Skip to content
My dogs
The Comparison

Four Foods, One Method

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

Four Foods, One Method. Each row is one measure; the best figure in a row is marked.
01 Kibbles n Bits Small Breed Mini Bits Savory Beef & Chicken Flavors Swap Remove 02 Kibbles n Bits Bistro Oven Roasted Beef Flavor Swap Remove 03 Castor & Pollux Pristine Grain-Free Grass-Fed Beef & Sweet Potato 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 Small Breed Mini Bits Savory Beef & Chicken Flavors 25.6% 02 Bistro Oven Roasted Beef Flavor 23.2% 03 Pristine Grain-Free Grass-Fed Beef & Sweet Potato 36.0% Best in this row 04 Hill’s Science Diet Adult 1-6 Chicken & Barley 22.2%
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 Small Breed Mini Bits Savory Beef & Chicken Flavors 52% 43.0% as fed 02 Bistro Oven Roasted Beef Flavor 55% 45.0% as fed 03 Pristine Grain-Free Grass-Fed Beef & Sweet Potato 35% 31.5% as fed Best in this row 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. 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 Small Breed Mini Bits Savory Beef & Chicken Flavors 1 of 5 02 Bistro Oven Roasted Beef Flavor 1 of 5 03 Pristine Grain-Free Grass-Fed Beef & Sweet Potato 3 of 5 04 Hill’s Science Diet Adult 1-6 Chicken & Barley 1 of 5
04 Flagged Additives Lower Is Better Matched against the flag list. 01 Small Breed Mini Bits Savory Beef & Chicken Flavors 4 BHA, Propylene glycol, Red 40, Yellow 5 02 Bistro Oven Roasted Beef Flavor 5 BHA, Propylene glycol, Red 40, Blue 2, Yellow 5 03 Pristine Grain-Free Grass-Fed Beef & Sweet Potato None Best in this row 04 Hill’s Science Diet Adult 1-6 Chicken & Barley None Best in this row
05 Brand Recall History Level Lower Is Better Manufacturer, not recipe. 01 Small Breed Mini Bits Savory Beef & Chicken Flavors None 02 Bistro Oven Roasted Beef Flavor None 03 Pristine Grain-Free Grass-Fed Beef & Sweet Potato None 04 Hill’s Science Diet Adult 1-6 Chicken & Barley None
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 Small Breed Mini Bits Savory Beef & Chicken Flavors 43.0% 02 Bistro Oven Roasted Beef Flavor 45.0% 03 Pristine Grain-Free Grass-Fed Beef & Sweet Potato 31.5% 04 Hill’s Science Diet Adult 1-6 Chicken & Barley 48.5%
Kcal / Cup 01 Small Breed Mini Bits Savory Beef & Chicken Flavors 360 02 Bistro Oven Roasted Beef Flavor 375 03 Pristine Grain-Free Grass-Fed Beef & Sweet Potato 393 04 Hill’s Science Diet Adult 1-6 Chicken & Barley 363
First Five Ingredients 01 Small Breed Mini Bits Savory Beef & Chicken Flavors Corn, Soybean Meal, Beef & Bone Meal, Ground Wheat, Animal Fat (Bha Used As Preservative) 02 Bistro Oven Roasted Beef Flavor Corn, Soybean Meal, Beef & Bone Meal, Ground Wheat, Animal Fat (Bha Used As Preservative) 03 Pristine Grain-Free Grass-Fed Beef & Sweet Potato Beef, Chicken Meal, Turkey Meal, Organic Sweet Potatoes, Organic Potatoes 04 Hill’s Science Diet Adult 1-6 Chicken & Barley Chicken, Cracked Pearled Barley, Whole Grain Wheat, Whole Grain Corn, Whole Grain Sorghum

Add A Food

The comparison holds four foods. Use Swap on a column to put a different one in its place.

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.

Keep In The Know,
Know What's In The Bowl

Dog food guidance, ingredient deep dives, and nutrition news worth knowing.