Four Foods, One Method

• 01 Instinct Original Small Breed Grain-Free Swap Remove
• 02 Instinct Original Grain-Free Swap Remove
• 03 Science Diet Hill’s Science Diet Adult Small Paws Lamb Meal & Brown Rice Swap Remove
• 04 Science Diet Hill’s Science Diet Adult 1-6 Chicken & Barley Swap Remove

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

	01 Instinct Original Small Breed Grain-Free Swap Remove	02 Instinct Original Grain-Free Swap Remove	03 Science Diet Hill’s Science Diet Adult Small Paws Lamb Meal & Brown Rice Swap Remove	04 Science Diet Hill’s Science Diet Adult 1-6 Chicken & Barley Swap Remove
01 Protein, Dry Matter Higher Is Better 26-32% dm reads typical mainstream.	01 Original Small Breed Grain-Free 38.9%	02 Original Grain-Free 40.0% Best in this row	03 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Small Paws Lamb Meal & Brown Rice 21.7%	04 Hill’s Science Diet Adult 1-6 Chicken & Barley 22.2%
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 Original Small Breed Grain-Free 29% 26.0% as fed	02 Original Grain-Free 27% 24.5% as fed Best in this row	03 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Small Paws Lamb Meal & Brown Rice 54% 49.0% as fed	04 Hill’s Science Diet Adult 1-6 Chicken & Barley 54% 48.5% 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 Original Small Breed Grain-Free 3 of 5	02 Original Grain-Free 4 of 5	03 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Small Paws Lamb Meal & Brown Rice 1 of 5	04 Hill’s Science Diet Adult 1-6 Chicken & Barley 1 of 5
04 Flagged Additives Level Lower Is Better Matched against the flag list.	01 Original Small Breed Grain-Free None	02 Original Grain-Free None	03 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Small Paws Lamb Meal & Brown Rice None	04 Hill’s Science Diet Adult 1-6 Chicken & Barley None
05 Brand Recall History Level Lower Is Better Manufacturer, not recipe.	01 Original Small Breed Grain-Free None	02 Original Grain-Free None	03 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Small Paws Lamb Meal & Brown Rice None	04 Hill’s Science Diet Adult 1-6 Chicken & Barley None
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 Original Small Breed Grain-Free 26.0%	02 Original Grain-Free 24.5%	03 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Small Paws Lamb Meal & Brown Rice 49.0%	04 Hill’s Science Diet Adult 1-6 Chicken & Barley 48.5%
Kcal / Cup	01 Original Small Breed Grain-Free 476	02 Original Grain-Free 508	03 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Small Paws Lamb Meal & Brown Rice 391	04 Hill’s Science Diet Adult 1-6 Chicken & Barley 363
First Five Ingredients	01 Original Small Breed Grain-Free Chicken, Chicken Meal (source of Glucosamine and Chondroitin Sulfate), Chickpeas, Tapioca, Chicken Fat (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols and Citric Acid)	02 Original Grain-Free Beef, Chicken Meal, White Fish Meal (Pacific Whiting, Pacific Sole, Pacific Rockfish), Peas, Chicken Fat (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols and Citric Acid)	03 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Small Paws Lamb Meal & Brown Rice Lamb Meal, Brown Rice, Brewers Rice, Whole Grain Sorghum, Whole Grain Wheat	04 Hill’s Science Diet Adult 1-6 Chicken & Barley Chicken, Cracked Pearled Barley, Whole Grain Wheat, Whole Grain Corn, Whole Grain Sorghum

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.