Complete and Balanced: AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles

Perhaps you and your family have just chosen to adopt your first pup and you’re taking a plunge into relevant research. Or maybe your adolescent Boston terrier’s darling, enormous eyes are trying to tell you he doesn’t feel so hot—and it may be because of his diet.

Feeding your pup the proper nutrition can improve your dog’s health and longevity. Fortunately, following AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles and nutritional standards are a fantastic place to start when curating your dog’s diet.

Now, let’s get the inside scoop.

AAFCO is a handy acronym for the Association of American Feed Control Officials. ¹ This private, nonprofit organization is composed of individuals who work with agencies at the local, state, and federal level to help safeguard your dog’s wellness. To this end, they:

• Oversee the sale and distribution of pet food and medications
• Create and implement procedures to recognize and define the nutrients in pet food
• Lay the foundation of nutritional requirements in pet food

The state where you live uses AAFCO’s suggestions to establish and enforce regulations on the chow you give your hound (as well as other pet food). Think of AAFCO as the FDA for the canine world—they’re there to ensure labels match what’s inside the bag.

Excellent question.

No food on the market is technically AAFCO "approved." Rather, the nutritional sufficiency of a product comes down to your state, which uses AAFCO guidelines to determine requirements that food must meet.

Instead of evaluating and testing dog (and pet) food and either approving it with a seal or tossing it to the curb, AAFCO provides suggestions on a handful of vital matters, including the pet food’s:

• Product label
• Definition of ingredients
• Lab tests of nutrients

From there, the pet food company—reputable ones, at least—perform third-party testing based on AAFCO’s directives to provide high-quality pet food. 

As humans, we wouldn’t want to eat a product that has less than complete nutrition facts. We want to know exactly where our food comes from and what’s in it.

The same holds true for your pooch.

True, they might be more than delighted to eat the Saran wrap around the half-eaten turkey sandwich they found abandoned in the park but that’s why pet parents exist, right?

With that said, AAFCO suggests that pet food labels contain the following: ²

• The company/brand’s name, like Bark, and their location
• The name of the product and the type of animal it’s designed for (dog, cat, mongoose, etc.)
• A list of the product’s ingredients
• Quantity/net weight; i.e., four pounds, or enough for a single snack for your  Irish wolfhound (we’re kidding—kind of)
• Guaranteed analysis
• A statement about the product’s nutritional adequacy, which addresses how the food was tested
• The recommended amount of food for your pet
• The calories in a serving (this is a new AAFCO amendment)

Products that state the food is “Complete and Balanced” and have an AAFCO statement are the real deal.

Think back to our comparison to the FDA. Herbal supplements for us bipedal mammals don’t require the FDA’s approval for us to add them to our Instacart. But these supplements also can’t claim they cure cancer or ensure we’ll pass the California State Bar.

Similarly, pet food cannot be advertised as “Complete and Balanced” if it doesn’t meet the required nutritional requirements set forth by AAFCO. Here's the AAFCO statement on Bark in the Belly's Chicken and Ancient Grains recipe:

Pet food is generally separated into two categories and both have specific requirements:

• Growth and reproduction – “Growth and reproduction” may sound stilted but what they really mean here is that the food is intended for puppies or female dogs who are expecting or nursing their new brood.
• Adult maintenance – “Adult maintenance” refers to, you guessed it, adult pets.

As a pet owner, you may have encountered products marketed for “all life stages,” especially if you’re dog food shopping for more than one Aussiedoodle in your pethold. These products are subjected to more rigorous requirements to ensure they meet the necessities of puppies, but should be fine for dogs of all ages—including the newest member of your family.

Foods that meet AAFCO’s standards, which are updated and published annually as more and more studies on pet nutrition come out, have a minimum calorie content of the essential nutrients lined out by AAFCO in terms of: ³

• Protein – 22% for puppies and 18% for adult dogs
• Fat – 8% for wee ones and 5% for adults
• Minerals and vitamins – Minerals such as calcium and vitamins like Vitamin A are a necessary part of your dog’s diet. The percentages of these are dependent on the mineral and vitamin. They can also vary according to dog breeds and their specific nutritional requirements.

These vitamins and minerals include:

• Phosphorous
• Sodium
• Magnesium
• Copper
• Zinc
• Potassium
• Selenium
• Iodine
• Riboflavin
• Niacin
• Vitamin B12
• Thiamine
• Pantothenic acid

Like humans, canines (and all animals) require a baseline of these nutrients to help support energy levels, biological processes, and their overall health—hence the importance of ensuring your dog’s primary source of food satisfies AAFCO’s recommendations.