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The Comparison

Two Foods, One Method

The same five measures, applied to each food from its own figures.

Every food here is made by Purina ONE, so the recall row cannot separate them.

Prices are the lowest per pound we found across bag sizes, from our latest checks. Stores change prices often.

Two Foods, One Method. Each row is one measure; the best figure in a row is marked.
01 Purina ONE SmartBlend Adult Dog Lamb & Rice Formula Swap Remove 02 Purina ONE True Instinct with a Blend of Real Turkey & Venison Swap Remove + Add A Food + Add A Food
01 Protein, Dry Matter Higher Is Better 26-32% dm reads typical mainstream. 01 SmartBlend Adult Dog Lamb & Rice Formula 29.5% 02 True Instinct with a Blend of Real Turkey & Venison 34.1% Best in this row
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 SmartBlend Adult Dog Lamb & Rice Formula 42% 37.0% as fed 02 True Instinct with a Blend of Real Turkey & Venison 24% 21.0% as fed Best in this row
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 SmartBlend Adult Dog Lamb & Rice Formula 2 of 5 02 True Instinct with a Blend of Real Turkey & Venison 3 of 5
04 Flagged Additives Level Lower Is Better Matched against the flag list. 01 SmartBlend Adult Dog Lamb & Rice Formula 1 Menadione 02 True Instinct with a Blend of Real Turkey & Venison 1 Menadione
05 Brand Recall History Level Manufacturer, not recipe. 01 SmartBlend Adult Dog Lamb & Rice Formula 6 None in the last 3 years 02 True Instinct with a Blend of Real Turkey & Venison 6 None in the last 3 years
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 SmartBlend Adult Dog Lamb & Rice Formula 37.0% 02 True Instinct with a Blend of Real Turkey & Venison 21.0%
Kcal / Cup 01 SmartBlend Adult Dog Lamb & Rice Formula 380 02 True Instinct with a Blend of Real Turkey & Venison 365
Price / Lb Lowest Across Bag Sizes 01 SmartBlend Adult Dog Lamb & Rice Formula $1.37 44 lb bag, Sam's Club 02 True Instinct with a Blend of Real Turkey & Venison $1.75 36 lb bag, Walmart
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 SmartBlend Adult Dog Lamb & Rice Formula $0.76 02 True Instinct with a Blend of Real Turkey & Venison -- No calorie figure on file.
First Five Ingredients 01 SmartBlend Adult Dog Lamb & Rice Formula Lamb, rice, whole grain corn, whole grain wheat, chicken by-product meal 02 True Instinct with a Blend of Real Turkey & Venison Turkey, chicken meal, soybean meal, beef fat preserved with mixed tocopherols, whole grain wheat

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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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