Four Foods, One Method

• 01 Instinct Limited Ingredient Diet Grain-Free Swap Remove
• 02 Instinct Original Grain-Free Swap Remove
• 03 K9 Natural Lamb Feast Grain-Free Swap Remove
• 04 NutriSource PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free Swap Remove

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

	01 Instinct Limited Ingredient Diet Grain-Free Swap Remove	02 Instinct Original Grain-Free Swap Remove	03 K9 Natural Lamb Feast Grain-Free 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 Limited Ingredient Diet Grain-Free 26.7%	02 Original Grain-Free 38.3%	03 Lamb Feast Grain-Free 44.6% Best in this row	04 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 30.0%
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 Limited Ingredient Diet Grain-Free 39% 35.0% as fed	02 Original Grain-Free 29% 26.0% as fed	03 Lamb Feast Grain-Free 9% 8.5% as fed Best in this row	04 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 40% 36.0% 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 Limited Ingredient Diet Grain-Free 2 of 5	02 Original Grain-Free 4 of 5	03 Lamb Feast Grain-Free 5 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 Limited Ingredient Diet Grain-Free None	02 Original Grain-Free None	03 Lamb Feast Grain-Free None	04 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free None
05 Brand Recall History Lower Is Better Manufacturer, not recipe.	01 Limited Ingredient Diet Grain-Free 2 None in the last 3 years	02 Original Grain-Free 2 None in the last 3 years	03 Lamb Feast Grain-Free None Best in this row	04 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 1 None in the last 3 years
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 Limited Ingredient Diet Grain-Free 35.0%	02 Original Grain-Free 26.0%	03 Lamb Feast Grain-Free 8.5%	04 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 36.0%
Kcal / Cup	01 Limited Ingredient Diet Grain-Free 495	02 Original Grain-Free 510	03 Lamb Feast Grain-Free --	04 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 406
Price / Lb Lowest Across Bag Sizes	01 Limited Ingredient Diet Grain-Free $4.25 20 lb bag, PetSmart	02 Original Grain-Free $3.25 20 lb bag, Petco	03 Lamb Feast Grain-Free $37.50 8 lb bag, Chewy	04 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free -- 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 Limited Ingredient Diet Grain-Free $2.17	02 Original Grain-Free $1.65	03 Lamb Feast Grain-Free -- No calorie figure on file.	04 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free -- No price on file.
First Five Ingredients	01 Limited Ingredient Diet Grain-Free Lamb Meal, Lamb, Tapioca, Peas, Canola Oil (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols and Citric Acid)	02 Original Grain-Free Duck, Chicken Meal, Peas, Egg Product, Turkey Meal	03 Lamb Feast Grain-Free Lamb, Lamb Tripe, Lamb Heart, Lamb Lung, Lamb Liver	04 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free lamb, lamb meal, garbanzo beans, chickpea flour, dried plain beet pulp

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.