Home
>
Pet
>
Pet Food Label Secrets Revealed! Know What You Are Feeding Your Dog And Cat

Pet Food Label Secrets Revealed! Know What You Are Feeding Your Dog And Cat

Reading a pet food label, how difficult can it be? You just pick up your regular brand and look at the variety on the front, right? Not so fast! Reading a pet food label isn't as easy as you may think. It's not just ingredients and feeding suggestions. There's also a "secret code" you should know about. The code helps you separate the Chicken Formula from the Chicken Dinner and the Beef and Bacon from the Beef with Bacon. You may be thinking "Aren't they all the same?" and the answer is no.

While pet food labeling is regulated at the federal level, some states have their own labeling laws. Many follow the Pet Food Regulations established by the AAFOC (Association of American Food Control Officials).

The secret of pet food descriptions are dictated by four AAFCO rules...

1) The 95% Rule - The products that fall under this regulation have simple descriptions such as "Chicken Cat Food" or "Beef for Dogs". These foods must contain at least 95% (not including water) of the named ingredient. In this case, chicken or beef. If a food description contains more than one meat, poultry or fish ingredient such as "Chicken and Liver Cat Food" , then both ingredients combined must equal 95%, with the first named ingredient being the highest percentage of the two. The 95% rule does not apply to grains and vegetables, so "Chicken and Rice Dog Food" must still contain 95% chicken.

2) The 25% or "Dinner" Rule - If the named descriptive ingredient falls between 25%-94% of the total product (still not counting water), then the description must include a qualifying word such as "Dinner", "Platter", "Formula", etc. As in the first rule two listed ingredients must have be at least 25% of the total weight combined. So, "Chicken Dinner" only has to contain 25% chicken, while "Chicken and Liver Dinner" only has to contain 25% of the two combined. (Minimum of 3% of any named ingredient.) Unlike the first rule, the 25% rule applies to all food, not just meat sources.

3) The 3% or "With" Rule - This is where things get a little sneaky. Any ingredient on a label proceeded by "with" must equal at least 3% of the total weight (minus water). That might sound all right if the food is "Beef with Chicken" (95% beef, 3% chicken), but how does it sound in this form..."Dog Food with Beef"? Yep, that tells you that it only has to contain 3% beef! (Makes you wonder what the other 97% contains doesn't it?)

4) The "Flavor" rule - There is no percentage attached to an ingredient described as a "flavor". There only needs to be an amount sufficient enough to be detected by test methods. As you can probably guess "Chicken Flavored Cat Food" may contain very little chicken. In this case it doesn't even need to be chicken as we normally think about it, but instead can be chicken meal or chicken by-products.

Premium Food - Looking down the pet food aisle you may be attracted to foods listed as "Premium" or "Gourmet". These descriptive words have no requirements attached to them, so while a "Premium" food may sound like it's higher quality food, in reality it doesn't have to be any better than anything else on the shelf.

Now you know the secret of pet food descriptions and can be confident that the next time you're scanning the different varieties of food for your best friend you'll be able to tell the difference between "Beef for Dogs", "Beef Dinner", or "Dog Food with Beef".

Jill Richards is the Owner/Operator of "have leash, will travel - pet sitting" in Aurora, CO and offers t-shirts, sweatshirts, and stickers to Pet Professionals, Animal Rescue Workers, Anti-Breed Ban/BSL Fighters, and Pet Lovers through "have leash, will travel - pet sitting"

house refresh service Bannockburn ...

In The News:

Americans average 10-plus hours online daily, according to recent survey, splitting time between streaming shows on TV and browsing websites on multiple devices.

Boost your smartphone privacy instantly with these security tweaks for iPhone and Android that limit ad tracking, hide notifications and prevent unauthorized access.

Platforms like Hoax Tech and JS Click Cloaker help cybercriminals bypass detection systems using machine learning to selectively display scam content to victims.

A new battery recycling technique transforms old lithium-ion batteries into high-performance components that retain 88% capacity after 500 cycles with minimal waste.

Google's Android operating system can warn users about earthquakes before the shaking even begins – and there are ways to do it on your iPhone, too.

Meta's new gesture control wristband might just be the most seamless way to control a computer yet. And no, it doesn't require surgery, a camera, or even a touchscreen. All it needs is your wrist.

Long-haul trucks are now being upgraded with a surprising twist, thanks to California-based startup Revoy. Their electric boost doesn't replace diesel but works alongside it to cut emissions and fuel costs without major disruption.

PayPal and Venmo just rolled out something big: AI-powered scam alerts for Friends and Family payments.

As data centers multiply across the United States, energy demand is increasing at a rapid pace. This has not escaped the notice of large investment firms from Wall Street.

The Unicode Consortium, the nonprofit organization that maintains the Unicode Standard to ensure emojis work across devices, has announced Unicode 17.0, which includes nine new emojis slated for release this fall, in September 2025.

OpenAI is one of the world's leading AI research labs. Founded in 2015, it's behind some of today's most talked-about tools, including GPT, DALL·E, and ChatGPT.

Ever catch your dog staring at the screen during movie night and wonder if they're actually watching? Turns out, they might be. A new scientific study from Auburn University found that many dogs really do engage with television, and not all pups react the same way.

Stop the scammers from making contact in the first place. They're getting your parents' contact information and much more personal data besides, from somewhere.

The Walker S2 robot from UBTech autonomously exchanges its batteries in just three minutes, allowing continuous operation in car factories operated by BYD, Nio and Zeekr.

The FX Super One electric MPV from Faraday Future offers flexible seating, zero-gravity recliners and an AI system that creates a personal connection between driver and vehicle.

Practical solutions for reducing unwanted charity mail, political texts and email spam by opting out of shared lists, replying "STOP" and using data removal services.

Delta's new AI pricing system eliminates static airfares for personalized rates based on individual data, raising questions about fairness while promising optimized revenue.

AI data centers are straining the power grid across 13 states, contributing to a $9 billion increase in electricity costs, and PJM customers face monthly bill increases of $25 or more.

Artificial intelligence is transforming the music industry as AI-generated bands like The Velvet Sundown earn substantial streaming revenue, prompting lawsuits from major record labels.

Microsoft phishing scams use fake security alerts and links that redirect to credential-stealing pages with warning signs, including urgent language and unusual senders.

Stay up to date on the latest AI technology advancements and learn about the challenges and opportunities AI presents now and for the future.

Tesla vehicles manufactured since mid-2021 with AMD Ryzen processors can now access Grok 4, xAI's witty conversational assistant designed to make drives more engaging.

Understand how technology affects mental health through five concepts, including blue light exposure, screen time management and algorithmic bias.

Electric vehicle maker Lucid adds hands-free driving through an over-the-air update for Air sedan owners with the DreamDrive Pro package and Gravity SUV support coming later.

Protect your home network from hidden dangers, including router vulnerabilities, ISP tracking and smart device weaknesses with proper encryption, firmware updates and VPN technology.