Dog Tip of the Day

Reading Pet Food Labels

How well do you understand your the labels on your dog's food? According to a recent study commissioned by PETCO, only four people in 10 say they understand pet food labels!


While the survey showed that about 80 percent of the pet parents felt their dog's food was healthy and nutritious, those labels caused some uncertainty. (Hey, it's difficult enough to read human food labels so it's no surprise those pet food labels leave everyone scratching their heads!)

Here are a few tips from PETCO on learning to evaluate a pet food label:

• Don't judge a food's quality by how the package looks. Just because a package is covered with wholesome-looking ingredients doesn't mean the food inside is nutritious. Read the small print on the ingredient list and nutrition label, instead of depending on illustrations or advertising on the package.

• Look for high-quality proteins. Read the full ingredient list to evaluate all of the proteins provided, and don't assume a meal or by-product meal is less nutritious. As long as the origin is specifically named (for instance, chicken meal or salmon by-product, rather than meat meal or poultry by-product) the ingredient is a high-quality protein source.

• Use the Guaranteed Analysis. Similar to human food nutrition facts, the guaranteed analysis, a panel included on every pet food package label, will tell you the food's overall protein, carbohydrate, fat, fiber and moisture content.

• Determine the primary ingredients and protein sources. Ingredients on pet food labels are listed by weight. Look at the first five to eight ingredients and ensure there is a healthy combination of correctly processed, high-quality, specific protein sources.

• The combination of ingredients is more important than any single ingredient. Food can contain more than one form of the same ingredient, so read the whole label for a healthy balance of protein, fat, and carbohydrate sources with natural names you recognize.

Labels: dog food

posted by Paris and John @ 2:23 PM