pet food ingedient definitions

Questions have been asked in several threads regarding what the ingredients listed on pet food labels really mean. Apparently these definitions are established by AAFCO. After more than a little searching I found information about at least some of the definitions. Here are a few links to sites that will help us understand what is really in the food we feed our kitties.

I know that after the NB recall many of us are concerned about the various forms of rice in cat food. Unfortunately these sites provide very little information on that subject. I'm still looking for more information.

http://www.sniksnak.com/ac/petfooddefinitions.html

http://cats.about.com/od/catfoodglos...ngredients.htm

http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Spri...ngredients.htm

http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:4HoE_9x0UaoJ:www.grandadventuresranch.com/articles/ingredient_definitions.pdf+definition+of+pet+food+ingredients&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2 6&gl=us


Here's a link to the FDA page with information about pet food regulation.
http://www.fda.gov/cvm/petfoods.htm

And a link to the API- Animal Protection Institute. They obviously have their own agenda but there is some good information on the page.
http://www.api4animals.org/facts.php?p=359&more=1

The first and third sites are reasonabley close to true AFFCO definitions... YES I have read many parts of the AFFCO book... AFFCo use to have a common user friendly site that you could look up definitions but that changed a couple yrs ago//... If you need a real affco definition I will try to get ahold of the book

Originally Posted by sharky

The first and third sites are reasonabley close to true AFFCO definitions... YES I have read many parts of the AFFCO book... AFFCo use to have a common user friendly site that you could look up definitions but that changed a couple yrs ago//... If you need a real affco definition I will try to get ahold of the book

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Yes, thank you. I know many of us are interested. I hoped AAFCO would have something on their site- no such luck. Why is it so hard to find this information? It should be easily available to the public.

One day I will buy the book I think it is 50-75$

Originally Posted by sharky

One day I will buy the book I think it is 50-75$

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Actually, I was just going to modify my original answer to tell you not to get the book if you have to buy it. I noticed the link on the AAFCO site to purchase it and bypassed that. I have other and better things to spend my money on as do you. I'm just curious about the AAFCO requirements and what is really supposed to be in the food.

My other comment on this pet food label issue is that I've seen food ingredients on labels that are not included in any of the AAFCO definitions I found. Some examples are various vegetables and fruits such as zucchini, blueberries or cranberries and pea flour. I'm sure there are others. Are the definitions of these too obvious to require an AAFCO definition?