Pet food calorie counts compared to weight-control claims

An analysis of Petfood Industry’s Dog and Cat Food Ingredient Center database explored how calories related to weight-control labeling on pet foods.

Photo by Andrea Gantz
Photo by Andrea Gantz

The calories listed on thousands of pet food labels were divided into low-, medium- and high- calorie ranges by a recent analysis of Petfood Industry’s Dog and Cat Food Ingredient Center database. Body-weight-related marketing claims appeared most frequently on those products with less than 300 calories per eight-ounce serving. However, weight-control labeling appeared on higher-calorie pet foods as well.

Twenty-six percent of lower-calorie dog and cat food formulations are labeled for weight control, making it the highest percentage-wise. However, as many or more recipes in higher calorie ranges also labeled for weight control. To learn more about how wet and dry dog and cat foods labeling claims relate to their calories-per-serving, read “Counting calories in cat and dog food” in the Dog and Cat Food Ingredient Center. The recently improved Ingredient Search function was used to analyze the usage of various types of soy in dog and cat food.

Petfood Industry’s Dog and Cat Food Ingredient Center provides pet food industry professionals with a database of nutritional information and full ingredient lists for pet foods currently available in the US market. Dog and Cat Food Ingredient Center users can learn what competitors in the pet food industry are using in their products, along with how they are marketing those formulations.

Exclusive data on the Dog and Cat Food Ingredient Center

The Dog and Cat Food Ingredient Center contains exclusive data on which pet food companies are using particular pet food ingredients, along with the nutritional information about these products. Beyond that, Petfood Industry’s Dog and Cat Food Ingredient Center database allows users to analyze how pet food companies refer to ingredients, for example chicken byproducts versus coproducts, along with the marketing claims made in the names of the pet foods, such as organic or natural.

Other analyses of Dog and Cat Food Ingredient Center data include:

Soy uncommon in dog and cat foods

Organic ingredients listed on 8.6 percent of dry dog food

Rice found in nearly half of dry dog and cat foods

Potatoes found in over 40 percent of wet, dry dog foods

Caramel boosts brown coloration in pet food

Egg products analyzed by variety most used in pet food

Carrots used in nearly half of canned dog foods

Pumpkin found in 20 percent of dry dog food

Infographic: Popular legumes in dry, wet pet foods

Chicken rules the roost of dog and cat food proteins

Cranberries, blueberries top pet food ingredient fruits

Salmon meal is in nearly one-quarter of dry dog foods

Lamb remains common in dry dog food

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