Four Foods, One Method

• 01 Purina Pro Plan All Ages Sport Active 27/17 Chicken & Rice Formula Swap Remove
• 02 Beneful Purina Beneful Originals Farm-Raised Beef Swap Remove
• 03 Darwin's Natural Pet Products Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen Swap Remove
• 04 Darwin's Natural Pet Products Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen Swap Remove

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

	01 Purina Pro Plan All Ages Sport Active 27/17 Chicken & Rice Formula Swap Remove	02 Beneful Purina Beneful Originals Farm-Raised Beef Swap Remove	03 Darwin's Natural Pet Products Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen Swap Remove	04 Darwin's Natural Pet Products Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen Swap Remove
01 Protein, Dry Matter Higher Is Better 26-32% dm reads typical mainstream.	01 Pro Plan All Ages Sport Active 27/17 Chicken & Rice Formula 30.7%	02 Purina Beneful Originals Farm-Raised Beef 26.1%	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen 56.5% Best in this row	04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen 56.0%
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 Pro Plan All Ages Sport Active 27/17 Chicken & Rice Formula 40% 35.0% as fed Best in this row	02 Purina Beneful Originals Farm-Raised Beef 49% 43.0% as fed	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen 13% 0.0% as fed	04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen 12% 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 Pro Plan All Ages Sport Active 27/17 Chicken & Rice Formula 1 of 5	02 Purina Beneful Originals Farm-Raised Beef 1 of 5	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen 3 of 5	04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen 3 of 5
04 Flagged Additives Lower Is Better Matched against the flag list.	01 Pro Plan All Ages Sport Active 27/17 Chicken & Rice Formula 1 Menadione	02 Purina Beneful Originals Farm-Raised Beef 1 Menadione	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen None Best in this row	04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen None Best in this row
05 Brand Recall History Lower Is Better Manufacturer, not recipe.	01 Pro Plan All Ages Sport Active 27/17 Chicken & Rice Formula 6 None in the last 3 years	02 Purina Beneful Originals Farm-Raised Beef 6 None in the last 3 years	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen None Best in this row	04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen 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 Pro Plan All Ages Sport Active 27/17 Chicken & Rice Formula 35.0%	02 Purina Beneful Originals Farm-Raised Beef 43.0%	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen 0.0%	04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen 0.0%
Kcal / Cup	01 Pro Plan All Ages Sport Active 27/17 Chicken & Rice Formula 475	02 Purina Beneful Originals Farm-Raised Beef 366	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen --	04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen --
Price / Lb Lowest Across Bag Sizes	01 Pro Plan All Ages Sport Active 27/17 Chicken & Rice Formula $2.00 37.5 lb bag, Amazon	02 Purina Beneful Originals Farm-Raised Beef $1.08 36 lb bag, PetSmart	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen -- No price on file.	04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen -- 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 Pro Plan All Ages Sport Active 27/17 Chicken & Rice Formula $1.04	02 Purina Beneful Originals Farm-Raised Beef $0.66 Best in this row	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen -- No price on file.	04 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Natural Selections Premium Beef Grain-Free Frozen -- No price on file.
First Five Ingredients	01 Pro Plan All Ages Sport Active 27/17 Chicken & Rice Formula Chicken, rice, whole grain wheat, poultry by-product meal, corn gluten meal	02 Purina Beneful Originals Farm-Raised Beef Beef, whole grain corn, barley, rice, whole grain wheat	03 Darwin’s Natural Pet Products Intelligent Design for Dogs Joint Support Grain-Free Frozen White fish (Pollock), Turkey neck, Turkey heart, Broccoli, Sweet potato	04 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)

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.