Cat and Dog Food Label Basics

Labels can be confusing. So where to begin? First, look for a food that follows AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials) guidelines. The AAFCO has developed guidelines to test various animal feeds based on the dried contents of the food so all can be compared equally. But this does not guarantee a good food. It just means it meets the standards.

As most of us know, the ingredients are listed in descending order. Therefore, a food with Chicken listed as first should have more chicken than grains. Look closer: If several grains follow the chicken, there may be more grain content than meat. Bad? Well, this will depend. Many weight loss foods or senior diets have a grain as the first ingredient but several types of meat listed next. But for an average cat or dog, you want to look at the next ingredients and see how much meat comes before the grains, or vice versa... Cats are carnivores where dogs are more omnivorous with tendencies towards more meat, so cats and dogs have different nutritional needs. Cats need more meat than dogs and they also need taurine, which is not found in dog foods. Cat foods are formulated for cat needs and dog food for dog needs. Do not interchange them. Now, let's look at basic label reading starting with meats.

What about the type of meat you see? Are By-products really feet-n-beaks? Is meal bad? To simply outline the meats in dog foods:

Meat/Meat Based
This is the clean flesh from an animal. It may also include organ meats, tendons, blood vessels, etc. (Regardless of the meat used).

Meat Meal
Rendered meat, it may NOT contain hair, hooves, or stomach contents. Rendering is to extract all usable bits from the animal by heating - such as taking oils from rendering fat. Meal gives a better true weight as is it dried when used.

Meat By-Products
These are elements (cleaned) such as organs, bone, blood and fatty tissue. No hooves or hair should be in by-products.

Poultry By-Products
Clean parts of chicken like organs, feet, and heads but no fecal matter.