How to Choose a Dog Food: Reading the Label

To choose a dog food, ignore the front of the bag and turn it over. The one line that matters most is the nutritional adequacy statement, which tells you whether the food is complete and balanced for your dog’s life stage. Once a food passes that test, the product name, guaranteed analysis, ingredient list and calorie content help you compare it with others.

Everything else on the pack, from the sunlit farmyard to the word “premium”, is selling. The Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), the body whose model rules most US states follow, describes the adequacy statement as perhaps the most important part of a label. The World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) warns that unregulated terms such as “holistic” and “premium” are of little practical value.

This guide covers the two label systems most readers will meet: AAFCO in the US, and the European pet food industry’s FEDIAF code, which is used alongside EU feed law and shapes labels across Europe. If you’re in Australia, Canada, India or elsewhere, the same principles apply, but check which rules your local labels follow.

Step 1: Find the “complete and balanced” line

This is the pass-or-fail check. If it isn’t there, the food isn’t designed to be fed on its own.

On US (AAFCO) labels, look for wording along one of these two lines:

• “[Product] is formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles for [life stage].”
• “Animal feeding tests using AAFCO procedures substantiate that [Product] provides complete and balanced nutrition for [life stage].”

The first means the recipe was built to hit the nutrient targets on paper or in lab analysis. The second means it was also fed to dogs under a set protocol. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says either route earns the “complete and balanced” claim, which means the food is meant to be your dog’s sole diet.

On European labels, the wording is simpler: “complete pet food for adult dogs” or “complementary pet food”. The FEDIAF guide explains that complete means the food supplies all the nutrients your dog needs each day when fed as directed. Complementary means it has to be mixed with something else, or it’s a treat or snack.

Treats and toppers are the usual complementary foods. In the US they may say “for intermittent or supplemental feeding only”. WSAVA recommends keeping them to about 10% of the diet or less, unless your vet has prescribed a therapeutic food.

Step 2: Match the life stage

AAFCO recognises gestation and lactation, growth, adult maintenance, and “all life stages”. The FDA notes that adult maintenance foods contain lower levels of some nutrients than growth foods, to avoid unnecessary excess.

“All life stages” sounds like the safe all-rounder, but WSAVA points out that these foods are formulated to meet the needs of growth and reproduction. AAFCO adds that calorie-rich foods designed for young animals may make a less active adult obese. So an all-life-stages food is complete for your sofa-loving eight-year-old, but measure portions carefully.

Puppies need a food labelled for growth or all life stages. If you have a large or giant breed puppy, ask your vet which growth foods they recommend for a dog of that size.

Step 3: Decode the product name

The name on the front is regulated, and small words change a lot. The rules differ between the US and Europe, so it helps to see them side by side.

So “Chicken Dog Food” and “Dog Food with Chicken” can be very different products under almost the same name. FEDIAF also notes that the percentage can be stated as the equivalent of the fresh ingredient. Its example is “dried carrots (0.45%, equivalent to 4% carrots)”.

European labels have two more claims with fixed meanings. “Increased protein” must mean at least 15% more protein than a standard product, and “reduced” fat or anything else must mean at least 15% less. If the pack doesn’t say what it is compared with, FEDIAF says the comparison is with the standard adult product in the same range.

Step 4: Read the guaranteed analysis properly

In the US, every label must show at least the minimum crude protein, minimum crude fat, maximum crude fibre and maximum moisture. AAFCO explains that “crude” describes the lab method, not the quality of the protein.

European labels call this section “analytical constituents”. They must list protein, fat content, crude fibre and crude ash, plus moisture when it is above 14%. Ash is not an added ingredient. FEDIAF says it is what is left after the lab burns the sample, which is mainly minerals.

Compare foods on a dry matter basis

Here is where most comparisons go wrong. Canned food is mostly water, so its protein figure looks tiny next to kibble. The FDA’s fix is to convert to dry matter: divide the nutrient by the dry matter percentage (100 minus the moisture figure) and multiply by 100.

A worked example with invented, round numbers:

The “low-protein” can turns out to carry more protein per bite of actual food. Do the same sum for fat when comparing calorie density or choosing a lower-fat food.

Step 5: Look at the ingredient list, without over-reading it

Ingredients are listed in descending order by weight. AAFCO also requires the species to be named when meat or by-products come from anything other than cattle, pigs, sheep or goats.

A few things to know before judging a list:

• Fresh meat vs meal. AAFCO describes “meat” as mostly muscle, which includes its water. A “meal” has been rendered, so most of the water and fat are gone and it is mainly protein and minerals. Chicken at the top of the list can therefore contribute less nutrition than chicken meal a few places down.
• By-products. In AAFCO terms, these are clean, non-muscle parts such as organs. Meat by-products can include bone but not hair, horns, teeth or hooves. They are not automatically poor quality. Liver is a by-product.
• Category names in Europe. European labels may group ingredients as “meat and animal derivatives” or “cereals” instead of naming each one. FEDIAF says the animal material comes from animals passed as fit for human consumption, often parts that are unfashionable in human food, such as lungs, tripe and hearts.
• Additives. European labels list nutritional additives such as vitamins and trace elements separately, under “Additives”. These are often what makes the food complete, not a sign of something artificial.

An ingredient list tells you what went in. It can’t tell you whether the finished food is balanced, which is why Step 1 comes first.

Step 6: Check the calories

Since AAFCO’s model regulations changed in 2014, US pet foods are expected to carry a “Calorie Content” statement. It gives kilocalories per kilogram and per familiar unit, such as a cup or can, and says whether the figure was calculated or tested. States adopt the rule one at a time, so a few older packs may still lack it.

WSAVA says calorie information is only required on US labels. In the UK, EU and elsewhere, look for it anyway, or ask the manufacturer. Calories, not the feeding chart’s optimism, decide whether your dog gains weight. Our dog food calculator turns a kcal figure into a daily portion, and our guide to body condition scoring tells you whether the portion is working.

Marketing words: what they do and don’t mean

The FDA also warns that seals and endorsements from other organisations don’t guarantee a food is nutritionally adequate and may mislead. If you’re drawn to grain-free or raw, read our guides to grain-free food and heart disease and raw feeding first.

Step 7: Ask the company four questions

WSAVA’s Global Nutrition Committee suggests judging the manufacturer as well as the label. Its questions:

1. Do you employ a qualified nutritionist? WSAVA means a PhD in animal nutrition, or board certification by the American College of Veterinary Nutrition (ACVN) or the European College of Veterinary Comparative Nutrition (ECVCN). Ask for their name.
2. Who formulates the diets? An experienced formulator or nutritionist, or a pet owner, breeder or trainer?
3. What quality control do you do? This should cover testing of ingredients and finished product, plus checks for contaminants and shelf life.
4. What research have you done, and is any of it published?

Also check who actually makes the food. “Made by” means the brand makes it. “Made for” or “Distributed by” means a third-party factory does. WSAVA’s advice is blunt: if a manufacturer can’t or won’t answer, be cautious about feeding that brand.

Changing foods safely

Once you’ve chosen, switch gradually by mixing more of the new food into the old each day. If your dog’s stomach objects, slow down, and ask your vet for a timetable if your dog has a sensitive gut.

See a vet now if:

• Your dog vomits more than once, or seems unwell, after a food change
• There is blood in the vomit or diarrhoea
• Diarrhoea without blood lasts more than two to three days
• Your dog has broken into a bag of food and is retching without bringing anything up, or has a bloated belly
• Your dog is on a prescription diet for a medical condition and you want to change it; do this only under your vet’s direction

The bottom line

Choose dog food from the back of the pack. Start with a complete and balanced statement for your dog’s life stage, then use the product name, the dry matter figures and the calorie content to compare foods that pass. Treat “premium”, “holistic” and official-looking seals as decoration. If you’re still choosing between two good options, pick the company that answers WSAVA’s questions openly, then judge the result by your dog’s body condition, coat and stools over the next couple of months.