Many companies only ‘consult’ with nutritionists. Some companies don’t even do that much and rely on marginally qualified employees or computer programs.

Having somebody who is highly qualified on staff to formulate the food is a sign that the company takes the health and well being of your pet seriously. Qualified nutritionists are highly educated and experienced and are often employed alongside food scientists, quality control specialists, and other nutritionists with varying qualifications.

Owned: When a company owns and operates their own facilities, they have full control over everything from formulation to sourcing, testing, and quality control.

Sub-brands are foods from a larger company, manufactured in house (owned facilities), but that are labeled and marketed as a completely different brand.

Co-Packed brands are food brands that outsource their manufacturing to facilities that make, package, and ship the food for them. These facilities are often responsible for many different brands.

When a company doesn’t publish AAFCO feeding trials or scientifically driven live feeding trials of any kind, their formulas are only proven on paper.

In some cases, the paper results are backed up by enhanced lab testing of the finished product’s nutritional values. However, this doesn’t mean that the food itself or the values are bioavailable.

Every company handles this differently. AAFCO feeding trials or better in addition to enhanced, ongoing lab testing of the product help ensure that the food will actually do what it says it will do without your pet dog being the guinea pig.

Lastly, dogs that participate in AAFCO feeding trials are well cared for, trained, and live busy lives. Some companies skirt around their lack of feeding trials by promoting the false and misleading narrative that doing so would be a form of abusive animal laboratory testing. Such statements are performative and intentionally misleading.