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The Comparison

Three Foods, One Method

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

Three Foods, One Method. Each row is one measure; the best figure in a row is marked.
01 Science Diet Hill’s Science Diet Adult Small Paws Chicken Meal & Rice Swap Remove 02 Blue Life Protection Formula Adult Large Breed Chicken and Brown Rice Swap Remove 03 Science Diet Hill’s Science Diet Adult 1-6 Chicken & Barley Swap Remove + Add A Food
01 Protein, Dry Matter Higher Is Better 26-32% dm reads typical mainstream. 01 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Small Paws Chicken Meal & Rice 22.2% 02 Life Protection Formula Adult Large Breed Chicken and Brown Rice 24.4% Best in this row 03 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 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Small Paws Chicken Meal & Rice 53% 47.5% as fed 02 Life Protection Formula Adult Large Breed Chicken and Brown Rice 49% 44.0% as fed Best in this row 03 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 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Small Paws Chicken Meal & Rice 1 of 5 02 Life Protection Formula Adult Large Breed Chicken and Brown Rice 2 of 5 03 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 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Small Paws Chicken Meal & Rice None 02 Life Protection Formula Adult Large Breed Chicken and Brown Rice None 03 Hill’s Science Diet Adult 1-6 Chicken & Barley None
05 Brand Recall History Lower Is Better Manufacturer, not recipe. 01 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Small Paws Chicken Meal & Rice None Best in this row 02 Life Protection Formula Adult Large Breed Chicken and Brown Rice 5 4 in the last 3 years 03 Hill’s Science Diet Adult 1-6 Chicken & Barley None Best in this row
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 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Small Paws Chicken Meal & Rice 47.5% 02 Life Protection Formula Adult Large Breed Chicken and Brown Rice 44.0% 03 Hill’s Science Diet Adult 1-6 Chicken & Barley 48.5%
Kcal / Cup 01 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Small Paws Chicken Meal & Rice 371 02 Life Protection Formula Adult Large Breed Chicken and Brown Rice 353 03 Hill’s Science Diet Adult 1-6 Chicken & Barley 363
First Five Ingredients 01 Hill’s Science Diet Adult Small Paws Chicken Meal & Rice Chicken Meal, Brewers Rice, Whole Grain Wheat, Soybean Meal, Whole Grain Sorghum 02 Life Protection Formula Adult Large Breed Chicken and Brown Rice Deboned Chicken, Chicken Meal, Brown Rice, Oatmeal, Barley 03 Hill’s Science Diet Adult 1-6 Chicken & Barley Chicken, Cracked Pearled Barley, Whole Grain Wheat, Whole Grain Corn, Whole Grain Sorghum

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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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