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Originally Posted by Michael Romanos
All this has significance to dog food. Can we believe what the labels say.
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Pet Food Report - A Consumer's Guide to Pet Food
"Just like food for people, pet foods must be correctly labeled. In addition to a product name and specifying whether it is food for dogs or cats, pet food labels are also required to describe the product, list the ingredients in the food, and list the guaranteed analysis of the product"
"All ingredients used in pet food are approved for use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), the same agencies that regulate human foods."
"Pet food labeling rules are much more strict than are those for human foods. For instance, a "Blueberry Pancake Mix" for people would probably have only a handful of blueberries in it. A dog food that says "Beef Dog Food" must be 95% beef. A pet food label that says "Chicken Dinner" or "Lamb Formula" only needs to have 25% chicken or lamb, while a "Duck and Potato Dinner" must have 25% of the food made of those two ingredients, with at least 3% being potato. A pet food label that says "...with beef (or "with" any ingredient(s) must have at least 3% beef (or any other named ingredient) in the formula. And finally, if a label says "Chicken flavor", then there only has to be enough flavor so that pets can pick out that it tastes like chicken to them...people don't have to be able to tell the difference. It doesn't matter what the ingredient is, if the label mentions it, the contents must meet these rules."
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Michael Romanos
I am convinced that there must be any number of dog food products that tells a lie and dupes the public and harms our dogs. And it is not just the little companies who could be cheats.
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Pet Food Report - A Consumer's Guide to Pet Food
"Pet food makers are required to carefully label their products according to stringent government regulations. Just as the case with food for people, pet foods must clearly state what ingredients are included in the product"
The Pet Food Institute (PFI) - What is PFI?
"PFI is dedicated to: Representing the pet food industry before Federal and state governments"
"Most of the 50 states require, under state animal food laws and regulations, that pet food labels be registered and approved. As a result, in addition to routine information such as net weight and name of the manufacturer, pet food labels are required to:"
"conspicuously identify the products as a dog or cat food
select a brand name which is not misleading as to content or nutritional properties
give a guaranteed chemical analysis that conforms to the state's animal feed law
give an ingredient listing in descending order of preponderance. Names of ingredients must be accepted as standard or common in use, and no one ingredient can be given undue emphasis
Under regulations developed by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), a pet food label may not express or imply any claim that a product is complete, perfect, scientific, balanced, etc. food unless:
it is nutritionally adequate for a normal animal in all of its life stages --growth, adult maintenance, and gestation/lactation
the claim is modified by stating that it is complete and balanced for one or more specific life stages "