When it comes down to purchasing the healthiest food for your pets, you need to understand the labels on pet food packages. Sometimes it can be confusing understanding the claims on packages. For instance, what is the difference between “real chicken” and “real chicken flavor”? What does “natural” actually mean? We’ll go over this and more, so you can make the best choice possible for your family pet.
The Basics of Pet Food Labels
There are a few things that you can remember to buy the healthiest pet food for your dog or cat. We’ll look at a few simple tips that will give you a way to compare pet food in Jacksonville at your local pet store.
- Natural vs. Organic – While natural sounds as if it would be healthy, there is no way to know for sure. Natural does not have a legal basis. However, organic does. The pet food must meet certain standards to be considered organic.
- The Name Matters – If you are looking for a pet food that says “Chicken for Cats,” that means that it contains 95% chicken. If you see this state, you can be sure of what you are buying.
- Flavored With – On the other hand, food that says it is flavored only needs to taste as the food noted. This does not mean the meat is included. Also, if you see “with real meat,” this means it must have at least 3% of the meat. These are the foods to avoid.
- Dinners & Platters – Just to make things more confusing, when food mentions that it is an entrée, platter, nugget, or dinner it only has to have 25% of the meat. Make sure to read carefully to be sure of what you are buying.
- Ignore Ad Words – Words that mean nothing include things like gourmet, premium, etc. There are no regulations for these terms so anyone can use them on any pet food.
Other Tips
When buying pet food in Jacksonville, you should always read the ingredients. You should also make sure any cat or dog food has a large amount of meat protein. Try to stay away from by-products, which are not as healthy for your pet. This is a good start to providing a healthy diet for your pets.
At Earth Pets Natural Pet Market, we have a large selection of nutritious food for all of your pets. To see what products we offer, visit us
