In this week’s Pet Connection newspaper feature, our own Kim Campbell Thornton gives you the inside story on just what “natural” and “organic” mean on pet food labels.
It sounds great when your dog’s or cat’s food is described as “natural” or “organic,” doesn’t it? It’s easy to imagine happy cows and chickens being raised sustainably on Farmer Jan’s property. The real definitions don’t have anything to do with how farm animals are raised or the quality of the food, though. In the eyes of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the term “natural” does not have an official definition. It simply means that a pet food does not contain artificial flavors, colors or preservatives.
The Association of American Feed Control Officials, a trade organization that develops nutrient standards and ingredient definitions for pet foods, says a “natural” food or ingredient is one that is made only from plant, animal or mined sources and is not produced by or subject to a chemically synthetic process. Foods described as natural may not contain anything artificial, except in amounts that might occur unavoidably during manufacture. The AAFCO says the term “natural” should be used only to describe products when all of the ingredients — not counting chemically synthesized vitamins, minerals and other trace nutrients — meet this definition.
Get the full scoop here — along with all the news about “Your Dog: The Owner’s Manual,” the BIG Bus Tour, and of course, Dr. Marty Becker’s $70,000 shelter prize giveaway, in this week’s Pet Connection!
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