Nutrition
& Diet
Food labels 101
by
Jean Hofve, DVM
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Is
it really “complete and balanced”?
A food may be labeled as “complete
and balanced” if it meets the standards
set by AAFCO in one of two ways:
1. Nutrient profiles set the required
amounts of protein, fat, vitamins, minerals,
and so forth. A manufacturer can formulate
a food based on the amount of each nutrient
in each ingredient, or chemically test
the finished food. However, keep in mind
that poorly formulated foods can meet
these standards, yet not provide adequate
nutrition to support an animal’s
long-term health.
2. Feeding tests are the “gold standard”
because they require the food to be fed
to live animals over a period of time.
However, the “family” rule
allows products that are “similar”
to a lead product (one that actually was
fed to live animals) to carry the identical
label designation. There is no way of
knowing if a particular food is one that
was actually tested, or a “distant
relative” that wasn’t.
Know
the rules – they may surprise
you!
Every pet food has a name, whether
it’s “Lamb and Rice Dinner,”
“Beef for Dogs,” or “Tuna
Flavor Dinner.” But what do
these labels actually mean? Believe
it or not, there are specific regulations
for naming pet foods, so it’s
helpful to know the “rules.”
95% Rule: “Chicken for Dogs”
must contain at least 95% chicken
(excluding water). “Fish and
Giblets for Cats,” meanwhile,
will be 95% fish and giblets combined,
but there must be more fish than giblets,
since fish appears first on the label.
25% Rule: “Fish Dinner”
or “Beef Dinner” must
contain 25% fish or beef. If more
than one ingredient is named, the
two together must comprise 25% of
the total, although the second ingredient
may be as low as 3%. This means that
“Lamb and Rice Dinner”
may actually contain a greater quantity
of other ingredients, such as chicken
and corn.
“With” Rule: If the word
“with” appears in the
label (e.g. “Fish Dinner with
Giblets”), the second ingredient
must comprise 3% of the food. An ingredient
labeled as a “flavor,”
such as “Beef Flavor Dinner,”
doesn’t have to contain any
beef at all, just something that gives
the food a beef flavor. |
Check
out the Guaranteed Analysis
The Guaranteed Analysis tells
you how much water and “crude”
protein, fat and fiber are in the food.
These amounts are arrived at by chemical
testing, and are useful for comparing
different foods. If you’re comparing
canned to dry, however, you have to subtract
the moisture percentage on the label from
100% to get the total “dry matter.”
Then divide the ingredient in question
by the dry matter to get the actual ingredient
content. For example, a dry food with
10% moisture and 30% protein contains
33% protein (30/100-10), while a canned
food containing 78% moisture and 10% protein
actually contains 45% protein (10/100-78),
on a dry matter basis.
Pet food labels are a rich source of information
for those who know how to read them. While
they don’t tell you everything about
the food, they do provide guidelines for
comparison shopping. Most importantly,
they help you make sure you’re getting
a high quality product that will keep
your beloved companion in good health.
DR. JEAN HOFVE EARNED
HER DOCTOR OF VETERINARY MEDICINE AT COLORADO
STATE UNIVERSITY IN 1994. IN ADDITION
TO CONVENTIONAL VETERINARY TRAINING, SHE
STUDIED VETERINARY HOMEOPATHY, REIKI,
AND HOLISTIC MEDICINE. FELINE NUTRITION
IS OF SPECIAL CONCERN TO DR. JEAN. SHE
HAS RESEARCHED PET FOOD FOR MORE THAN
TEN YEARS, HAS WRITTEN EXTENSIVELY, AND
BEEN INTERVIEWED ON RADIO AND TELEVISION
ABOUT PET NUTRITION, SUPPLEMENTS, AND
THE COMMERCIAL PET FOOD INDUSTRY. SHE
ALSO WAS AN OFFICIAL LIAISON TO THE ASSOCIATION
OF AMERICAN FEED CONTROL OFFICIALS (AAFCO)
FOR TWO YEARS.
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Published
in the April/May 2005 issue of Animal
Wellness
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