Why isn’t AAFCO approved status alone enough to trust?
In a perfect world, AAFCO approved status guarantees a product meets your animal companion’s minimum nutrient needs. In reality, AAFCO claims fall into the honor system. No approval process exists to test acceptability of ingredients or to check the accuracy of nutrient claims. Furthermore, no enforcement body exists to punish companies knowingly using moldy or diseased products or misleading consumers with nutrient claims. Hypothetically, a morally defunct pet food company may legitimately utilize a three week old, tumor laden, animal carcass found rotting in a pool of pesticides, turn it into a bag of fat sprayed, crunchy, dry profit, and market the food as natural, premium, or gourmet.
