Four Foods, One Method

• 01 Pedigree High Protein Chicken & Turkey Flavor Swap Remove
• 02 Pedigree Small Dog Roasted Chicken, Rice & Vegetable Flavor 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 Pedigree High Protein Chicken & Turkey Flavor Swap Remove	02 Pedigree Small Dog Roasted Chicken, Rice & Vegetable Flavor 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 High Protein Chicken & Turkey Flavor 30.7%	02 Small Dog Roasted Chicken, Rice & Vegetable Flavor 23.9%	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 High Protein Chicken & Turkey Flavor 44% 39.0% as fed	02 Small Dog Roasted Chicken, Rice & Vegetable Flavor 52% 46.0% 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 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 High Protein Chicken & Turkey Flavor 1 of 5	02 Small Dog Roasted Chicken, Rice & Vegetable Flavor 1 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 Lower Is Better Matched against the flag list.	01 High Protein Chicken & Turkey Flavor 5 BHA, Red 40, Blue 2, Yellow 5, Yellow 6	02 Small Dog Roasted Chicken, Rice & Vegetable Flavor 5 BHA, Red 40, Blue 2, Yellow 5, Yellow 6	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 None Best in this row
05 Brand Recall History Lower Is Better Manufacturer, not recipe.	01 High Protein Chicken & Turkey Flavor 5 2 in the last 3 years	02 Small Dog Roasted Chicken, Rice & Vegetable Flavor 5 2 in the last 3 years	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 High Protein Chicken & Turkey Flavor 39.0%	02 Small Dog Roasted Chicken, Rice & Vegetable Flavor 46.0%	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 High Protein Chicken & Turkey Flavor 315	02 Small Dog Roasted Chicken, Rice & Vegetable Flavor 332	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 High Protein Chicken & Turkey Flavor $7.18 3.5 lb bag, Walmart	02 Small Dog Roasted Chicken, Rice & Vegetable Flavor $1.21 42 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 High Protein Chicken & Turkey Flavor $4.63	02 Small Dog Roasted Chicken, Rice & Vegetable Flavor $0.77 Best in this row	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 High Protein Chicken & Turkey Flavor Ground Whole Grain Corn, Meat And Bone Meal (Source Of Calcium), Chicken By-Product Meal (Source Of Glucosamine And Chondroitin Sulfate), Corn Gluten Meal, Animal Fat (Source Of Omega 6 Fatty Acids [preserved with Bha & Citric Acid])	02 Small Dog Roasted Chicken, Rice & Vegetable Flavor Ground Whole Grain Corn, Chicken By-Product Meal (Source Of Glucosamine & Chondroitin Sulfate), Corn Gluten Meal, Animal Fat (Source Of Omega 6 Fatty Acids [Preserved With BHA/Citric Acid]), Meat And Bone Meal	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.