0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
X brand is formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the AAFCO.
AAFCO standards? Pffffft.
However, because of the “family rule” in the AAFCO book, a label can say that feeding tests were done if it is “similar” to a food that was actually tested on live animals. There is no way to distinguish the lead product from its “family members.” The label will also state whether the product is nutritionally adequate (complete and balanced), and what life stage (adult or growth) the food is for. - bornfreeusa
Let us also look at the actual AAFCO feeding trials themselves. Are these really the 'Golden Seal of Approval' that pet food manufacturers make them out to be? AAFCO feeding trials consist of at least eight dogs being fed the same diet for a mere 26 weeks (approximately six months). During this time, 25% of the dogs (so, two animals) can be removed from the test and the dogs eating the food can lose up to 15% of their weight and condition; the food will still pass the test and be labeled "complete and balanced." But extrapolate these figures to the number of animals eating this food for much longer than 26 weeks and you will have much more of a problem! If a food caused dogs to start losing condition over the 26 week period yet still passed, imagine how many animals would fail to thrive in real life while being fed this food for years?As long as the remaining dogs in the trial appear healthy and have acceptable weights and certain blood values, the food passes and is considered 'complete and balanced' nutrition for whatever lifestage for which it was tested (puppy, adult maintenance, geriatric, etc.). So it can now be fed to your pet for a period much longer than the six-month test period. However, AAFCO feeding trials were NOT designed to measure the long-term effects of commercial diets. It says so right in their mission statement (Lonsdale, T. 2001. Raw Meaty Bones. pg 216). AAFCO trials were designed to ensure that pet foods were not "harmful to the animal and would support the proposed life stage" (pg 216, Raw Meaty Bones.) for a period of 26 weeks. The AAFCO protocols were NOT designed to "examine nutritional relationships to long-term health or disease prevention" (pg 216). If a dog lives for six months with no noticeable ill effects on a kibble, then the food is considered 100% complete and balanced nutrition, even though long-term nutritional deficiencies may occur several years down the road.Foods can also obtain "complete and balanced" status by being 'grandfathered in'. If a company can show that one of its new foods bears "nutritional similarity" to one of their own existing products that underwent feeding trials (which allow for the removal of 25% of the dogs and loss of condition up to 15% over the course of 26 weeks), then that food can carry the same claim of 'complete and balanced'. Yet the actual ingredient combination was never tested! How can this similar yet different food be 'complete and balanced' for the *lifetime* of the animal if it was never adequately examined or tested? The entire process is faulty, but it is the best the pet food industry has. If this is the pet food industry's best, then what does that say about their 'complete and balanced' commercial foods? http://rawfed.com/myths/standards.html
Awww, C'mon Lola. That's all? Here's the President of the AAFCO -- at least hear what he had to say!!!!
Who is AAFCO? AAFCO stands for the Association of American Feed Control Officers. AAFCO is not a regulatory agency. It is a non-profit organization that creates guidelines that other regulatory agencies can use, but the guidelines are rather loose. Feeding trials are often done to show that a pet food is nutritionally complete. An AAFCO feeding trial may consist of a minimum of 8 pets and lasts for 6 months. The criteria for approval consists of weight stability and a few blood parameters, which are measured before and after the study. This type of study does nothing to address long term health maintenance, only short-term survival.
AAFCO provides some basic nutritional guidelines – a rough framework to build upon. Are the guidelines optimal? No. If you totally disregard them can you create entirely avoidable nutritional health issues? Absolutely.