What Does A Pet Food Label Tell Us?
RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT - TECHNICAL POSITION PAPER
Leading with Technical Expertise - White Paper
Leah Lambrakis & Jarrod Kersey, Department of Technical Services
Selecting The Best For Our Pets
As pet parents, we seek information. Whether it’s about food, treats, supplements, or overall health care, we want to know that we are making the best decisions for our pets. When it comes to food, walking the pet food aisles or clicking through a website can be daunting and somewhat overwhelming. Not only are there countless options, but they all claim to be the most nutritious! Ultimately, we all want to make the best choices for our pets, but without some guidance and insight, it can be a difficult process. That’s where we come in.
The Label
Product Name
Let’s start with the front of the package. There are guidelines established by the American Association of Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) that detail how a product name can appear on the package[1]. These are often called the 95% 25%, 3% and flavor “product name rules,” and the way the name is displayed can tell us a lot about how the product was designed. In the example to the left, a descriptive term follows the listed ingredient, thereby requiring that at least 25% of the formula must include chicken, exclusive of water, for the “Chicken Dinner” product name. If the product name is simply listed as “Chicken” with no descriptive term, then 95% of the ingredients exclusive of water must be chicken. If a product name is “with Chicken,” then 3% of the ingredients exclusive of water would need to be chicken. If two ingredients are listed, such as “Chicken & Beef Dinner,” then the chicken and beef content combined must constitute at least 25% of the formula, exclusive of water. Further, chicken should be equal or greater than beef in the formula and the beef content must be at least 3%, exclusive of water. Finally, the use of “flavor” in a product name would only require that the named ingredient appears on the listing or is an added flavoring of its kind, such as “Chicken Flavor.”
Back Of The Package
When we look at the back of the label, we can learn about the nutritional adequacy, nutrient content, the ingredients included in the product, and guidelines on how to feed the product to our pets.
The Guaranteed Analysis statement is required by AAFCO as a declaration of how much protein, fat, fiber and moisture are in the food. These four nutrients are required to be listed on every pet food package, but be mindful they are only listed as minimums and maximums, not as expected or typical nutrient levels as we see today in the Nutrition Facts on our own food packages. Beyond these four nutrients, a pet food package may list other nutrient guarantees such as Omega Fatty Acids, Vitamins or Minerals; however, these guarantees are optional. The declared guaranteed analysis is not to be perceived as a guarantee of the nutritional quality of the food, but the guardrails of the minimum and maximum nutrient levels that the manufacturer will adhere to.
It is important to note that the guaranteed analysis can look very different depending on the format of the food, whether it is wet, semi-moist or dry. Pet food labels typically declare the guaranteed analyses on an “as-fed” basis, which includes the moisture content of the total product. In order to better understand the nutritional content across various foods and formats, a conversion of each nutrient to its “dry-matter” basis is needed.
Let’s compare the protein content of Daisy’s Dog Food, which is in a wet format, to a dry dog food example.
Daisy’s Wet Dog Food Daisy’s Dry Dog Food
Crude Protein 9% min Crude Protein 24% min
Moisture 78% max Moisture 10% max
By simply looking at the declared minimum protein content of these two products, it would appear that the Dry Dog Food delivers over double the amount of protein. However, if we take the moisture content into consideration, we will quickly see that this is not the case. The moisture content of Daisy’s Wet Dog Food is up to 78%, meaning that by subtraction, 22% of the formula contains the remaining nutrients. By comparison, only up to 10% of Daisy’s Dry Dog food is moisture, meaning that the remaining nutrients comprise the other 90% of the food. If we convert the protein content to dry matter, as outlined below, we can see the wet food actually contains significantly more protein than the dry food. Food for thought – how much protein does an adult dog require? Per AAFCO’s nutrient guidelines, an adult dog requires a minimum of 18% protein on a dry matter basis.
Daisy’s Wet Dog Food = (9% protein as-fed / 22% dry-matter) x 100 = 40.9% protein dry-matter
Daisy’s Dry Dog Food = (24% protein as-fed / 90% dry-matter) x 100 = 26.6% protein dry-matter
The label should provide the caloric content of the food in addition to Feeding Guidelines to help pet parents feed an appropriate amount of food each day. Depending on age, activity, environment and breed, each animal has its own unique nutritional and energy needs, thereby these are only guidelines and should be adjusted based on the animal.
Ingredient Listing
Pet food labels must list all ingredients in descending order by weight. For this reason, meat, poultry and fish ingredients are typically listed at the beginning of the label as compared to grains, vegetables, fruits, vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients which are often lower in inclusion. As a rule of thumb, the first five ingredients comprise the majority of the product’s formulation and are the most critical in macro-nutrient delivery. It is important to consider that a complete and balanced pet food is required to deliver over 45 nutrients to dogs and cats. For this reason, vitamins, minerals and other key nutrients are supplemented, and result in a fairly long listing of ingredients on the label. These supplements may be as high as 20-25 individual ingredients listed on a label but may be only 3-5% of the total formulation, and are often chemical sounding compounds. An example would be Thiamine Mononitrate, which is actually a common compound used in the pet food industry to supplement a very important vitamin called Vitamin B1.
Nutrition Statement
The Nutrition Statement is often last on a pet food label, but is among the most important information when selecting our pet’s food. This is the declaration of nutritional adequacy according to AAFCO’s published guidelines, and tells us if the product is meant to be fed as a complete diet, as a treat or intermittent feeding only. This is critical because if the pet parent has selected a specific product to be the sole nutrition for their pet, it is important to know that all the required quantities and balance of nutrients will be delivered, combined with the appropriate amount offered. Further, the nutrition statement informs the pet parent if the food is appropriate for their animal’s life stage, whether for a puppy or kitten, an adult, or if the animal is in a reproductive stage such as gestation or lactation. Senior or mature animals fall under the “adult maintenance” category, but a pet food brand will often have a product offering that is specifically formulated to meet the nutritional and caloric needs of aging animals. Similarly, products marketed for weight management are formulated with specific ingredients that promote fullness, or ‘satiety’, and provide guidelines for caloric restriction. When selecting a product that bears an AAFCO nutritional adequacy statement, this means that the manufacturer has formulated the product according to the published nutritional profiles for the specie and life stage.
Product Claims
Depending on the brand’s product philosophy, whether it includes ingredient guardrails, sourcing and manufacturing practices, or health statements, claims are key marketing tools that draw in new customers from the competition and provide product differentiation versus other brands. To stay competitive and relevant, brands need to establish a storyline or value proposition to the consumer of why to purchase their product. However, it is also the brand’s responsibility to stand behind each claim and ensure that they have invested in the work to substantiate it.
Many claims suggest the product is superior with advanced or elevated terms and descriptions that may or may not be relevant. Often these claims draw in the pet parent by the use of wording that implies the product is better for their pet. We also see label claims that market a product as a nutritional aid for a certain type of health solution. These are often referred to as structure function claims, such as “calcium for strong bones” that can be backed by scientific research and literature. As the rule of thumb, claims should be limited to those that can be attributed to the taste, aroma, or nutritive value of the food. The FDA’s Center of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) considers a product with a claim that implies the product can be used to “diagnose, cure, mitigate, treat or prevent disease, or alter the structure or function of the body, in a manner or extent that exceeds its nutritive value”[2], as a drug. At the end of the day, it is the responsibility of the pet food brand to validate that the claim has been researched, substantiated, and can be supported.
That’s a wrap! Beyond what has been discussed, there are many other attributes on a pet food label that are legally required such as net weight, company, country of manufacture and product identifiers such as the UPC code. These are all required to complete the picture of a product package as it enters the market.
While neither the guaranteed analysis nor the ingredient listing is designed to tell us if the product is of high quality, in combination with product claims and product design, the label does give the pet parent the ability to make an informed choice. We understand it can be overwhelming when reading product labels, marketing information and websites while selecting your pet’s food. We encourage you to be curious, ask questions and seek the peace of mind you need to delight and nourish the pets we love.
Our Commitment – Leading with Technical Expertise – Leah and Jarrod are here to provide guidance and insights – do not hesitate to connect with us at Simmons Pet Food, pfcomments@simfoods.com. We would love to hear from you and be part of your pet’s nutrition solution!
Literature Referenced
AAFCO. Association of American Feed Control Officials. 2022. Official Publication.
FDA. 2022. FDA's Regulation of Pet Food. Available from https://www.fda.gov/animal-veterinary/animal-health-literacy/fdas-regulation-pet-food#drug