Abstract: Background – Pet food labels are used to describe calorie content and feeding directions. There is no standard method for determining energy density and feeding directions (FD) of commercial raw food diets (CRFDs) vary.
Objectives – This study aimed to investigate the variation in pet food label information of 20 CRFDs for dogs, specifically in relation to metabolizable energy (ME) and (FD).
Methods – Two diets from 5 Canadian CRFD companies were randomly selected, samples of each were purchased at 2 locations (n=20). Samples were submitted for analysis of ME. Analyzed ME was compared to ME reported on the label and compared between diets within companies. Theoretical calorie intake (CI) was estimated using the FD reported on each label for 4 adult weight categories: 10, 25, 50, and 100 lbs. Mean CI was compared between diets and locations of the same company.
Results – Factorial ANOVA and paired t-test were performed using IBM SPSS Statistics and significance was set as p< 0.05. Mean label ME for the 20 diets (1592.11 kcal/kg) was less than mean analyzed ME (2500.45 kcal/kg) (P< 0.001). Mean theoretical CI differed between diets of the same company for all companies (P< 0.001) (Table 1) and differed between locations for 3 of the 5 companies (P< 0.03).
Conclusions and clinical importance– Variation between label and analyzed ME and inconsistent FD can lead to inaccurate determination of CI and could cause fluctuation in CI if there is rotation of diets fed. Companies should re-evaluate FD to ensure consistency between diets.
