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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 Horizon Amicus Grain-Free All Life Stages Lamb Formula Swap Remove 02 Horizon Pulsar Grain-Free Salmon Formula Swap Remove 03 OC Raw Dog Complete Meals Beef & Produce 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 Amicus Grain-Free All Life Stages Lamb Formula 26.7% 02 Pulsar Grain-Free Salmon Formula 30.8% 03 Complete Meals Beef & Produce Grain-Free Frozen 56.3% 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 Amicus Grain-Free All Life Stages Lamb Formula 41% 37.0% as fed 02 Pulsar Grain-Free Salmon Formula 41% 37.0% as fed 03 Complete Meals Beef & Produce Grain-Free Frozen 0% 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 Amicus Grain-Free All Life Stages Lamb Formula 2 of 5 02 Pulsar Grain-Free Salmon Formula 2 of 5 03 Complete Meals Beef & Produce Grain-Free Frozen 5 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 Amicus Grain-Free All Life Stages Lamb Formula None 02 Pulsar Grain-Free Salmon Formula None 03 Complete Meals Beef & Produce Grain-Free Frozen None 04 Raw Beef Meal Bites Grain-Free None
05 Brand Recall History Level Lower Is Better Manufacturer, not recipe. 01 Amicus Grain-Free All Life Stages Lamb Formula None 02 Pulsar Grain-Free Salmon Formula None 03 Complete Meals Beef & Produce 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 Amicus Grain-Free All Life Stages Lamb Formula 37.0% 02 Pulsar Grain-Free Salmon Formula 37.0% 03 Complete Meals Beef & Produce Grain-Free Frozen 0.0% 04 Raw Beef Meal Bites Grain-Free 8.0%
Kcal / Cup 01 Amicus Grain-Free All Life Stages Lamb Formula 415 02 Pulsar Grain-Free Salmon Formula 410 03 Complete Meals Beef & Produce Grain-Free Frozen -- 04 Raw Beef Meal Bites Grain-Free 233
Price / Lb Lowest Across Bag Sizes 01 Amicus Grain-Free All Life Stages Lamb Formula -- No price on file. 02 Pulsar Grain-Free Salmon Formula $3.12 25 lb bag, Amazon 03 Complete Meals Beef & Produce Grain-Free Frozen -- No price on file. 04 Raw Beef Meal Bites 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 Amicus Grain-Free All Life Stages Lamb Formula -- No price on file. 02 Pulsar Grain-Free Salmon Formula $1.87 03 Complete Meals Beef & Produce Grain-Free Frozen -- No price on file. 04 Raw Beef Meal Bites Grain-Free -- No price on file.
First Five Ingredients 01 Amicus Grain-Free All Life Stages Lamb Formula Lamb, Lamb Meal, Red Lentils, Peas, Pea Starch 02 Pulsar Grain-Free Salmon Formula Salmon Meal, Red Lentils, Peas, Pea Starch, Salmon 03 Complete Meals Beef & Produce Grain-Free Frozen Beef, Ground Beef Bone, Beef Tripe, Beef Liver, Beef Heart 04 Raw Beef Meal Bites Grain-Free Beef, Beef Heart, Beef Liver, Beef Lung, Beef Kidney

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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