Two Foods, One Method

• 01 Merrick Limited Ingredient Diet Real Chicken & Brown Rice Swap Remove
• 02 Blue Life Protection Formula Adult Dog Grain-Free Chicken Swap Remove

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

	01 Merrick Limited Ingredient Diet Real Chicken & Brown Rice Swap Remove	02 Blue Life Protection Formula Adult Dog Grain-Free Chicken Swap Remove	+ Add A Food	+ Add A Food
01 Protein, Dry Matter Higher Is Better 26-32% dm reads typical mainstream.	01 Limited Ingredient Diet Real Chicken & Brown Rice 27.0% Best in this row	02 Life Protection Formula Adult Dog Grain-Free Chicken 26.7%
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 Real Chicken & Brown Rice 45% 40.0% as fed	02 Life Protection Formula Adult Dog Grain-Free Chicken 44% 40.0% as fed Best in this row
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 Real Chicken & Brown Rice 2 of 5	02 Life Protection Formula Adult Dog Grain-Free Chicken 2 of 5
04 Flagged Additives Lower Is Better Matched against the flag list.	01 Limited Ingredient Diet Real Chicken & Brown Rice 1 Menadione	02 Life Protection Formula Adult Dog Grain-Free Chicken None Best in this row
05 Brand Recall History Lower Is Better Manufacturer, not recipe.	01 Limited Ingredient Diet Real Chicken & Brown Rice 1 None in the last 3 years Best in this row	02 Life Protection Formula Adult Dog Grain-Free Chicken 2 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 Real Chicken & Brown Rice 40.0%	02 Life Protection Formula Adult Dog Grain-Free Chicken 40.0%
Kcal / Cup	01 Limited Ingredient Diet Real Chicken & Brown Rice 460	02 Life Protection Formula Adult Dog Grain-Free Chicken 375
Price / Lb Lowest Across Bag Sizes	01 Limited Ingredient Diet Real Chicken & Brown Rice $2.68 25 lb bag, Walmart	02 Life Protection Formula Adult Dog Grain-Free Chicken $2.44 24 lb bag, Chewy
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 Real Chicken & Brown Rice $1.59	02 Life Protection Formula Adult Dog Grain-Free Chicken $1.49 Best in this row
First Five Ingredients	01 Limited Ingredient Diet Real Chicken & Brown Rice Deboned Chicken, Chicken Meal, Brown Rice, Oat Meal, Barley	02 Life Protection Formula Adult Dog Grain-Free Chicken Deboned Chicken, Chicken Meal, Potatoes, Peas, Tapioca Starch

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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.