One of the most common pet food names (regardless of brand) includes the word “with”, such as ‘with chicken’ or ‘with beef’. As example:

The above Purina One dog food is named: “Lean Muscle Support with Real Beef“. The package includes an image of a large chunk of beef on the label.

Take a guess…in a 15 pound bag of ‘with Real Beef dog food’, with that image of a chunk of beef on the label, how much beef is required to be in that pet food?

Per pet food regulations, ‘with’ included in the name of a pet food requires the product to include a minimum of 3% of the named ingredient; in this case a minimum of 3% ‘real beef’.

The reality of ‘with’.

For a 15 pound bag of dog food that includes ‘with’ in the name (‘with chicken’ or ‘with beef’ and so on), the manufacturer is ONLY required to include less than 1/2 pound of beef (or chicken or…) in the entire 15 pound bag.

3% of 15 pounds is 0.45 pounds.

When we break this down even further, looking at how much beef or chicken is in the daily amount a 30 pound dog would consume daily, the harsh reality gets even worse.

Feeding directions for the above Purina dog food recommends a 30 pound dog should consume three cups a day. Chewy.com states there are approximately sixty cups of dog food in a 15 pound bag resulting in an estimated (minimum required) 0.0075 pound of beef per cup (or 0.12 ounce beef per cup).

In three cups of dog food (to feed a 30 pound dog daily), the manufacturer is ONLY required to include an estimated 0.36 ounce of beef.

Per pet food regulations…the manufacturer – allowed to display an image of a chunk of beef on the label, allowed to name the pet food ‘with Beef’ …

… is ONLY required to provide a 30 pound dog with an estimated
1/3 ounce of beef daily.

The reality of ‘and’.

When two ingredients are stated in the name of a pet food, example:

This Nutrish cat food includes two ingredients in the product name; Chicken & Shrimp. The product label includes an image of shrimp and chunks of chicken.

Pet food regulations state when two ingredients are in the name of the product, the manufacturer is required to include a minimum of 3% of each named ingredient. In this case, this cat food is only required to contain 3% chicken and 3% shrimp.

When you calculate how much chicken would be required in a 2.8 ounce container – the reality becomes LESS THAN 1/10th of an ounce of chicken and LESS than 1/10th of an ounce of shrimp in the 2.8 oz container (0.084 ounce of each ingredient per 2.8 oz container).

Nutrish recommends approximately 3 containers daily for a 10 pound cat.

In three containers of cat food, the recommended feeding amount for a 10 pound cat, the manufacturer is ONLY required to include 0.252 ounce of chicken and 0.252 ounce of shrimp (in all three containers).

Per pet food regulations…the manufacturer – allowed to display an image of two chunks of chicken on the label and two pieces of shrimp on the label, allowed to name the pet food ‘Chicken & Shrimp’ …

is ONLY required to provide a 10 pound cat with an estimated 1/4 of an ounce of chicken daily and an estimated 1/4 of an ounce of shrimp daily.

Many pet food labels contain hugely misleading images making pet owners believe the pet food contains something more than microscopic portions of meat for their pet daily. Regulatory authorities allow industry to deceive consumers.

These same requirements of a minimum amount of a named ingredient applies to any pet food that includes ‘with’ in the name or includes two ingredients in the name. Ask your pet food manufacturer how much of the ingredient included in the name of the product is actually in the pet food.

Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,

Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author Buyer Beware, Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
TruthaboutPetFood.com
Association for Truth in Pet Food