Four Foods, One Method

• 01 Orijen Fit & Trim Grain-Free Swap Remove
• 02 Orijen Regional Red Grain-Free Swap Remove
• 03 Darwin's Natural Pet Products Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen 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 Orijen Fit & Trim Grain-Free Swap Remove	02 Orijen Regional Red Grain-Free Swap Remove	03 Darwin's Natural Pet Products Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen 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 Fit & Trim Grain-Free 47.7%	02 Regional Red Grain-Free 43.2%	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen 56.0% 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 Fit & Trim Grain-Free 22% 19.0% as fed Best in this row	02 Regional Red Grain-Free 25% 22.0% as fed	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen 12% 0.0% as fed	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 Fit & Trim Grain-Free 4 of 5	02 Regional Red Grain-Free 5 of 5	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen 3 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 Fit & Trim Grain-Free None	02 Regional Red Grain-Free None	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen None	04 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free None
05 Brand Recall History Lower Is Better Manufacturer, not recipe.	01 Fit & Trim Grain-Free None Best in this row	02 Regional Red Grain-Free None Best in this row	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen 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 Fit & Trim Grain-Free 19.0%	02 Regional Red Grain-Free 22.0%	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen 0.0%	04 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 36.0%
Kcal / Cup	01 Fit & Trim Grain-Free 401	02 Regional Red Grain-Free 483	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen --	04 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 406
Price / Lb Lowest Across Bag Sizes	01 Fit & Trim Grain-Free $4.25 23.5 lb bag, The Fish and Bone	02 Regional Red Grain-Free $5.53 47 lb bag, Chewy	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen -- No price on file.	04 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 Fit & Trim Grain-Free $2.69 Best in this row	02 Regional Red Grain-Free $3.16	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen -- No price on file.	04 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free -- No price on file.
First Five Ingredients	01 Fit & Trim Grain-Free Chicken, chicken liver, turkey giblets (liver, heart, gizzard), turkey, cod	02 Regional Red Grain-Free Beef, wild boar, lamb, pork, beef liver	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen Antibiotic-Free Meat (72.41%): Ground Lean Beef Meat, Beef Hearts, Beef Livers. Organic Vegetables (24.43%): Cabbage, Lettuce, Squash (seasonal)	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.