Nelson warned that cats and dogs do not have the same nutritional needs as humans, therefore "natural" petfoods with many fruits and vegetables may not meet all of a pet's nutritional requirements.
"Natural and veggie-based pet foods are based more on market demand from owners, not because they are necessarily better for the pet," Nelson said.
Nelson advised consumers to look for labels from the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), which sets minimum standards for the nutritional adequacy of diets. Consumers should be wary of any petfood company that claims to have organic or holistic food because these categories don't exist by AAFCO definition, according to Nelson.
Excellent points! "Natural" is a vague term, but AAFCO does have a definition that excludes most pet foods unless they add the disclaimer,"with added vitamins, minerals, and other trace nutrients,” since these are chemically-synthesized in almost all canned food or kibble. http://bit.ly/a5p9OR
ReplyDeleteBarbara at Nature's Logic