If the Nutritional Needs of Dogs vary among the different breeds - How Can One Food Claim to Be "Complete & Balanced" - For All Dogs?

"Complete & Balanced" is a claim that should not be used to sell all-breed dog food. When the federal law H.R.3562 - The Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990 - was written it was to prevent human food products from being advertised or labeled with misleading claims. We should get that law extended so it includes commercial pet foods. 54% of all American households have pets eating commercial pet foods. There are over 63 million cats, 54 million dogs, and another 53 million small animals and birds in our homes. We are feeding more dogs and cats than new-born babies, infants and all pre-school age children. this year American pet owners will spend more than sixteen billion dollars on commercial pet foods, over one billion more than what will be spent on children's food. Yet when H.R.3562 - The Nutrition Labeling and Education Act of 1990 was written, pet food buyers were left unprotected and pet foods can be sold with the claim that they are "complete and balanced" - even though that claim is a misleading claim.

We do not need to look very hard to find pet foods sold with misleading claims. For example: claims that a food is "nutritionally complete and balanced" or "This food provides 100% complete & balanced nutrition" can usually be found in bold print in ads and on the front panel of pet food labels. These claims could lead people to believe that food is nutritionally complete and balanced for the dog or cat which will eat it - THIS IS NOT SO.

The pet food industry's governing council, The Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), has established guidelines for when a pet food product can be labeled "complete and balanced." When any pet food meets the AAFCO guidelines they are allowed to make the claim. The AAFCO guidelines are: a pet food must contain each of the amounts shown on a single list of ingredients which has been declared by AAFCO as the minimum requirement of any dog or cat. Thus any pet food company can claim "complete and balanced" if their food meets a standard based on set amounts of each ingredient they put into a food and not the actual requirements of the various animals which will eat that food. The standard and associated claims are self-set and self-regulated by AAFCO (an association apparently working for the pet food industry). This could be equated to the human food industry being allowed to set a "standard" so a company could claim one daily serving of any food which contains just the amounts shown on the FDA's list "The Minimum Adult Daily Requirements" would provide all of us (athletes or accountants) "100% complete and balanced nutrition."

One pet food product can not be nutritionally complete or nutritionally balanced for all dogs or cats. There are such vast nutritional differences amongst dogs a food that is right for one breed COULD BE POISON TO ANOTHER breed. In 1985 the U.S. Government's National Research Council published a book, Nutrient Requirements of Dogs, citing many tests demonstrating this. A test cited on page 24 shows two dog breeds needing more than thirty-four times the per/Kg dosage of vitamin D (a fat soluble vitamin) than the amount required by AAFCO's guidelines which make a food eligible to claim it is "complete and balanced." Another test showed a different breed that needs three times the per/Kg amount. Feeding a food containing enough vitamin D for the breed which needs thirty-four times the minimum amount to the breed that only needs the minimum could be TOXIC for the dog with lower requirements. A food containing only the minimum amount of vitamin D can not provide those breeds with higher requirements the complete amount they need. When different breeds have different requirements for any one ingredient, a food nutritionally balanced for one breed can not be balanced for all.

Over the last twenty years the reasons an "any-pet" pet food cannot be nutritionally complete and balanced for all the pets that may eat it has been well researched and documented. Scientific journals have kept their readers informed on research in this field. The National Research Council's, Nutrient Requirements of Dogs, 1980 and 1985 revisions showed dozens of tests. The general public was told about the nutritional variations of 152 specific dog breeds in my 1990 book, Canine Nutrition & Choosing The Best Food For Your Breed Of Dog. Yet today, many pet food companies persist in misleading buyers with claims that say their one food, sold with instructions on how to feed it to any dog or cat, "Provides 100% complete & balanced nutrition."

Please use a little logic when you think about the nutritional needs of your pets. Don't assume that because a food is good for one member of an animal family that it will be good for all. Look at the specific animal being fed, and think about its needs. Some examples of the pet food industry making different foods for different members of a species can be found at any pet food store: Tropical fish and Gold fish do not get the same food; Parrots, Lovebirds, Cockatiels and Cockatoos all have different foods based on their different requirements. Today we can find different foods for different types of birds or fish but all dogs or cats are being treated as though they all have the same nutritional requirements and are expected to eat the same "Complete & Balanced" food. Think logically: A 40 pound Keeshond sheds; a 40 pound Kerry Blue Terrier does not shed; would these two need the same coat producing nutrients? A 45 pound Bulldog has thick bones, a 45 pound Pharaoh Hound has thin bones; would these two need the same amount of bone building minerals? A 50 pound Basset Hound and a 50 pound Standard Poodle have different energy levels; would they need the same caloric intake? A 60 pound Labrador Retriever is one of six dog breeds that produce skin oil; a sixty pound Collie does not produce skin oil; would these two have the same need for dietary fatty acids?

Individual pet food companies have openly acknowledged some of the many reasons why their food can not be nutritionally complete and balanced for all dogs or cats. Since the early 1980's many pet food companies, who are selling pet food with "complete & balanced" on their labels, have also run ads that claimed: "Food requirements will vary depending on breed, environment, temperament, and stress factors." Yet today, not one of these pet food companies provides buyers instructions on how to adapt their "any-dog" or "any-cat" foods for variations of breed, environment, temperament or stress factors. The pet food companies selling their foods through veterinarians and specialty pet shops have not even provided them with the instructions.

It is appalling how many ways the pet food industry uses misleading claims; many contradictory and some ludicrous. There is one commercial dog food that dedicates a large part of its label to telling a story of why dogs need meat protein in their diet. In the sentence that follows their story is a claim that over 65% of the protein in their food comes from chicken. After reading their label you'd think that their food was made with chicken meat ... but the food's ingredient list only shows "Poultry By-product Meal" as a poultry source of protein and does not list anything indicating there is any "Chicken meat" in the food (see the article on Wording of Pet Food Labels for AAFCO's definition of "Poultry By-product Meal"). Another blatant example is a full page magazine ad with big bold print claiming that vets sell their pet food supplements because "Dogs have different nutritional needs that no single dog food can satisfy." The ad's statement is right. It would be impossible for any one food product to meet the nutritional needs of all dogs, yet their ad pictures just one food product they want you to go to your vet and buy: It is labeled ... "for dogs and cats."

The pet food industry has inflicted upon us thousands of misleading labels and ads. Over the years some of the claims have been repeated so many times and so loudly that many pet owners are accepting those claims as fact. The same lie repeated over and over does not make it true. Unfortunately there are pet owners who have only heard the lies and therefore believe them to be true. I urge all people who are buying pet food to look into the claims (both those of the pet food companies and those found at this website). Then you decide, and if you do agree with what is presented at this website as truthful and not just some alarmist hype or a personal vendetta to put down an eleven billion dollar industry, take action and demand both state and federal laws that would force commercial pet food companies to tell (in language we can all understand) just the facts about their food. You can do your part in getting truthful pet food labeling laws passed. A good way to do this would be to write your legislator and let them know where you stand on this issue.


This article was written by The Animal Advocate


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