Providing Nutritious Kibble for Pets

Across the United States, you can hear a cat meowing or dog barking (or both!) in nearly two-thirds of households. These four-legged creatures provide companionship and many health benefits to their owners, which is why more Americans are adopting them into their families.

As pet food manufacturers, we understand the important role pets play in our lives and are working hard to provide them with safe, quality food that fulfills their nutritional requirements for each life stage. We do this in accordance with stringent federal food safety regulations, which protect both the health of the animals and those who feed them.

Pet food manufacturers use a wide-range of over 500 ingredients – from major commodity crops to specialty fruits and vegetables to meat, poultry and seafood to rendered products – to provide complete nutrition for dogs and cats. In addition, by using nutritious ingredients sourced from the production of human food, such as bakery or brewery items or wholesome parts of the animal that humans do not eat, the industry is doing its part to reduce agriculture’s environmental impact. All while giving pet owners dozens of diverse options at various price points to choose from!

According to recent research by the Institute for Feed Education and Research, pet food manufacturers are delivering back to the agricultural economy by purchasing 8.65 million tons of animal- and plant-based ingredients (valued at $6.9 billion) from farmers boosting incomes for farmers and farm processors and stimulating additional economic activity throughout the value chain.

At the American Feed Industry Association, we are working to represent the industry on Capitol Hill and before state and federal regulators to ensure the policies that are adopted are science-based and that new ingredients to benefit the health and nutrition of pets are reviewed in an expeditious manner. We are also working on consumer issues, such as participating in the Association of American Feed Control Officials’ pet food label modernization working group. 

Learn more about the pet food industry’s positive impact from farm to bowl in your state.