Beyond the brand name and ingredient list, many dog owners do not understand the specifics of what exactly is shown on modern dog food packaging. While many look to the ingredient list to determine quality, another important factor is the Guaranteed analysis. The Guaranteed analysis is a reference to the nutritional content within the food on a larger scale.
It typically displays the minimum/maximum percentages for certain key nutrients contents within the chosen food. We can use this reference to determine the specific percent content of proteins, fats, fiber, water and even carbohydrates in each serving. Note, the percent disclosed on the guaranteed analysis is not the actual percent content for each nutrient. The guarantee analysis will appear similar to the image below. Now you may be wondering, what do all of these percentages mean and why are they important?
Looking through the guarantee analysis you can get an idea of what nutrients your pet is getting but not necessarily the quality of food. Crude simply means the levels they tested during production and manufacturing of the food. For example, we can see it has 32% crude protein but not where that protein is sourced from: plant or animal based. Is the 15% fat from by-product or meal, or is it from human grade animal based protein? This is why it’s important to always look at both the ingredient list and guaranteed analysis. Another important aspect to understand is just because a dog food contains 32% crude protein does not mean that your pup will be taking in and digesting all of those nutrients. This is why we can use the guaranteed analysis to help determine the actual nutritional content your dog is receiving on a daily basis. To learn how to calculate the serving values of your dog’s food check out our article here. Moisture is included in order for us to determine the actual contents within the dog’s food. Dog food is weighed prior to production, which includes a lot of water from the animal protein. Omega six and Omega three are included on the guaranteed analysis because they are essential vitamins from the Association of American Feed Control Officials, AAFCO, and must be included within the dog’s food. Lastly, Glucosamine and Chondroitin Sulfate are two nutrient supplements that are added to improve joint strength, while there is no AAFCO recommended ratio for how much should be in the food, it is up to the brand to determine an amount and identify it.
