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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 NutriSource Trout & Rice Swap Remove 02 NutriSource Element Series Open Waters Swap Remove 03 TruDog Garden of Vegan Plant-Based Swap Remove + Add A Food
01 Protein, Dry Matter Higher Is Better 26-32% dm reads typical mainstream. 01 Trout & Rice 26.7% 02 Element Series Open Waters 37.8% Best in this row 03 Garden of Vegan Plant-Based 26.1%
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 Trout & Rice 43% 39.0% as fed 02 Element Series Open Waters 32% 29.0% as fed Best in this row 03 Garden of Vegan Plant-Based 40% 4.8% 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 Trout & Rice 2 of 5 02 Element Series Open Waters 4 of 5 03 Garden of Vegan Plant-Based 0 of 5
04 Flagged Additives Level Lower Is Better Matched against the flag list. 01 Trout & Rice None 02 Element Series Open Waters None 03 Garden of Vegan Plant-Based None
05 Brand Recall History Lower Is Better Manufacturer, not recipe. 01 Trout & Rice 1 None in the last 3 years 02 Element Series Open Waters 1 None in the last 3 years 03 Garden of Vegan Plant-Based None Best in this row
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 Trout & Rice 39.0% 02 Element Series Open Waters 29.0% 03 Garden of Vegan Plant-Based 4.8%
Kcal / Cup 01 Trout & Rice 414 02 Element Series Open Waters 504 03 Garden of Vegan Plant-Based --
Price / Lb Lowest Across Bag Sizes 01 Trout & Rice $2.56 26 lb bag, Blain's Farm & Fleet 02 Element Series Open Waters $4.41 24 lb bag, Petflow 03 Garden of Vegan Plant-Based -- 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 Trout & Rice $1.39 Best in this row 02 Element Series Open Waters $2.45 03 Garden of Vegan Plant-Based -- No price on file.
First Five Ingredients 01 Trout & Rice Trout, Menhaden Fish Meal, Brown Rice, Oatmeal, Barley 02 Element Series Open Waters haddock, trout, duck, salmon, salmon meal 03 Garden of Vegan Plant-Based Vegetable broth, chickpeas, potatoes, pea protein, carrots

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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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