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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 Verus Grain-Free Large Breed Puppy Chicken, Lentils & Yams Formula Swap Remove 02 Verus Advanced Opticoat Menhaden Fish Meal and Potato Formula Swap Remove 03 NutriSource PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free Swap Remove + Add A Food
01 Protein, Dry Matter Higher Is Better 26-32% dm reads typical mainstream. 01 Grain-Free Large Breed Puppy Chicken, Lentils & Yams Formula 25.6% 02 Advanced Opticoat Menhaden Fish Meal and Potato Formula 24.4% 03 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 30.0% 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 Grain-Free Large Breed Puppy Chicken, Lentils & Yams Formula 47% 42.0% as fed 02 Advanced Opticoat Menhaden Fish Meal and Potato Formula 53% 48.0% as fed 03 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. 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 Grain-Free Large Breed Puppy Chicken, Lentils & Yams Formula 2 of 5 02 Advanced Opticoat Menhaden Fish Meal and Potato Formula 2 of 5 03 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 2 of 5
04 Flagged Additives Level Lower Is Better Matched against the flag list. 01 Grain-Free Large Breed Puppy Chicken, Lentils & Yams Formula None 02 Advanced Opticoat Menhaden Fish Meal and Potato Formula None 03 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free None
05 Brand Recall History Lower Is Better Manufacturer, not recipe. 01 Grain-Free Large Breed Puppy Chicken, Lentils & Yams Formula None Best in this row 02 Advanced Opticoat Menhaden Fish Meal and Potato Formula None Best in this row 03 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 1 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 Grain-Free Large Breed Puppy Chicken, Lentils & Yams Formula 42.0% 02 Advanced Opticoat Menhaden Fish Meal and Potato Formula 48.0% 03 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 36.0%
Kcal / Cup 01 Grain-Free Large Breed Puppy Chicken, Lentils & Yams Formula 399 02 Advanced Opticoat Menhaden Fish Meal and Potato Formula 397 03 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free 406
Price / Lb Lowest Across Bag Sizes 01 Grain-Free Large Breed Puppy Chicken, Lentils & Yams Formula $4.79 12 lb bag, Amazon 02 Advanced Opticoat Menhaden Fish Meal and Potato Formula $6.50 4 lb bag, Amazon 03 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 Grain-Free Large Breed Puppy Chicken, Lentils & Yams Formula $3.00 Best in this row 02 Advanced Opticoat Menhaden Fish Meal and Potato Formula $4.09 03 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free -- No price on file.
First Five Ingredients 01 Grain-Free Large Breed Puppy Chicken, Lentils & Yams Formula Chicken, Chicken Meal, Lentils, Chickpeas, Peas 02 Advanced Opticoat Menhaden Fish Meal and Potato Formula Menhaden Fish Meal, Potato, Ground Barley, Ground Oat Groats, Menhaden Fish Oil (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols) 03 PureVita Puppy Lamb & Pumpkin Entree Grain-Free lamb, lamb meal, garbanzo beans, chickpea flour, dried plain beet pulp

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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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