Among the most common pet food names (regardless of brand) is the word “with”, such as ‘with chicken’ or ‘with cow’. For example:
The Purina One dog food above is named: “Lean Muscle Support with Real beef”. The package includes an image of a large chunk of beef on the label.
Guess…in a 15 pound bag of ‘with Real Beef dog food’, with that picture of a hunk of beef on the label, how much beef is needed in that pet food?
According to pet food regulations, ‘with’ included in the pet food name requires the product to include at least 3% of the named ingredient; in this case, at least 3% ‘real cow’.
The truth of ‘with’.
For a 15 pound bag of dog food with ‘with’ in the name (‘with chicken’ or ‘with beef’ and so on), the manufacturer is ONLY need to include less than 1/2 pound of beef (or chicken or…) in a full 15 pound bag.
3% of 15 pounds is 0.45 pounds.
When we break it down further, looking at how much of the daily value of beef or chicken a 30 pound dog eats every day, the harsh reality gets even worse.
The feeding directions for Purina dog food above recommend a 30 pound dog should eat three cups a day. Chewy.com says that there are about sixty cups of dog food in a 15 pound bag resulting in an estimated (minimum requirement) of 0.0075 pounds of beef per cup (or 0.12 ounces of beef per cup).
In three cups of dog food (to feed a 30 pound dog daily), the manufacturer is ONLY required to include approximately 0.36 ounces of beef.
According to pet food regulations…the manufacturer – is allowed to display a picture of a piece of beef on the label, is allowed to name the pet food ‘with Beef’ …
… is ONLY required to feed a 30 pound dog an approximate
1/3 ounce of beef daily.
The truth of ‘and’.
When two ingredients are listed in the name of the pet food, for example:
This Nutrish cat food includes two ingredients in the product name; Chicken and Shrimp. The product label includes a picture of shrimp and chunks of chicken.
Pet food regulations state when two ingredients are in the product name, the manufacturer is required to include at least 3% of each named ingredient. In this case, this cat food only needs to contain 3% chicken and 3% shrimp.
When you calculate how much chicken is needed in a 2.8 ounce container – the truth becomes Less than 1/10th of an ounce of chicken and Less than 1/10th of an ounce of shrimp in 2.8 oz containers (0.084 ounces of each ingredient per 2.8 oz container).
Nutrish recommends about 3 containers daily for a 10 pound cat.
In three containers of cat food, the recommended amount of feeding for a 10 pound cat, the manufacturer is required ONLY to be included 0.252 ounces of chicken and 0.252 ounces of shrimp (in all three containers).
As per pet food regulations…the manufacturer – is allowed to display an image of two pieces of chicken on the label and two pieces of shrimp on the label, is allowed to name the pet food ‘Chicken & Shrimp’ …
is ONLY required to provide a 10 pound cat approximately 1/4 of an ounce of chicken daily and approximately 1/4 of an ounce of shrimp daily.
Many pet food labels contain very misleading pictures that make pet owners believe that the pet food contains something more than microscopic parts of meat for their pet. animals every day. Regulatory authorities allow the industry to mislead consumers.
These same requirements of a minimum amount of a named ingredient apply to any pet food that includes ‘may’ in the name or includes two ingredients in the name. Ask your pet food manufacturer how much of the ingredient included in the product name is actually in the pet food.
Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,
Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Buyer Beware of Author, Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
TruthaboutPetFood.com
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