How to read feed labels like an expert

You flip the bag, you see an endless list of ingredients, percentages, words like “raw ash”… And you end up choosing the feed from the cover photo. It’s happened to all of us. The good news: read the feed label is a lot easier than it looks when you know what to look for and, above all, what marketing tricks to ignore. In this guide we teach you how to interpret it as a veterinary nutritionist would, with the European regulations in hand and without unnecessary technicalities.

Composition: the heart of the label

In the European Union, the labelling of pet food is regulated by Reglamento (CE) 767/2009 and developed by the code of good practice of FEDIAF (the European federation of the pet food industry).

That means the first ingredient is the most abundant, with an important nuance that manufacturers know all too well:

• Fresh meat weighs too much for its water. Fresh chicken contains about 70% moisture. When extruding the feed, that water evaporates, so a “fresh chicken (30%) ” at the top of the list provides considerably less actual protein than its position suggests.
• Dehydrated flours concentrate more nutrients. A “dehydrated chicken (25%) ” in second place may provide more animal protein than the fresh meat that comes first.
• Keep an eye on the ingredient splitting. Some manufacturers divide the same ingredient into multiple entries (e.g., “corn”, “corn flour” and “corn gluten”) so that none appear in the first position, although added together they would be the majority ingredient.

A good habit: don’t stick to the first ingredient, read the first five. That’s the real essence of the product.

“Chicken”, “rich in chicken” or “chicken”: the percentages hidden by the words

This is where marketing gets creative, and where you can win the game. the words that accompany the star ingredient imply very different minimum amounts:

That is to say: a chicken feed may contain only 4% chicken, and the rest be cereals and other protein sources. It is not illegal or necessarily bad, but it is good to know what you are paying for. When the label highlights an ingredient, the manufacturer is obliged to declare its exact percentage in the composition: look it up in parentheses.

Analytical components: protein, fat, fibre and ash

The section on ‘analytical components’ (in the USA called ‘guaranteed analysis’) is the nutritional x-ray of the feed.

• Raw protein: the total protein, without distinguishing its origin. 24-30% is common in adult dry food. It matters both quantity and quality: animal protein has a better amino acid profile for the dog than vegetable, so cross this data with the composition.
• Fats and oils and their fractions the most concentrated energy source and responsible for palatability. Very active dogs need more; sedentary or sterilized dogs, less.
• Raw fibres: regulates intestinal transit. Values of 1.5 to 4% are normal; “light” feeds usually raise it to give satiety.
• Raw ashes: is the mineral residue (calcium, phosphorus, zinc…) that remains after burning a sample in the laboratory. In dry feed it usually moves between 5 and 9%; very high values can indicate excess bone in flours.

What about carbohydrates? You don’t have to declare them, but you can estimate them with a subtraction: 100 − (protein + fat + fiber + ash + moisture). In many dry foods the result is around 30-45%.

The Dry Matter Trick for Comparing Feeds

This is the mistake that almost everyone makes: to directly compare the percentages of a dry feed with those of a can. You can’t, because the can is largely water (75-80% moisture versus 8-10% of dry feed). To compare on an equal footing you have to convert the values to dry matter, as recommended by the FDA and AAFCO:

1. Calculate the dry matter: 100 − % moisture.
2. Divide the nutrient between the dry matter and multiply by 100.

Real example: a can with 8% protein and 78% moisture has 8 ÷ 22 × 100 = 36% protein on dry matter. A dry feed with 26% protein and 10% moisture remains at 26 ÷ 90 × 100 = 29%. Surprise: the “loose” can was actually more protein. With this simple calculation you already read labels better than most buyers.

Complete vs. complementary thinking (and for which stage)

The label must indicate whether the product is a ‘whole food’(it alone covers all nutritional needs) or a ‘complementary food’(rewards, blender cans, supplements…). This is not the basis of the diet). It’s a legal distinction, not a publicity one: if ‘complete’ is indicated, the manufacturer undertakes to comply with the reference nutritional profiles, those of FEDIAF in Europe and those of AAFCO in the USA.

Check also for which species, age and size is formulated.

• A giant breed puppy such as the Gran Danés needs controlled calcium and energy levels to grow slowly and protect its joints; a generic puppy feed may be short or passed.
• Miniature breeds like the Chihuahua need smaller croquettes and more energy-dense food because their stomachs are tiny and their metabolism is very fast.
• A Border Collie working dog in full activity burns much more than a companion dog, and is well suited to formulas with more fat and protein.

Additives – What They Are and Why You Shouldn’t Be Scared

The list of “additives” with names like “3b603” or “E672” seems disturbing chemistry, but mostly they are authorised vitamins, trace elements and preservatives that the feed needs to be complete and stable:

• Nutritional additives: vitamin A, vitamin D3, E (tocopherols), zinc, copper, selenium… They are declared with their added quantity per kilo.
• Manufacture in which the value of all the materials used does not exceed 30% of the ex-works price of the product antioxidants and preservatives that prevent fat from going rancid.
• Sensory additives: scents and dyes. The dyes, to be honest, are there for you, not for your dog: he doesn’t care about the color of the croquette.

The fact that there is a long list of nutritional additives is not a bad sign; on the contrary, it indicates that the formula has been supplemented to meet the nutritional profiles.

The daily ration table is just a starting point.

The keyword is guidance: those tables are calculated for an “average” adult dog, and your dog probably isn’t.

• Start at the bottom of the band of the recommendation and adjust every 2-3 weeks according to body condition: you should be able to feel the ribs without seeing them and appreciate waist seen from above.
• Minus what you give in prizes. Snacks should not exceed 10% of daily calories.
• After sterilization, reduce. Energy needs drop dramatically and maintaining the same ration is the fast track to overweight.
• He knows your race. Professional gluttons like Labrador Retriever have a documented genetic predisposition to insatiable appetite: with them, the scale rules, not the empty bowl.
• Weigh the ration with a kitchen scale, not with the glass gauge: the errors of “at eye” accumulate month by month.

Common mistakes when reading the label

1. Choose from the picture on the packaging. The juicy solomillo on the cover is not regulated; the composition, yes.
2. To think “with salmon” means a lot of salmon. You know: it can only be 4%.
3. Comparing percentages between dry feed and wet food without converting to dry matter.
4. Assuming “ashes” is cheap stuffing. are the minerals, and one part is essential.
5. Demonizing animal by-products in bulk. Liver, heart or stomach are legally by-products, and nutritionally valuable.
6. Follow the ration table to the letter even if the dog gets fat.
7. Change your mind all of a sudden. Make 7-10 day transitions mixing the new with the old, especially in breeds with sensitive digestion like the Bulldog Francés.

Frequently Asked Questions

Next time you’re in front of the ruler, turn the sack around with confidence: five first ingredients, actual percentages of the star ingredient, analytical components converted to dry matter and a ration table that fits your dog, not the other way around. That’s reading the feed label like an expert. And when faced with any questions about your dog’s diet, especially if he has a medical condition, your veterinarian always has the final say.