Reading and understanding the ingredients on dog food labels can be confusing. Always consult with your veterinarian to determine what dog food you should be feeding your dog. And, learn more about some of the so-called “natural” dog food products on the market in this article.
Is your “natural” dog food truly natural?
By Elizabeth Wasserman
For dog owners like Carol Davis of Fairfax, Va., the sight of a synthetic or chemical ingredient listed on a pet food label leads to the following conclusion: I wouldn’t feed that to my dog. “I usually avoid it,” says Davis, who has a 5-year-old English springer spaniel named Lana. “I feel like if she eats healthy now, she’ll stay healthier and we’ll have fewer vet bills later.”
Like Davis, you are probably more concerned about putting “natural,” or minimally processed, foods on your dinner table, and that standard now extends to what’s in Fido’s bowl. Davis says she looks for recognizable ingredients, such as chicken and carrots, when choosing commercial food for Lana. However, there’s still some confusion about what constitutes a “natural” dog food.
“Natural” Dog Food Labeling Rules
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) regulate labeling of dog food in the United States so that companies can’t make claims about pet food products that aren’t true. The FDA doesn’t define the term “natural” for the pet food industry, but the AAFCO definition says natural food is “… derived solely from plant, animal or mined sources … not containing any additives or processing aids that are chemically synthetic except in amounts as might occur unavoidably in good manufacturing practices.”
Read the rest of Elizabeth’s article.