Can We Trust AAFCO Feed Standards?

Author: Hilary

Friday, February 8th, 2008 @ 2:11 pm

As we choose pet food for our companions, we look at the label for guidance, for content information and for the balance of nutrients that are necessary for our pet’s diet.

The label we see on dog foods stating that they are ‘complete and balanced’ may make the consumer feel as though they are doing the best for their pet.

In order to be labeled as a complete and balanced diet, the feed must meet standards established by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO). The food is determined to be complete and balanced by undergoing a nutrient profile analysis or by passing a feeding trial. The established standards include recommendations on the content of the food regarding fat soluble vitamins, fat, water soluble vitamins, protein and the mineral content of the pet food.

According to Dr. Ian Billinghurst’s book, Give Your Dog a Bone, the current legal standards for the nutritional makeup of pet food are such that “It is possible to produce a pet food based on shoe leather, sump oil, coal and water which is analyzed will be found to meet the legal requirements necessary for it to be sold as pet food,” (Billinghurst, pg. 40.)

Dr. Billinghurst’s assertation is not only disturbing, it shows the danger of trusting the government organizations whose goals are to establish feed standards for our pets.

The United States Food and Drug Administration has released a regulation on pet food in the wake of the recall crisis.

Click here to read it in its entirety.

To summarize, the regulation calls for “pet foods, like human foods, be pure and wholesome, contain no harmful or deleterious substances.”

Instead, much of the scrap material from the human food industry is being used for pet foods. How can the leftovers determined not for use in human grade products live up to the FDA’s claim that pet food should be pure and wholesome?

Back to the pet food label - the ingredients listed at the top are the ‘heaviest’ ingredients, meaning that these are the ingredients that comprise the largest percentage of the feed.

If those ingredients are biologically inappropriate (items like meat by-product meal, corn, soybean meal and animal fat often top the ingredients list), you can imagine the internal damage we are doing to our companions.

Look for foods that have ingredients that are wholesome, biologically appropriate, human grade and organic. Born Free USA - Animal Protection Institute has assembled a ‘how to’ guide in selecting commercial pet foods. I advise all pet owners to click here, read the article and adhere to higher standards then that which the United States government organizations claim as complete and balanced nutrition.