Questions Pet Owners Are Told to Ask
Below are some of the top questions that pet owners and veterinarians are told to ask manufacturers. But do these questions really ask what the pet owner needs to know? Below are the actual questions and responses provided by reputable manufacturers.
Do you employ a full-time veterinary nutritionist or qualified equivalent on staff in your company? Are they available for consultation or questions?
Pet owners and veterinarians are often told that one of the most important questions to ask about a pet food company is whether they employ a full-time veterinary nutritionist or an equivalent expert. While that sounds reassuring, it’s not necessarily a meaningful indicator of food quality or safety.
Companies that formulate their diets according to established nutrient standards—such as the AAFCO Nutrient Profiles—are following the same scientific foundation used across the industry. As long as the formulations meet those standards with proven, species-appropriate ingredients, a certified nutritionist is not required to be on staff.
For example, when zoological diets are developed, manufacturers don’t invent nutrition profiles for each species. They use the nutrient requirements determined by experts and create formulas to meet those targets. The same concept applies to pet food: formulating to an established profile ensures nutritional adequacy, whether the formulator is in-house or external.
A much more meaningful question is whether a company consults with an independent advisory board—composed of experts in animal nutrition, veterinary science, and health care—to review their formulations and evaluate diet performance in pets. Independent oversight carries far more credibility than the opinion of an employee whose role is tied to product promotion.
It’s worth noting that this “nutritionist-on-staff” question often favors large corporations who hire a veterinarian or nutritionist for marketing purposes. Regardless of whether they have a nutritionist on staff, companies still need to meet the published profiles.
In short, what truly matters is how the food is formulated and verified, not who is on the payroll.
Who formulates your diets and what is their background (i.e. qualifications and/or training)? Is this individual on staff or hired as needed as a consultant?
This question is much like the previous one.
The National Research Council (NRC) spent decades determining minimum nutrient needs. Manufacturers must meet the AAFCO nutrient profiles, which are based on NRC, when formulating a complete diet.
Pet food products are formulated by professionals with expertise in animal nutrition, ingredient science, and formulation using AAFCO Nutrient Profiles as the foundation for every recipe. The work of these experts focuses on translating established nutrient requirements into complete and balanced diets using speciesappropriate ingredients with a proven history of safe use in pets.
Whether this expertise is provided by an inhouse formulator or an external consultant is less important than the rigor of the process itself.
Where are your diets produced and manufactured? Can this plant be visited?
Pet food diets are manufactured in facilities that follow federal food safety and sanitation requirements, which include strict controls on who can enter production areas. USDA regulations do not allow the general public inside active food handling zones because any unnecessary traffic increases the risk of contamination and compromises sanitation standards.
For transparency, a more useful question to ask any manufacturer is whether their facility is inspected by USDA or FDA, which sanitation and hazardcontrol programs they follow (such as HACCP and environmental monitoring), and how they document ongoing compliance. This tells you far more about product safety than whether you can physically walk through the plant.
What kind of product research has been conducted on your products
Fresh food diets are formulated using actual food ingredients with decades of documented safe use and wellrecognized health benefits in dogs and cats. The finished diets are analyzed for actual measured values for every essential nutrient as defined by AAFCO.
This approach allows veterinarians and informed pet owners to see precisely how each recipe aligns with established nutrient profiles, and it provides a transparent, datadriven basis for evaluating products. In other words, “research” is built into both the ingredient selection and the detailed nutrient analysis.
Which of your diet(s) is AAFCO Feed Trial tested? Or by formulation to meet AAFCO nutrient profiles? If the latter, do they meet AAFCO nutrients by formulation or by analysis of the finished product?
Under new pet food labelling rules, which will become fully effective in 2030, the product label should include how the product validates that it meets AAFCO complete. An example would be: Complete for adult dogs by AAFCO feeding trial.
What specific quality control measures do you use to assure the consistency and quality of your ingredients and final product? Is your company currently compliant, or have a plan in place to be compliant, with the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act?
FMSA is the law. Everyone follows it. The FDA is required to inspect every pet food company at a minimum of every five years. This evaluation includes the company’s Food Safety Plan. See FSMA article.
Does your facility follow Current Good Manufacturing Practices (GCMPs) for animal food production?
Again, this is law under FSMA.
The Evolution of Pet Food
