AAFCO Statement

Every commercial dog food sold in the US must carry a nutritional adequacy statement from the Association of American Feed Control Officials. The statement tells you two things: whether the food is complete and balanced, and which life stage it is formulated for. The exact wording matters. 'Formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles for {life stage}' means the recipe was designed on paper to hit the AAFCO numbers. 'Animal feeding tests using AAFCO procedures substantiate that {brand} provides complete and balanced nutrition for {life stage}' means the recipe was actually tested in real dogs over 26 weeks. The feeding-trial wording is the stronger claim.