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The Comparison

Three 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.

Three Foods, One Method. Each row is one measure; the best figure in a row is marked.
01 Merrick Limited Ingredient Diet Grain-Free Real Salmon & Sweet Potato Swap Remove 02 OC Raw Dog Complete Meals Beef & Produce Grain-Free Frozen Swap Remove 03 TruDog Grain Free Turkey & Duck Swap Remove + Add A Food
01 Protein, Dry Matter Higher Is Better 26-32% dm reads typical mainstream. 01 Limited Ingredient Diet Grain-Free Real Salmon & Sweet Potato 27.0% 02 Complete Meals Beef & Produce Grain-Free Frozen 56.3% Best in this row 03 Grain Free Turkey & Duck 50.0%
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 Limited Ingredient Diet Grain-Free Real Salmon & Sweet Potato 46% 40.5% as fed 02 Complete Meals Beef & Produce Grain-Free Frozen 0% 0.0% as fed 03 Grain Free Turkey & Duck 11% 0.0% as fed
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 Limited Ingredient Diet Grain-Free Real Salmon & Sweet Potato 2 of 5 02 Complete Meals Beef & Produce Grain-Free Frozen 5 of 5 03 Grain Free Turkey & Duck 4 of 5
04 Flagged Additives Lower Is Better Matched against the flag list. 01 Limited Ingredient Diet Grain-Free Real Salmon & Sweet Potato 1 Menadione 02 Complete Meals Beef & Produce Grain-Free Frozen None Best in this row 03 Grain Free Turkey & Duck None Best in this row
05 Brand Recall History Lower Is Better Manufacturer, not recipe. 01 Limited Ingredient Diet Grain-Free Real Salmon & Sweet Potato 1 None in the last 3 years 02 Complete Meals Beef & Produce Grain-Free Frozen None Best in this row 03 Grain Free Turkey & Duck None Best in this row
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 Limited Ingredient Diet Grain-Free Real Salmon & Sweet Potato 40.5% 02 Complete Meals Beef & Produce Grain-Free Frozen 0.0% 03 Grain Free Turkey & Duck 0.0%
Kcal / Cup 01 Limited Ingredient Diet Grain-Free Real Salmon & Sweet Potato 376 02 Complete Meals Beef & Produce Grain-Free Frozen -- 03 Grain Free Turkey & Duck 195
Price / Lb Lowest Across Bag Sizes 01 Limited Ingredient Diet Grain-Free Real Salmon & Sweet Potato $3.45 22 lb bag, Amazon 02 Complete Meals Beef & Produce Grain-Free Frozen -- No price on file. 03 Grain Free Turkey & Duck -- 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 Limited Ingredient Diet Grain-Free Real Salmon & Sweet Potato $2.15 02 Complete Meals Beef & Produce Grain-Free Frozen -- No price on file. 03 Grain Free Turkey & Duck -- No price on file.
First Five Ingredients 01 Limited Ingredient Diet Grain-Free Real Salmon & Sweet Potato Deboned Salmon, Salmon Meal, Sweet Potatoes, Potatoes, Peas 02 Complete Meals Beef & Produce Grain-Free Frozen Beef, Ground Beef Bone, Beef Tripe, Beef Liver, Beef Heart 03 Grain Free Turkey & Duck Turkey, turkey broth, turkey liver, ground dried peas, duck

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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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