Four Foods, One Method

• 01 Merrick Limited Ingredient Diet Grain-Free Real Lamb & Sweet Potato Swap Remove
• 02 Merrick Backcountry Raw Infused Great Plains Red 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 Large Breed Light with Chicken Meal & 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 Great Plains Red 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 Large Breed Light with Chicken Meal & 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 Great Plains Red 42.7% Best in this row	03 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Small Paws Lamb Meal & Brown Rice 21.7%	04 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Large Breed Light with Chicken Meal & Barley 22.3%
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 Great Plains Red 28% 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 Large Breed Light with Chicken Meal & Barley 49% 44.0% 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 Great Plains Red 3 of 5	03 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Small Paws Lamb Meal & Brown Rice 1 of 5	04 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Large Breed Light with Chicken Meal & 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 Great Plains Red None Best in this row	03 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Small Paws Lamb Meal & Brown Rice None Best in this row	04 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Large Breed Light with Chicken Meal & 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 Great Plains Red 1 None in the last 3 years	03 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Small Paws Lamb Meal & Brown Rice None Best in this row	04 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Large Breed Light with Chicken Meal & 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 Great Plains Red 24.5%	03 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Small Paws Lamb Meal & Brown Rice 49.0%	04 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Large Breed Light with Chicken Meal & Barley 44.0%
Kcal / Cup	01 Limited Ingredient Diet Grain-Free Real Lamb & Sweet Potato 371	02 Backcountry Raw Infused Great Plains Red 392	03 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Small Paws Lamb Meal & Brown Rice 391	04 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Large Breed Light with Chicken Meal & Barley 271
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 Great Plains Red Deboned Beef, Lamb Meal, Salmon Meal, Sweet Potatoes, Potatoes	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 Large Breed Light with Chicken Meal & Barley Chicken Meal, Cracked Pearled Barley, Pea Fiber, Whole Grain Wheat, Whole Grain Corn

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.