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Nutrition

Association of American Feed Control Officials

The US body whose nutrient profiles decide what a pet food may call itself complete — it writes the model rules, it does not test or approve foods.

AAFCO is a voluntary association of state and federal feed regulators. It publishes nutrient profiles and model label rules that most US states adopt into law, which is how a phrase like "formulated to meet AAFCO nutrient profiles" ends up on a bag.

What that phrase does not mean is that AAFCO looked at the food. There is no AAFCO approval, no AAFCO seal, and no AAFCO laboratory. The claim is the manufacturer's, made against a published standard. The stronger version of the claim is the one that says the food passed a feeding trial rather than being formulated on paper — worth reading for, because it appears in the same small print.

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Association of American Feed Control Officials

More in Nutrition

FEDIAFThe European pet food industry federation whose nutritional guidelines play the role AAFCO's profiles play in the United States.Complete and balancedA regulated claim that a food supplies every nutrient a pet needs, in the right proportions, as its only diet — the one label phrase that carries real weight.KibbleDry pet food shaped by extrusion — dough cooked under pressure, forced through a die, cut, dried and sprayed with fat and flavour.TaurineAn amino acid cats cannot make in useful amounts and must eat — the reason a cat cannot live on dog food.By-product mealRendered animal parts other than skeletal muscle — organs, mostly — cooked down and dried into a concentrated protein powder.Guaranteed analysisThe small table of minimum and maximum percentages on a pet food label — crude protein, fat, fibre and moisture — and the most misread panel on the bag.

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