is Better Manufacturer, not recipe.	01 Grain-Free Chicken 1 None in the last 3 years	02 Whole Grain Beef & Oat 1 None in the last 3 years	03 Lamb Feast Grain-Free None Best in this row	04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen 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 Grain-Free Chicken 36.5%	02 Whole Grain Beef & Oat 38.0%	03 Lamb Feast Grain-Free 8.5%	04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen 0.0%
Kcal / Cup	01 Grain-Free Chicken 422	02 Whole Grain Beef & Oat 422	03 Lamb Feast Grain-Free --	04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen --
Price / Lb Lowest Across Bag Sizes	01 Grain-Free Chicken $4.65 20 lb bag, PetSmart	02 Whole Grain Beef & Oat $5.00 20 lb bag, Amazon	03 Lamb Feast Grain-Free $37.50 8 lb bag, Chewy	04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen -- No price on file.
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 Grain-Free Chicken $2.68	02 Whole Grain Beef & Oat $2.87	03 Lamb Feast Grain-Free -- No calorie figure on file.	04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen -- No price on file.
First Five Ingredients	01 Grain-Free Chicken Chicken, peas, potatoes, lentils, flaxseed	02 Whole Grain Beef & Oat Beef, oats, beef liver, barley, eggs	03 Lamb Feast Grain-Free Lamb, Lamb Tripe, Lamb Heart, Lamb Lung, Lamb Liver	04 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)

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.