Finding a food for your pet should be straightforward, but it can be very challenging to understand pet food labels based on the language they use.
This guide clearly explains the language used on pet food labels, what different words actually mean, and what to look for in your next pet food purchase. If you're at the store and need a quick answer, scroll to the bottom of the article and read our "How to Use This Information" section.
If you're starting your dog on a natural diet, here's a list of some foods that are safe, and a few to avoid.
How to Understand Pet Food Labeling
Pet food bags are required to explicitly state the product's name, intended species, quantity, "guaranteed analysis", ingredients, nutritional adequacy, feeding directions, and manufacturer information.
The "ingredients" aspect of that list is where things get tricky. Pet food brands are prohibited from making false health claims, using misleading comparisons, or stating unverifiable endorsements.
A company can, however, state an ingredient in different ways that ultimately leads to confusion and incorrect beliefs about the contents of the food.
Certain terms (listed in the next section) make it almost impossible to look at a pet food bag and understand its contents.
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Fortunately, laws dictate the specific use of these terms in accordance with percentages of ingredients used. Each term falls into a specific category, mandating companies to only use that term if they have a certain percentage of an ingredient. If you understand these rules, you can have an approximate understanding of what your pet is eating.
- Unfortunately, so long as the company falls within the labeling laws determining the percentage range of the named ingredient in a product, they don't have to explicitly state the percentage anywhere on the package or elsewhere.
Let's look at the rules.
1. The "Flavor" Rule (The Ingredient Hardly Needs to Be Present)
If a pet food says "chicken-flavored", this could mean that there's less than 0.5% chicken in the product. "Flavor" doesn't guarantee any percentage of the actual ingredient included.
According to AAFCO, "on a bag of chicken-flavored dog food, one should find chicken fat or some other ingredient providing the chicken flavor in the ingredients list, and both words "chicken" and "flavored" are printed in the same font-type and size as the product name."
So, while there may be chicken fat or chicken by-products in the pet food, this doesn't guarantee that there is a nutritionally-significant amount. There is no set minimum percentage of an ingredient needed in order to use the term "flavor."
Summary of the "flavor" rule:
- The use of the term "flavor" doesn't guarantee a specific amount of that ingredient in the product.
- The flavor must be detectable.
- Don't use the term "flavor" as an indicator of the nutritional value of a product.
2. The "With" Rule (at Least 3% of The Named Ingredient)
If you're looking at a bag of food that says "Dog Food with Chicken" or "Cat Food made with Beef," this product must have at least 3% of the named ingredient, and likely has less than 25% of the named ingredient.
These products can say "with" or "made with", and both of those uses fall into the same 3% category.
Examples:
- Senior dog food with turkey
- Cat kibble with beef
- Senior cat food with shrimp
- Small dog food with rabbit
The nice thing about products that use the "with" rule is that they're relatively easy to spot. The "with" needs to be clearly listed in a conspicuous manner on the bag.
The not-so-nice thing is that this product likely has somewhere around 3% of the named ingredient. It could occasionally be higher than that, but if the product had more than 25% of the named ingredient, it would likely fall into the 25% rule which uses terms like "dinner, entree, formula," and more.
Summary of the "with" rule:
- Foods that say "with [ingredient]" are required to include at least 3% of the named ingredient.
- Specifically, there needs to be 3% of the ingredient after the word "with," while there could be other named ingredients featured. For example, "Chicken recipe with lamb" would have at least 3% lamb, and a different percentage of chicken.
- These products don't always make nutritional sense for healthy pets, but there are situations when "with" rule products could be the right choice (e.g. picky eaters, allergies, dietary sensitivities).
3. The 25% Rule ("Dinner, Entree, Formula," & More)
The 25% rule applies to most pet food products, with the named ingredient being required to constitute 25-94% of the product.
Words Used in The 25% Rule:
- Dinner
- Formula
- Platter
- Entree
- Recipe
- Nuggets
- Feast
Odds are that your pet food at home includes some of this language. While there is no obligation of the company to state the exact percentage of the primary ingredient, you can be sure that it falls somewhere between 25-94%.
Products in this category are often the best option, because they include a variety of other ingredients that constitute a "complete and balanced diet." While the named ingredient such as "chicken" or "fish" is often the most important, pets need a variety of other nutrients to stay healthy, and these ingredients constitute the other 75% of the product.
These labels can be deceiving as well, however. A product that says "rice and chicken recipe" only needs to have a 25% makeup of rice and chicken combined, with no parameters set for how much rice and how much chicken, apart from that each must make up at least 3%, respectively. So, that could mean that there is 3% chicken in the food, and 22% rice, even though it's written as though rice and chicken are the key ingredients.
Summary of the "25%" rule:
- These products must contain at least 25% of the named ingredient.
- They could contain 25-94%, but there isn't typically a way to get an exact number.
- Products in this range often make the most nutritional sense in terms of a complete and balanced diet.
4. The 95% Rule, & The 100% Rule
The 95% rule means that the named ingredient must constitute at least 95% of the product. These products are often excellent, but they might not constitute a complete and balanced diet for your pet, so they should be used cautiously.
These products are labeled as "[Ingredient] Pet Food", for example:
- Chicken Cat Food
- Pork Dog Food
- Turkey Dog Food
Similarly, the 100% rule requires that the entire product, apart from water content, is constituted of the named ingredient. These products are labelled as "100% Chicken," or "All Beef".
"100%," or "All" are used to signify these products.
The Terminology of Unspecified Meat Sources
Unspecified meat sources are combinations of various animal parts, often changing from product to product, that aren't easy to inspect for quality or sourcing. It's also all-but-impossible to know specifically what's in them. These ingredients lack transparency, and they're all-too-common.
What are the names used for unspecified meats?
- "Meat"
- "Meat Meal"
- "Meat By-Products"
- "Meat and Bone Meal"
- "Animal Fat"
- "Animal Digest"
- "Animal By-Product Meal"
- "Animal Liver"
- "Animal Plasma"
- "Blood Meal" (without specific animal listed)
- "Poultry" (without specific bird listed)
- "Poultry Meal"
- "Poultry By-Products"
- "Poultry Fat"
- "Fish Meal" (without specific fish listed)
What's wrong with these ingredients?
- Unspecified meats can include parts from various animal sources, often changing batch-by-batch based on availability.
- They are often inconsistent in quality.
- Unspecified meat sources can legally include organ meats, bones, cartilage, and other tissues. Many of these might be parts discarded from human food processing sources.
- If your pet has allergies, unspecified meats open up the chances of a reaction due to the lack of transparency in sourcing.
- Lack of transparency also makes it difficulty to assess quality and ethical considerations in sourcing and processing.
What are "Meals" and "By-Products" in Pet Food?
You'll often see things like "Chicken Meal" or "Beef By-Product" listed on pet food bags. Fortunately, these aren't bad things. Both of these are generally high quality protein sources that can't legally be listed as plain old "chicken" or "beef."
The Definition of "Meal": Meal, such as chicken meal, is typically muscle tissue, skin, or bone that's cooked and ground into a dry powder. This provides a high concentration of protein per pound in pet food products.
The Definition of "By-Product": A by-product is typically less desirable than "meal." By-products are non-muscle parts of an animal, including organ meats, bones, cartilage, necks, feet, intestines, or heads. It's harder to verify the quality of by-products, and they're often just the parts of an animal that aren't commonly used in human foods.
While actual meat products listed as "chicken," (or other meats) are preferable to meals and by-products, these are still solid protein sources and aren't anything to be too worried out if you're purchasing from a reputable brand.
What if Two Ingredients are Stated Next to Each Other? (e.g. Lamb & Rice Recipe)
Just when you think you've got it down, the bag on the shelf throws you a curveball and says "lamb & rice recipe". Does this mean it's at least 25% lamb?
No, it does not.
If a bag says "lamb & rice recipe", it means that 25% of the product is made up of lamb & rice together. But how much lamb versus rice are in this product, you ask?
That's not simple, either. There are some guidelines, however.
- When two products are listed together in this way, they must both constitute at least 3% of the product, respectively.
- The ingredient that's listed first must constitute more weight than the second ingredient listed.
- In a rice & lamb recipe, there is more rice contained.
- In a lamb & rice recipe, there is more lamb contained.
- The combination (e.g. beef & corn) itself is also dictated by the rules stated above.
- So, "made with beef & rice" means that this combination makes up at least 3% of the product, whereas "beef & rice recipe" means that this combination makes up at least 25% of the product.
Another Example: "Roasted Chicken, Rice & Vegetable Flavor"
In this example, three ingredients are listed, followed by "flavor."
Rather than being 95% roasted chicken, with rice & vegetable flavor included, this product would simply include the roasted chicken flavor, rice flavor, and vegetable flavor.
In the instance of the "flavor" rule, there doesn't need to be any specific percentage of these flavor ingredients in the product. A product with this title would most likely be comprised of less than 3% of the ingredients that offer these flavors.
97% of the ingredients in this product are likely not listed on the front of the bag.
Reading The Ingredients Lists on Pet Food Bags
The best way to get a sense of the proportions of ingredients in a pet food bag is to view the ingredients list. This isn't straightforward in most cases, so there are a few tricks to keep in mind when you review the ingredients listed.
Things to know about ingredients lists:
- Ingredients must be listed in their order by weight in the package, starting with the most weight and ending with the least.
- The first ingredient listed is the most prominent in the product.
- Look for "ingredient splitting" which falsely makes some ingredients seem more or less prominent (discussed below).
1. Ingredient Order
The ingredients listed on your pet food package have to be ordered by weight. So, if the first ingredient is chicken, that means chicken has the most volume by weight in the product.
There are ways that some companies complicate this and skew the list to make it look more enticing, however. The key way that this is achieved is through "ingredient splitting."
2. How to Spot Ingredient Splitting
Ingredient splitting involves splitting less desirable ingredients into multiple parts to make it appear that they're not one of the primary ingredients.
For example, a list like this: "chicken, pea protein, pea flour, pea fiber, pea starch" is possibly an example of ingredient splitting.
If the company were to just say "peas" rather than splitting peas into multiple categories, it's very likely that peas would be the top ingredient listed on the package. By splitting the ingredient into multiple forms, they're able to claim that chicken is the top ingredient.
3. Guaranteed Analysis
Guaranteed analysis lets you know the minimum or maximum percentages of the key nutrients that make up a complete and balanced diet.
This helps you to ensure that you know the minimum nutritional value of the product you're buying, but it doesn't guarantee the nutrient quality, source, or digestibility. Use guaranteed analyses as a basic to ensure that the product has been analyzed, but it won't necessarily tell you the comparative quality of a product.
4. Complete & Balanced Statements
The phrase "Complete & Balanced" is used ubiquitously across pet foods and refers to the fact that the product has all essential nutrients in the correct proportions required for a pet's health, growth, and maintenance (based on the standards set by AAFCO).
Because most pets only eat foods from one source, this is extremely important. You must feed your pet a complete and balanced diet. All pet foods on the shelves, regardless of their labeling, must offer a complete and balanced diet unless they're sold as supplements.
Look for a statement that says one of the following:
- "Formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles." (the same goes for cat food)
- "Animal feeding tests substantiate this product is complete and balanced."
Important: If a product says "intended for supplemental or intermittent feeding only", it is NOT a complete and balanced food and should not be your pet's primary source of food.
How to Use This Information
Below, find a list of things to look for as well as things to avoid. If you're in need of a deeper explanation of anything on this lists, you'll find higher up in the article.
Look for"
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Clearly specified ingredients (e.g., "Chicken Meal" instead of "Meat Meal")
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Terms like "Dinner," "Recipe," "Formula," or "Entrée" (indicating at least 25% of the named ingredient)
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"Complete & Balanced" statement meeting AAFCO standards
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High-quality protein sources listed prominently (Chicken, Beef, Salmon Meal)
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Natural preservatives (Vitamin E, Rosemary Extract)
Avoid:
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Vague or unspecified ingredients ("Animal Fat," "Meat Meal," "Poultry By-Products")
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Excessive ingredient splitting (e.g., "pea protein, pea flour, pea fiber")
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Artificial colors or preservatives (BHA, BHT, Red 40, etc.)
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Terms like "Flavor" on the front of the package (minimal nutritional content)
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Foods labeled as "for supplemental or intermittent feeding only" unless intentionally buying treats or toppers
Conclusion
It's a lot to think about, but getting an understanding of your pet's food can have a lasting benefit to their health. Unfortunately, it's not always easy to do that, but the information in this article equips you with a fundamental understanding of pet food labels, how to read them, and what they mean.
Bookmark this article for the next time you find yourself confused in the pet food aisle, and take a look at your current pet food to see if there's anything in there that you're not a fan of.
We hope this article was helpful, and we're sending you and your pet lasting health for years to come!
