Why is AAFCO Important?
If you've ever looked closely at a pet food label, you've probably seen the letters AAFCO somewhere on the package. Most people skip right over it, but it is actually one of the most important things you can learn about when choosing food for your dog or cat.
AAFCO stands for the Association of American Feed Control Officials. It is an independent, nonprofit organization made up of animal nutrition experts, veterinarians, feed regulators, and industry professionals. While AAFCO doesn't make pet food, test products, or approve brands, it develops the nutritional standards that help define what a complete and balanced diet should look like for your pets.
Think of AAFCO as the group that writes the rulebook. They establish nutrient recommendations for different life stages, define feed ingredients, and create the labeling guidelines that manufacturers are expected to follow. Individual states then use these model regulations when enforcing their own feed laws.
One of the biggest jobs AAFCO does is create nutrient profiles for dogs and cats. These profiles establish the minimum amounts of essential nutrients, and in some cases maximum safe levels, that should be present in a complete diet. They also define many of the terms you see on pet food labels, including what companies must do before they can claim a food is "complete and balanced."
When you see that statement on a bag or can of food, it should also include an AAFCO nutritional adequacy statement. This statement tells you how the manufacturer demonstrated that the food provides complete nutrition.
There are two ways this can happen….
The first is that the food was formulated to meet AAFCO nutrient profiles. This means the recipe was analyzed on paper to ensure the ingredients provide the required nutrients. The company has calculated that the finished formula meets AAFCO's nutritional recommendations, but the finished food itself has not necessarily been tested in live animals.
The second option is that the food has passed AAFCO feeding trials. In this case, the diet has been fed to dogs or cats according to standardized AAFCO protocols to demonstrate that it can successfully maintain health over time. Feeding trials provide an additional layer of evidence because they evaluate how the finished product performs when animals actually eat it. Revolution Animal Nutrition prefers to use feeds tested in this way when possible for client programs.
Another point that often causes confusion is the difference between AAFCO and the FDA. AAFCO is not a government agency, and it does not approve or certify pet foods. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration oversees pet food safety, ingredient safety, and manufacturing oversight. AAFCO develops the nutritional standards and model regulations, while the FDA and individual states are responsible for regulatory oversight and enforcement.
Although AAFCO is best known for dogs and cats, its work extends well beyond companion animals. The organization also develops model regulations and ingredient definitions that influence feeds for horses, livestock, poultry, and many other species. Whether you're feeding a Labrador, a Persian cat, or a performance horse, AAFCO plays an important role in the standards behind the feed you're purchasing.
