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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 Ultra Nutro Ultra Toy Breed Adult Swap Remove 02 Ultra Nutro Ultra Large Breed Puppy Swap Remove 03 NutriSource PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free Swap Remove + Add A Food
01 Protein, Dry Matter Higher Is Better 26-32% dm reads typical mainstream. 01 Nutro Ultra Toy Breed Adult 31.1% Best in this row 02 Nutro Ultra Large Breed Puppy 28.9% 03 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 30.0%
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 Nutro Ultra Toy Breed Adult 37% 33.0% as fed Best in this row 02 Nutro Ultra Large Breed Puppy 44% 40.0% as fed 03 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 40% 36.0% 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 Nutro Ultra Toy Breed Adult 2 of 5 02 Nutro Ultra Large Breed Puppy 2 of 5 03 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 2 of 5
04 Flagged Additives Level Lower Is Better Matched against the flag list. 01 Nutro Ultra Toy Breed Adult None 02 Nutro Ultra Large Breed Puppy None 03 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free None
05 Brand Recall History Lower Is Better Manufacturer, not recipe. 01 Nutro Ultra Toy Breed Adult None Best in this row 02 Nutro Ultra Large Breed Puppy None Best in this row 03 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 1 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 Nutro Ultra Toy Breed Adult 33.0% 02 Nutro Ultra Large Breed Puppy 40.0% 03 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 36.0%
Kcal / Cup 01 Nutro Ultra Toy Breed Adult -- 02 Nutro Ultra Large Breed Puppy 348 03 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 406
Price / Lb Lowest Across Bag Sizes 01 Nutro Ultra Toy Breed Adult $4.90 3.5 lb bag, Walmart 02 Nutro Ultra Large Breed Puppy $2.90 30 lb bag, PetSmart 03 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free -- 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 Nutro Ultra Toy Breed Adult $2.83 02 Nutro Ultra Large Breed Puppy $1.78 Best in this row 03 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free -- No price on file.
First Five Ingredients 01 Nutro Ultra Toy Breed Adult Chicken, Chicken Meal, Whole Grain Oatmeal, Whole Grain Sorghum, Whole Grain Brown Rice 02 Nutro Ultra Large Breed Puppy Chicken, Chicken Meal (source of Glucosamine and Chondroitin Sulfate), Whole Grain Barley, Whole Grain Brown Rice, Whole Grain Oatmeal 03 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free lamb, lamb meal, garbanzo beans, chickpea flour, dried plain beet pulp

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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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