How to Interpret Pet Food Labels

To the uneducated consumer, pet food labels with names like "Beef for Dogs," "Beef Dinner for Dogs," or "Dog Food with Beef" might all sound like pretty much the same thing. In fact, these products could have between 3% to 95% beef content, depending on the exact wording of the product name! If you want to make sure you're paying for the product you really want, take a minute to familiarize yourself with the rules that govern pet food labeling. The "95%" Rule According to regulations enforced by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, a product with a simple same like "Beef for Dogs" or "Chicken for Cats" must contain at least "95%"of the named ingredient, not counting the water added for processing and "condiments." Counting the added water, the named ingredient still must comprise a full 70% of the product. As in human food labeling, the ingredient lists are ranked by the weight of each item in the package, from the largest amount to the smallest. So in these products, "beef" or "tuna" should be the first ingredient listed, followed often by water, and then other items like vitamins and minerals. The 25% Rule The "25%" or "dinner" rule applies to many pet food products. This permits manufacturers to reduce the named ingredient to only 25% of the overall product, by simply adding a descriptive word - such as "platter," "dinner," "entr