Dog Food Labels Explained

Here are a few definitions that we need to know when buying commercial dog foods. These definitions are from the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), the agency that determines what labels must be used when the manufacturer lists the ingredients of the foods.

As a groups, we are very concerned about the quality of food that we give our little Bichon-breed buddies. Awareness of these defintions will help us keep tabs on what goes into the foods and even the treats that are on the market.

*"MEAT" is defined by AAFCO as the clean flesh derived from slaughtered mammals and is limited to that part of the striate muscle that is skeletal or aht which is found in the tongue, diaphragm, heart, or esophagus, with or without the accompanying and overlying fat and the portions of the skin, sinew, nerve, and blood vessels that normally accompany the flesh.

*"MEAT BY-PRODUCTS" are nonrendered, clean parts other than meat derived from slaughtered mammals. It includes, but is not limited to, lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, livers, blood, bone, partially defatted low temperature fatty tissue, and stomachs and intestines freed of their contents.

*"POULTRY BY-PRODUCT MEAL consists of ground, rendered, clean parts of the carcasses of slaughtered poultry, such as necks, feet, undeveloped eggs, and intestines, exclusive of feathers, except in such amounts as might ocur unavoidable in good processing practice.

*POULTRY BY-PRODUCTS include nonrendered clean parts of carcasses of slaughtered poultry such as heads, feet, and viscera, free of fecal contents and foreign matter except in such trace amounts as might occur unavoidably in good factory practice.

*POULTRY HATCHERY BY-PRODUCTS are a mixture of egg shells, infertile and unhatched eggs and culled chicks that have been cooked, dried and ground, with or without removal of part of the fat.

To review, the above defintions are from AAFCO.