Lack of compliance with nutritional guidelines

The European Pet Food Industry Federation (FEDIAF) claims: “The role of the pet food manufacturer is to provide safe, nutritious food for pets, compliant with the EU regulation.” The industry is strictly regulated by more than 50 pieces of legislation.

Legally, if a pet food is labelled as “complete”, it must provide all the energy and essential nutrients that the target species needs in the correct amounts, so owners should be able to rely on this declaration. However, studies have shown that foods labelled as complete often do not contain the ingredients that they are supposed to.

Cat and dog eating sustainable foods
An outstanding article from vet nutritional specialist Dr Mike Davies, re pet food in general (most of which is meat-based):

“In one study of UK pet foods labelled as complete (Davies et al, 2017b) … the vast majority (79%) failed to supply all the essential minerals and trace elements they were legally obliged to do … This problem is not just in the UK: all over the world, when scientists have analysed complete pet foods, they have found most do not comply with guidelines and/or do not contain the ingredients as declared on the label.”

Overall, plant-based pet foods are more likely to be nutritionally sound and of good quality, than meat-based…see full article below in Vet Times January 2023

Mike Davies vet Times article pet food legislation
Mike Davies vet Times article pet food legislation
Mike Davies vet Times article pet food legislation
Mike Davies vet Times article pet food legislation
Mike Davies vet Times article pet food legislation
Mike Davies vet Times article pet food legislation
Mike Davies vet Times article pet food legislation
Mike Davies vet Times article pet food legislation
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