Four Foods, One Method

• 01 Instinct Original Grain-Free Swap Remove
• 02 Instinct Original Grain-Free Swap Remove
• 03 Darwin's Natural Pet Products Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen Swap Remove
• 04 OC Raw Dog Complete Meals Beef & Produce Grain-Free Frozen Swap Remove

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

	01 Instinct Original Grain-Free Swap Remove	02 Instinct Original Grain-Free Swap Remove	03 Darwin's Natural Pet Products Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen Swap Remove	04 OC Raw Dog Complete Meals Beef & Produce Grain-Free Frozen Swap Remove
01 Protein, Dry Matter Higher Is Better 26-32% dm reads typical mainstream.	01 Original Grain-Free 41.7%	02 Original Grain-Free 38.3%	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen 56.0%	04 Complete Meals Beef & Produce Grain-Free Frozen 56.3% 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 Original Grain-Free 24% 21.5% as fed Best in this row	02 Original Grain-Free 29% 26.0% as fed	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen 12% 0.0% as fed	04 Complete Meals Beef & Produce Grain-Free Frozen 0% 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 Original Grain-Free 3 of 5	02 Original Grain-Free 4 of 5	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen 3 of 5	04 Complete Meals Beef & Produce Grain-Free Frozen 5 of 5
04 Flagged Additives Level Lower Is Better Matched against the flag list.	01 Original Grain-Free None	02 Original Grain-Free None	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen None	04 Complete Meals Beef & Produce Grain-Free Frozen None
05 Brand Recall History Lower Is Better Manufacturer, not recipe.	01 Original Grain-Free 2 None in the last 3 years	02 Original Grain-Free 2 None in the last 3 years	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen None Best in this row	04 Complete Meals Beef & Produce 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 Original Grain-Free 21.5%	02 Original Grain-Free 26.0%	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen 0.0%	04 Complete Meals Beef & Produce Grain-Free Frozen 0.0%
Kcal / Cup	01 Original Grain-Free 537	02 Original Grain-Free 510	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen --	04 Complete Meals Beef & Produce Grain-Free Frozen --
Price / Lb Lowest Across Bag Sizes	01 Original Grain-Free $3.47 22.5 lb bag, Chewy	02 Original Grain-Free $3.25 20 lb bag, Petco	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen -- No price on file.	04 Complete Meals Beef & Produce Grain-Free Frozen -- 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 Original Grain-Free $1.67	02 Original Grain-Free $1.65 Best in this row	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen -- No price on file.	04 Complete Meals Beef & Produce Grain-Free Frozen -- No price on file.
First Five Ingredients	01 Original Grain-Free Salmon, White Fish Meal (Pacific Whiting, Pacific Sole, Pacific Rockfish), Peas, Menhaden Fish Meal, Canola Oil (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols and Citric Acid)	02 Original Grain-Free Duck, Chicken Meal, Peas, Egg Product, Turkey Meal	03 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)	04 Complete Meals Beef & Produce Grain-Free Frozen Beef, Ground Beef Bone, Beef Tripe, Beef Liver, Beef Heart

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.