Clinicians should remind owners that their pet needs nutrients—not ingredients—and the effects of processing (or not processing) the food, interactions between ingredients, and the extent of testing for bioavailability and digestibility should be considered. Not every manufacturer can perform extensive testing, but those that do can provide more information on nutritional adequacy. Larger manufacturers may have more resources to provide stringent quality-control protocols and employ expert nutritionists and food scientists. For example, a study evaluating thiamine deficiency in commercially available foods showed that foods from smaller companies are more likely to have lower thiamine levels as compared with foods from larger companies.2 However, this information should not be assumed, and there is no official definition of a large company, so owners should contact manufacturers to ask about their quality-control methods and testing. Suggested questions include1:
- What quality control measures are in place? Strict quality-control measures are critical to ensuring safe, consistent, and nutritious food. These measures can vary widely among manufacturers but should include certification of their procedures by the Global Food Safety Initiative, Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points, and/or American Feed Industry Association; testing of ingredients and end products for nutrient content, pathogens, and toxins; and supplier audits.
- What kind of product research has been conducted, and have the results been published in peer-reviewed journals? Feeding trials or further evaluation of a food after being fed to the intended species provide the most information about the food’s bioavailability and digestibility. Foods may be on the market without having undergone more than a computer formulation or analysis, neither of which assesses bioavailability.