Four Foods, One Method

• 01 Merrick Limited Ingredient Diet Grain-Free Real Lamb & Sweet Potato Swap Remove
• 02 Merrick Backcountry Raw Infused Puppy 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

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

	01 Merrick Limited Ingredient Diet Grain-Free Real Lamb & Sweet Potato Swap Remove	02 Merrick Backcountry Raw Infused Puppy 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 Limited Ingredient Diet Grain-Free Real Lamb & Sweet Potato 25.8%	02 Backcountry Raw Infused Puppy 33.7%	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. 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 Limited Ingredient Diet Grain-Free Real Lamb & Sweet Potato 47% 41.5% as fed	02 Backcountry Raw Infused Puppy 38% 33.5% 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. 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 Limited Ingredient Diet Grain-Free Real Lamb & Sweet Potato 2 of 5	02 Backcountry Raw Infused Puppy 2 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 Limited Ingredient Diet Grain-Free Real Lamb & Sweet Potato 1 Menadione	02 Backcountry Raw Infused Puppy None Best in this row	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 Lower Is Better Manufacturer, not recipe.	01 Limited Ingredient Diet Grain-Free Real Lamb & Sweet Potato 1 None in the last 3 years	02 Backcountry Raw Infused Puppy 1 None in the last 3 years	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
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 Limited Ingredient Diet Grain-Free Real Lamb & Sweet Potato 41.5%	02 Backcountry Raw Infused Puppy 33.5%	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 Limited Ingredient Diet Grain-Free Real Lamb & Sweet Potato 371	02 Backcountry Raw Infused Puppy 391	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 Limited Ingredient Diet Grain-Free Real Lamb & Sweet Potato Deboned Lamb, Lamb Meal, Sweet Potatoes, Potatoes, Peas	02 Backcountry Raw Infused Puppy Deboned Chicken, Chicken Meal, Brown Rice, Oatmeal, Barley	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

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.