Essential Aspects of Pet Food Labels

With an increase in the demand and awareness of commercial pet food, the need to understand pet food labels and read between the lines has also increased manifold. Apart from clearance from the regulatory authorities, selection of an appropriate pet food also depends on the individual needs and requirements of individual pets. Hence, do not let those catchy phrases and flashy colors delude you and take your attention away from the more important aspects of pet food labels.

The regulation of pet food labeling is done at two levels, that is at the federal and the state level. At federal level, Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Veterinary Medicine is established to regulate the pet food standards in terms of net quantity statement, manufacturer’s address, proper identification of the product, and proper listing of ingredients.

At the state level, the model adopted by Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) is considered effective and hence, other states also try to follow such standards of regulation. AAFCO formulates and implements guidelines related to the production, labeling and sale of pet foods.

While understanding pet food labels, the basic aspect is that they essentially contain some basic terms like product name, net quantity, list of ingredients, guaranteed analysis, nutritional adequacy, feeding directions, calories, expiry dates, manufacturer’s details and other technical terms. AFFCO applies certain rules like the 95% rule, 25% rule, 3% rule, and flavor rule to ascertain the claims of the manufacturers.

You should not be misled by the term ‘flavor’. For example, the name, “Chicken Flavor Dog Food” might give an impression that the food contains beef. But, the fact is that this simply means this dog food contains more of chicken flavor than chicken itself. That is, such products usually contain meat meals and meat by products to impart the meat flavor to food and not its nutrition.

You must have observed that nowadays several canned pet foods are available in non standardized sizes. These packs look similar outwardly but if you happen to look closely, you might be surprised to find that they tend to relay a different story about the net quantity of the food.

In terms of dry food, the net quantity may vary depending on the density of the food. So, be careful to make the best of the situation and save money. Though, do not save money blindly by compromising on the quality of food.

Next essential item listed in pet food labels is the list of ingredients. This is probably one of the most important aspects to consider and study before going for a particular pet food. The manufacturers are required to list the ingredients in the order of weight, starting with the heaviest of the ingredients.

Heaviest, here, could mean both in terms of proportion (as compared to the other ingredients) or the weight of the ingredient itself. The latter part may cause confusion on account of water content. Some ingredients have more water content as compared to others. So, they could be present in a lesser proportion but as they tend to be heavier, they may be listed among the top ingredients.

Plus, beware of artificial additives. Apart from the usual chemical risks associated with them, the simple fact that they do not add to the nutritional value of the food should be sufficient enough to avoid them as much as possible. Artificial coloring in most of the pet foods is especially supposed to attract the pet owner’s interest rather than the pets.

Guaranteed analysis refers to minimum and maximum percentages of crude protein, crude fat, crude fiber and moisture. Generally, the amount of these nutrients is less in canned pet foods because they contain more moisture.

Canned pet foods approximately contain 80% moisture whereas dry pet foods contain approximately 10% moisture on an average. Therefore, it is advisable to multiply the guarantees for canned food by 4 to compare the guaranteed analysis between canned and dry food. The same procedure of multiplication by 4 is also helpful in comparing calories of different pet foods.

Coming to nutritional adequacy, it is worth mentioning that there are two terms generally used with reference to AFFCO statement of nutritional adequacy. The two terms are “formulated” and “tested”. “Formulated” means that the manufacturing of a particular pet food has been done in accordance with AFFCO nutritional guidelines but has not been tested by actually feeding the product to the animals.

Conversely, “tested” fulfills both the criteria of formulation as well as testing on animals by actually feeding them. Plus, it also defines the life stage of the animal for which the particular pet food is intended, that is, whether for maintenance, growth or all life stages (includes growth and reproduction).

Feeding directions are generally recommended on an average basis. Therefore, it is advisable to roughly calculate your pet’s feeding requirements on the basis of its weight, age, breed, level of metabolism, environmental factors etc to estimate the feeding requirements correctly. The standard feeding directions stated on the packs are mostly an overestimation of your pet’s requirements (to be on the safer side and increase sales!)

Other miscellaneous terms like the manufacturer’s address, location of plant, expiry dates etc are some other features of pet food labeling. Manufacturer’s details are particularly useful in obtaining additional product information and filing complaint against the manufacturer. In terms of satisfaction guarantees, the relevant steps for redemption (whether money back, product replacement, etc) should be clearly defined.