By Dr. I Elizabeth Borgmann.

Have you ever been confused looking at the pet food labels? Have you wondered how to compare foods? Do all the foods look the same? What you need to understand is what the different areas of package labels tell you, or more precisely, don’t tell you.

Sadly, there are no government regulations on pet food in Canada. Until the end of 2007 there were the voluntary CVMA (Canadian Veterinary Medical Association) pet food guidelines. In the U.S. there are AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials) guidelines.

The CVMA program was a quality assurance program involving feeding trials. Foods passed if they were guaranteed to meet your pet’s nutritional needs provided your pet is normal and healthy.

The AAFCO standards are based either on nutrient analysis or a feeding trial. Many of the large corporations in Canada and the U.S. do not participate in either program because they feel the testing does not provide adequate information on food quality.

The testing proves the foods provide the minimum needs, but in some cases provide too many nutrients. Remember – more does not mean better (balanced is better!!). If there is no label info on either the CVMA program or AAFCO how do you know which company does not meet minimal standards and which company elected to opt out of an inadequate voluntary program? You don’t.

So, let’s try to simplify the situation. There are 2 parts to all labels: the Display Panel (what the food is named, who it is designed for, the weight, feeding trial or AAFCO information) and the Information Panel ( ingredients, guaranteed analysis, feeding guidelines, manufacture’s name and number).

Let’s start with the display panel.

Here are some tricks in figuring out just how much meat is in a food.

• If it says ‘Chicken’ – it has 95% chicken in it.
• If it says ‘Chicken Dinner’, or ‘Chicken Entree’ or some other enticing name – it has 25-95% chicken.
• If it says ‘with Chicken’ – it has 3-25% chicken.
• If it says ‘Chicken Flavour’ – it has <3% chicken.
• Canned food is not to have more than 78% water content.
If it does, it must state “chicken in gravy” or “beef in sauce” or some other similar statement that implies additional water content.

If the pet food company has elected to participate in the one of the two programs, read the label carefully. Was the food tested in a feeding trial? If it has the CVMA stamp of approval, it passed a food trial.

For foods made in the U.S., look for the AAFCO statement. If the label reads “Animal feeding tests using AAFCO procedures substantiate that........” then the food was tested in a feeding trial. If the label reads “ABC Pet Food is formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the AAFCO......” the food was not tested in a feeding trial.

Feeding trials are usually only 26 weeks long. Be aware that feeding trials only check body weight and 4 blood parameters. That is better than just being testing for nutrient levels without checking bioavailability.

Beware of foods that state they are meet or exceed the nutrient requirements for all life stages. This means they meet the needs of growing pets, but may exceed the needs of an adult or senior pet. More is not better. More can be very detrimental.

If there is a ‘burst’ on the display panel – eg. “with additional calcium” or “with additional taurine” – then the levels must be on the guaranteed analysis portion of the information panel. Otherwise, ingredients beyond protein, fat, fibre and moisture do not need to appear on the guaranteed analysis.

Now, let’s move to the information panel.

The Ingredients lists the ingredients in descending order based on weight. It tells you nothing about the quality of ingredients. Use this list to detect potential allergens if you have a sensitive pet. It will tell you nothing more.

The Guaranteed Analysis will tell you the minimum amount of protein, fat and moisture and the maximum fibre and moisture. Crude protein is measured by nitrogen content. It will tell you nothing about quality. Crude fat is an estimate of the energy content of the diet. Fibre is the non-digestible portion of the food.

When comparing foods, especially canned food, you need to correct your values to the moisture content. Ash is an old term identifying calcium, phosphorus and magnesium (together, not separated out). The key thing to remember is that the guaranteed analysis gives you the worst case scenario but does not tell you exactly what is in the food.

Most foods will have a feeding guideline. The emphasis is on the word guideline. Depending on genetics, breed, activity level, reproductive status, lean body mass, environmental temperature, and coat characteristics the calorie requirement can vary by as much as 50 per cent.

To summarize, here is what to look for on a pet food label:

1) Check to make sure the food has been through a feeding trial.

2) Beware foods that state they are good for all life stages (your pet may receive too many nutrients). Purchase food of the appropriate life stage and health state of your pet.

3) Check if your pet reacts to anything on the ingredient list.

4) Don’t rely on the feeding guidelines.

5) Call the manufacturer and get the product information that is not on the label.

So where does that leave you? Not much further ahead? Hold
on…

In future articles we will address some of the ingredients in foods and why they are there. We will discuss different nutrient requirements for different age and health categories. And we will provide a bit of insight into marketing.

Dr. Borgmann has been practicing in the Fraser Valley for over 8 years and can be reached at the Whatcom Road Veterinary Clinic