Many pet parents find pet food
packaging difficult to understand. And it is. However, if you don't know
what the package is saying, you don't really know what you are feeding your
pet. So, let's take a look at pet food labeling with the health of your pet
uppermost in mind.
How Pet Food
Packaging Is Regulated
Pet food labeling is
regulated at the federal level by the Food and DrugAssociation (FDA) and by a private non-profit corporation, Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO).
What's in a Name?
Let's begin with the
significance of a pet food product's name. The FDA has four rules regarding how
a product is named. After understanding these rules, you may start looking at
your pet food labels differently!
1. The 95% Rule
This guideline
applies to products consisting of very few ingredients. This means that if a
pet food is named "Tuna Fish Cat Food" or "Beef Dog Food,"
at least 95% of the food must contain the named ingredient (in this case, tuna
fish or beef).
Also, the ingredients
must be listed in order of inclusion weight. For instance, the product cannot
be named "Chicken and Salmon for Cats" if it contains more salmon
than chicken.
2. The 25% (Dinner) Rule
This rule applies to
many dry and canned pet foods where the named ingredients make up a minimum of
25% of the product but not 95%. In this case, the name must incorporate a
descriptive term like dinner, entrée, formula, recipe, etc. Also, each
ingredient named must constitute a minimum of 3% of the total pet food.
· Example: pawTree Real Turkey& Sweet Potato Recipe for dogs. In this case, the
food must contain Turkey and sweet potato making up at least 25% of the total
ingredients AND sweet potato making up at least 3% of the formula. If
this product were named "Sweet Potato & Turkey Recipe," it would
have more sweet potato than turkey, but at least 3% turkey.
3. The 3% (With or Contains) Rule
This guideline enables pet food
makers to list any minor ingredients that add up to at least 3% of the product.
So, the term "With Cranberries" means there is at least 3%
cranberries in that pet food. However, when it comes to feeding a dog, it's easy
to get confused:
"Chicken Dog Food" contains at least 95% chicken.
"Dog Food with Chicken" contains only 3% chicken.
4. The Flavor Rule
When using the word
"flavor," no specific percentage of flavoring is required, but there
must be enough to be detected. So "Chicken Flavor Dog Food" means
that usually there's 1% or less of that named ingredient in the
product.
Pet Food Claims
A claim is a statement made on pet
food packaging that tells the customer what's special or different about the
product. A claim can describe an ingredient or the nutrition it provides.
·
Examples: "Real turkey is the first ingredient"
and "No poultry by-products."
·
Examples: "Balanced
Calcium and Phosphorus for bone and tooth health" and "Contains
Taurine to support heart and eye health."
Guaranteed Analysis
A guaranteed analysis is required
on pet food packaging. This includes a guarantee of crude protein and crude fat
protein showing minimum levels, and crude fiber and moisture showing maximum
levels. Note that the "crude" term refers to the specific method of
testing the product, not to the quality of the nutrient itself. Some
manufacturers also include guarantees for other nutrients. Examples are the
minimum amount of taurine or the maximum percentage of ash in cat foods.
Ingredient Panel
It's important to understand how to
read the ingredient panel on pet food packaging. When comparing two different
products, even if they both say "turkey" or "salmon," that
doesn't mean they are the same. There could be a difference in the quality of
the ingredients. Generally speaking, a pet food with higher quality ingredients
will cost more.
Turkey Meal or Meat
Meal?
A good pet food should have a named
meat meal on its label, e.g., "Chicken Meal" or "Turkey
Meal." But if the label says something like "Meat Meal" or
"Animal Meal," there is no way to know what that "meat"
could actually be.
The Nutritional
Adequacy Statement
This is one of the most important
parts of a dog or cat food label. A "Complete and Balanced" pet food
must be shown to be nutritionally adequate using one of two methods:
1.
The pet food must
contain ingredients formulated to provide levels of nutrients that meet an
established profile. Currently, the AAFCO Dog or Cat Food Nutrition Profiles are used.
2.
The pet food must
meet a) an Established Nutrient Profile or b) a Feeding Trial Protocol.
Example of a): "pawTree Real Turkey & Sweet Potato Recipe adheres to the
nutritional standards specified by the AAFCO Dog Food Nutritional Profiles
for proper growth and maintenance." This means that the product includes
the correct amount of all essential nutrients necessary to maintain a healthy
animal's good condition.
Example of b): "Animal feeding
tests following AAFCO procedures have substantiated that (name of the product)
provides complete and balanced nutrition."
The nutritional
adequacy statement should also state for which life stages the product is
suitable for.
Life stages
include:
·
Growth (means for puppies and kittens).
·
Maintenance (means for adult dogs and cats, including
seniors).
Any product labeled: "This
product is meant for supplemental or intermittent feeding only" does not
meet the requirements for being “Complete and Balanced” and is not intended for
the sole nourishment of an animal. An example of this would be treats.
A lot of people feed
both canned and dry food – especially cat parents. When comparing pet food
labeling, the crude protein levels, and other listed nutrients are shown as
much lower for canned products. This can be explained by looking at the
moisture content.
Canned foods are
likely to contain 78% - 82% moisture, compared to only 10% - 12% for dry
foods. So, in order to compare the Guaranteed Analysis of dry food and wet
food, you need to compare them on the same moisture basis.
A quick way to do this is to
multiply the guarantees for the canned food times four. You will see that
canned food generally has more protein than dry food.
Feeding Guidelines
Pet owners are often confused about
how much to feed their pets. Take note that the feeding guidelines on pet food
packaging are just that – Guidelines - a place to start. Lots of factors can
influence food intake - breed, metabolism, daily activity, age, genetics,
environment, outdoor temperature, and more. So generally speaking, the
guidelines on the packaging are trying to cover all contingencies and,
therefore, are often more than a pet needs.
The key things you need to know about pet food labeling to make sure
you understand what you are feeding your pet.