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In The Kibble
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The Comparison

Two 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.

Two Foods, One Method. Each row is one measure; the best figure in a row is marked.
01 Merrick Limited Ingredient Diet Real Salmon & Brown Rice Swap Remove 02 Blue True Solutions Large Breed Care Chicken & Oatmeal 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 Salmon & Brown Rice 27.0% Best in this row 02 True Solutions Large Breed Care Chicken & Oatmeal 26.7%
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 Real Salmon & Brown Rice 45% 40.0% as fed 02 True Solutions Large Breed Care Chicken & Oatmeal 44% 40.0% 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 Limited Ingredient Diet Real Salmon & Brown Rice 2 of 5 02 True Solutions Large Breed Care Chicken & Oatmeal 2 of 5
04 Flagged Additives Lower Is Better Matched against the flag list. 01 Limited Ingredient Diet Real Salmon & Brown Rice 1 Menadione 02 True Solutions Large Breed Care Chicken & Oatmeal None Best in this row
05 Brand Recall History Lower Is Better Manufacturer, not recipe. 01 Limited Ingredient Diet Real Salmon & Brown Rice 1 None in the last 3 years Best in this row 02 True Solutions Large Breed Care Chicken & Oatmeal 2 None in the last 3 years
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 Real Salmon & Brown Rice 40.0% 02 True Solutions Large Breed Care Chicken & Oatmeal 40.0%
Kcal / Cup 01 Limited Ingredient Diet Real Salmon & Brown Rice 462 02 True Solutions Large Breed Care Chicken & Oatmeal 362
Price / Lb Lowest Across Bag Sizes 01 Limited Ingredient Diet Real Salmon & Brown Rice $3.45 22 lb bag, Chewy 02 True Solutions Large Breed Care Chicken & Oatmeal -- 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 Real Salmon & Brown Rice $2.04 02 True Solutions Large Breed Care Chicken & Oatmeal -- No price on file.
First Five Ingredients 01 Limited Ingredient Diet Real Salmon & Brown Rice Deboned Salmon, Salmon Meal, Brown Rice, Oat Meal, Barley 02 True Solutions Large Breed Care Chicken & Oatmeal Deboned Chicken, Chicken Meal, Brown Rice, Oatmeal, Barley

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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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