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The product name of a dog food
may be the most important factor
in your buying
decision. Names are featured
prominently on dog food labels;
they are the first things that
you notice when scanning
shelves in the dog food aisle,
and they serve as a quick
reference guide for you to
follow. Many pet owners will
“shop specific ingredients” when
looking for dog food. They’ll
seek out turkey, fish, chicken,
liver or some other ingredient
when determining what to feed
their pet. For this reason, dog
food manufacturers will
typically feature a key
ingredient in the names of their
products, such as “Turkey
Dinner” or “Beef Stew.”
Dog food customers scan the
names on the labels to determine
which foods to feed their dogs.
This system sounds simple
enough, but just like you can’t
judge a book by its cover, the
names on dog food labels can be
misleading if you don’t know how
to read them. Words like “fish,”
“chicken,” and “turkey” can mean
very different things in terms
of the actual make-up of a dog
food, depending on what other
words appear with them on the
label.
This is why it’s so important
for you to learn the language of
labels when choosing dog food.
AAFCO has four basic rules that
govern how language can be used
on a dog food label.
1. The 95% Rule – When a
food includes the name of a meat
ingredient by itself, such as
“Turkey For Dogs” or “Beef Dog
Food,” at least 95% of the food
must be made up of that key
meat. So Lamb Dog Food must be
95% lamb by total weight. This
does not count condiments and
water, which is added for
processing. If water is added
for processing, the main named
ingredient must still account
for 70% of the food’s total
weight. If the label combines
two main ingredients, such as
“Chicken and Duck for Dogs,” the
two ingredients together must
account for 95% of the food’s
total weight. In this case, the
first ingredient listed in the
product’s name must be the one
that is more prevalent in the
food. So, using our above
example, there would be more
chicken than duck in a “Chicken
and Duck” dog food, and together
these two meats would account
for 95% of the food’s total
weight.
The 95% rule applies only to
animal matter, not plant matter.
So, if the label says “Lamb and
Rice Dog Food,” it must still
contain at least 95% lamb.
2. The 25% Rule – Dog
foods that have at least 25% of
a key ingredient, but less than
95% by weight, can name that
ingredient on their label, as
long as it is accompanied by a
descriptive term like “platter”
“dinner,” “formula” “entrée,” or
similar wording. So “Chicken
Dinner” or “Chicken Platter” dog
food is made up of 25% or more
of chicken. This 25% figure
cannot count the water used for
processing, according to AAFCO
standards. Unlike the 95% rule,
the 25% rule applies to all
ingredients, whether they’re
plant or animal matter. When two
ingredients are listed in the
product name the first one must
make up a larger percentage of
the food formula. So, a “Lamb
and Rice Dinner” dog food, must
be at least 25% lamb and rice
combined, with more lamb than
rice.
3. The 3% Rule – If
more than one ingredient is used
in a food, it must be listed on
the label according to the
prevalence (by weight) in that
food. Each named ingredient must
contribute at least 3% by weight
of the food’s content. So when
your customers see a label that
reads, “Beef, Chicken and Liver
Dinner” dog food, they will know
that it has at least 25%
combined beef, chicken and
liver, that it has more beef
than chicken or liver, more
chicken than liver, and that
each ingredient listed
contributed at least 3% to its
weight total. The 3% rule also
applies to food products that
are added to the main
ingredient. For example, if a
manufacturer adds cheese to a
turkey dinner, the label can
read “Turkey Dinner With
Cheese,” provided cheese makes
up at least 3% of the weight of
the food. Your customers should
be aware that the “with”
labeling provision also applies
to meats that are added in 3%
quantities. For example “Salmon
Dog Food” must be at least 95%
salmon, but “Dog Food With
Salmon” could be any dog food
formula as long as 3% of it by
weight is made up of salmon.
This is an important distinction
for your customers to recognize
when evaluating dog food
options.
4. The “Flavor” Rule – If
a dog food uses an ingredient
before the word “flavor,” it
means that there has to be only
a “sufficient detectable” amount
of that flavor in the formula.
There is no requirement that the
food have any digestible source
of that food. So “Beef Flavored”
or “Chicken Flavored” dog food
does not have to have any beef
or chicken. Most often this
flavor is imparted to the food
by “meal” or “by-products.” In
some cases a “digest” will be
used to create a food’s flavor.
A digest is a processed material
that contains concentrated
natural flavors.
Terms such as “premium,” “super
premium” and “gourmet” are used
by dog food manufacturers to
distinguish their products, but
these terms and claims are not
covered by any regulations. They
may be fine foods, but their
names alone are not guarantee of
superior nutritional benefits.
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