Four Foods, One Method

• 01 NutriSource Grain-Free High Plains Select Swap Remove
• 02 NutriSource Element Series Open Waters Swap Remove
• 03 Darwin's Natural Pet Products Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen Swap Remove
• 04 Weruva Dogs in the Kitchen Classic Dog Funky Chunky Chicken Soup with Pumpkin Grain-Free Swap Remove

Four Foods, One Method. Each row is one measure; the best figure in a row is marked.

	01 NutriSource Grain-Free High Plains Select Swap Remove	02 NutriSource Element Series Open Waters Swap Remove	03 Darwin's Natural Pet Products Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen Swap Remove	04 Weruva Dogs in the Kitchen Classic Dog Funky Chunky Chicken Soup with Pumpkin Grain-Free Swap Remove
01 Protein, Dry Matter Higher Is Better 26-32% dm reads typical mainstream.	01 Grain-Free High Plains Select 31.1%	02 Element Series Open Waters 37.8%	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen 53.6%	04 Dogs in the Kitchen Classic Dog Funky Chunky Chicken Soup with Pumpkin Grain-Free 64.0% Best in this row
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 Grain-Free High Plains Select 36% 32.0% as fed	02 Element Series Open Waters 32% 29.0% as fed Best in this row	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen 7% 0.0% as fed	04 Dogs in the Kitchen Classic Dog Funky Chunky Chicken Soup with Pumpkin Grain-Free 6% 0.0% 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 Grain-Free High Plains Select 4 of 5	02 Element Series Open Waters 4 of 5	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen 4 of 5	04 Dogs in the Kitchen Classic Dog Funky Chunky Chicken Soup with Pumpkin Grain-Free 2 of 5
04 Flagged Additives Level Lower Is Better Matched against the flag list.	01 Grain-Free High Plains Select None	02 Element Series Open Waters None	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen None	04 Dogs in the Kitchen Classic Dog Funky Chunky Chicken Soup with Pumpkin Grain-Free None
05 Brand Recall History Lower Is Better Manufacturer, not recipe.	01 Grain-Free High Plains Select 1 None in the last 3 years	02 Element Series Open Waters 1 None in the last 3 years	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen None Best in this row	04 Dogs in the Kitchen Classic Dog Funky Chunky Chicken Soup with Pumpkin Grain-Free None Best in this row
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 Grain-Free High Plains Select 32.0%	02 Element Series Open Waters 29.0%	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen 0.0%	04 Dogs in the Kitchen Classic Dog Funky Chunky Chicken Soup with Pumpkin Grain-Free 0.0%
Kcal / Cup	01 Grain-Free High Plains Select 451	02 Element Series Open Waters 504	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen --	04 Dogs in the Kitchen Classic Dog Funky Chunky Chicken Soup with Pumpkin Grain-Free --
Price / Lb Lowest Across Bag Sizes	01 Grain-Free High Plains Select $3.12 26 lb bag, Runnings	02 Element Series Open Waters $4.41 24 lb bag, Petflow	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen -- No price on file.	04 Dogs in the Kitchen Classic Dog Funky Chunky Chicken Soup with Pumpkin 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 Grain-Free High Plains Select $1.68 Best in this row	02 Element Series Open Waters $2.45	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen -- No price on file.	04 Dogs in the Kitchen Classic Dog Funky Chunky Chicken Soup with Pumpkin Grain-Free -- No price on file.
First Five Ingredients	01 Grain-Free High Plains Select Beef, Trout, Turkey Meal, Beef Meal, Garbanzo Beans	02 Element Series Open Waters haddock, trout, duck, salmon, salmon meal	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Comprehensive Cancer Support Grain-Free Frozen White Fish (Pollock), Turkey Neck, Turkey Gizzard, Beef Liver, Broccoli	04 Dogs in the Kitchen Classic Dog Funky Chunky Chicken Soup with Pumpkin Grain-Free Chicken (Boneless, Skinless Breast), Chicken Broth, Pumpkin, Carrot, Pea

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.