Labeling

What's in a label

As consumers, we rely on the information presented on the packaging to truthfully and accurately describe the feed product contained therein. This applies to the food products we buy for ourselves as well as for our animals. Most of us don’t have ready or affordable access to analytical labs to test feed products for contents. Fortunately, State and Federal Feed Control officials do, and provide the regulation development and enforcement to help ensure that feeds are safe and correctly labeled. This is quite important to me as I use the information on feed product labels to evaluate and compare feeds.

Given the importance of labeling, I have included labeling requirement information from the Associate of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) 2017 Official Publication book. If you are interested in animal feeds and regulations, the AAFCO’s annual Official Publication is a must have. It is a rich source of information on regulations and ingredient definitions, as well as about the AAFCO organization. As a consumer, I feel fortunate that there is an AAFCO organization, and I appreciate the work of the State and Federal Feed Control Officials to ensure that feeds are safe and productive.

AAFCO

Association of American Feed Control Officials

While not a government agency, the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) works with government agencies, universities, industry and industry associations to develop and maintain uniform ingredient definitions and proper labeling requirements with the aim of protecting the consumer. In the 2017 Official Publication, chapter 1, “The History” is a paragraph that succinctly states the role of the AAFCO:

“Although AAFCO is not an enforcement agency, it provides a forum where by control officials and industry meet in partnership to address problems in administering and enforcing state feed laws, identify emerging issues, study problems, develop strategies, as well as provide guidance and outreach. This enhances the quality and safety of feed produced and/or sold. AAFCO also develops standards and promotes uniformity of laws, regulations and enforcement.”

Each year, the AAFCO publishes its, “Official Publication,” which contain, among other things, ingredient definitions and labeling guidelines.

AAFCO Model Bill

What information should be on the products' packaging?

Under the Model Bill in the AAFCO’s Official Publication (2017) the following labeling items are required on container of commercial feed:

Product name and brand name, if any.
If feed contains medication, indications of what drug is used.
Purpose statement of what animals the feed is intended for.
Guaranteed analysis.
Feed ingredients
Directions for use and precautionary statements.
Name and mailing address of manufacturer, or person(s) responsible for distributing the feed.
Quantity statement of how much product is in container.

1. Product name and brand name, if any

Keeping in mind that the purpose of the AAFCO model bill is to protect the consumer, the product and/or brand name should not mislead the consumer as to what is in the product and what it is to be used for.

2. Medicated Feeds

In addition to prominently displaying, “Medicated” following and below the product name, the active drug ingredient and purpose of medication should be included on label. If the feed is medicated, what is the medication and how much is included in the feed.

3. Purpose Statement

The Purpose Statement identifies what species, class and life stage the feed is intended for. This is good information for the consumer to have, as the nutrient requirement of species, classes and life stage are different.

The AAFCO Official Publication model bill identifies standard classes for a variety of animals including, but not limited to, beef cattle, dairy cattle, pigs, horses, poultry, goat, and sheep. Below are some sample animal classes:

Equine Classes

Growing
Broodmare
Maintenance
Performance (including stallions)

Beef Cattle

Calves (birth to weaning)
Cattle on pasture
Feedlot Cattle

Swine Classes

Prestarter – 2 to 11 pounds
Starter – 11 to 44 pounds
Grower – 44 to 110 pounds
Finisher – 110 to market weight
Gilts, sows and adult boars
Lactating gilts and sows

It is not unusual to see horse feeds with a purpose statement that includes multiple classes like growth and performance, breeding and growth. AAFCO model bill provides the manufacturer some latitude to address other aspects such as life stage, special dietary needs and weight range in the purpose statement.

For comparison, the National Research Council (NRC) “Nutrient Requirements of Horses, 6th edition,” identifies and provides nutrient requirements for six classes of horses; maintenance, stallion, growing, pregnant, lactating and exercising. This list is comparable to the classes identified in the 2017 AAFCO Official Publication.

4. Guaranteed Analysis

So, the purpose statement tells you what species, class and perhaps life stage that the feed is intended. The guaranteed analysis provides a listing of the nutritional content with minimum and/or maximum, and unit basis such as percentage. Unless otherwise state, these figures are on an, “as fed,” basis; meaning straight out of the container an into a feed bucket or bowl. The nutrients that are included on the guaranteed analysis depend on the species that the food is intended for. Below is the required guaranteed analysis nutrient for equine complete or supplemental feed for all classes, per the AAFCO model bill:

Equine

Minimum percentage Crude Protein
Minimum percentage Crude Fat
Maximum percentage Crude Fiber
Maximum percentage of Acid Detergent Fiber (ADF)
Maximum percentage of Neutral Detergent Fiber (NDF)
Minimum and maximum percentage of Calcium
Minimum percentage of Phosphorus
Minimum Copper in parts per million (ppm) (if added)
Minimum Selenium in parts per million (ppm)
Minimum Zinc in parts per million (ppm)
Minimum Vitamin A, other than the precursor of Vitamin A, in International Units (IU) (if added)

For comparison, the required nutrients for Swine complete and supplemental feed, for all classes:

Swine

Minimum percentage Crude Protein
Minimum percentage lysine
Minimum percentage Crude Fat
Maximum percentage Crude Fiber
Minimum and maximum percentage of Calcium
Minimum percentage of Phosphorus
Minimum and maximum percentage of salt (if added)
Minimum and maximum percentage of total sodium shall be guaranteed only when total sodium exceeds that furnished by the maximum salt guarantee
Minimum Selenium in parts per million (ppm)

The percentages are based on an, “as fed,” basis. The product is tested, as is, from the container and will include some water content. Different feeds may have a different water content, which would influence the guaranteed analysis %’s. To make feeds comparable, samples can be dehydrated before testing. This is referred to as, “dry matter basis.” Testing labs can, and do, provide analysis on both as fed and dry matter basis.

Crude protein is the measure of the nitrogen content (1). For the most part, protein is the source of the nitrogen. However, ingredients like urea are not protein, but do contain nitrogen and can cause the crude protein measure to be overestimated. That is why the metric is, “crude protein.”

Crude fat is measured by using an ether extraction. This extraction may also contain plant pigments, esters and aldehydes which are not fats. Hence this measure is, “crude.” (2)

Crude fiber testing methodology captures most of the cellulose content and a portion of the lignin content and is not most accurate method for quantifying the fiber content (2). Cellulose and lignin, along with hemicellulose are structural components of plants matter.

Acid Detergent Fiber (ADF) is a measure of the cellulose and lignin content. Lignin is completely undigestible and negatively impacts the digestibility of cellulose. Thus, the higher the ADF content the less digestible the material (2). This also means that there is less digestible energy.

Neutral Detergent Fiber (NDF) measures the hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin content. This represents the plant bulk in the feed. The higher the NDF, the lower the intake of that feed (2). Given that animals have a limited capacity to consume feed at any given time, the more bulk that is in the feed, the quicker that capacity is filled.

Parts per million (ppm) is a measure of density. This unit is used for nutrients that are in very small quantities in the feed. To get this measure as percentage of as fed, multiply by 0.0001 (3).

International Unit (IU) is used for a variety of biological substance, including vitamins. It represents a unit of biological activity. A vitamin may have several forms. For example, Vitamin A family of compound includes beta-carotene, retinyl, retinals and retinoic acid (4). Each one of these compounds has a different level of biological activity. Each microgram of retinol has 0.3 IU of biological activity, compared to beta-carotene which has 0.6 IU (5).

So, the guaranteed analysis informs the consumer of the content of key nutrients in the feed, as fed. The most interesting section of the label, for me, is the list of ingredients. The guaranteed analysis tells the consumer the nutrient levels in the feed, and the list of ingredients tells the consumer where those nutrients come from.

Martin, J. . University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Retrieved April 19, 2017 from http://beef.unl.edu/learning/feedanalysis.shtml
Equi-Analytical Laboratories. . Equi-Analytical Laboratories. Retrieved June 24, 2016 from http://equi-analytical.com/glossary-of-nutrient-terms.
Equi-Analytical Laboratories. Conversion Tables. Equi-Analytical Laboratories. Retrieved June 24, 2016 from http://equi-analytical.com/conversion-tables/
Micronutrient Information Center. . Linus Pauling Institute, Oregon State University. Retrieved October 17, 2016 from http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/vitamins/vitamin-A.
Office of Dietary Supplements. (2018). . National Institute of Health.Retrieved August 18, 2018 from http://ods.od.nih.gov.

5. Feed Ingredients

Where does the nutrient content cited in the Guaranteed Analysis come from? Commercial animal feeds are an agglomeration of a variety of food substances and supplements. The ingredients list is a list of those substances. For me, the most interesting part of the feed label is the list of ingredients.

Ingredients may provide a single nutrient such as a vitamin A supplement, or many nutrients like ground up alfalfa. Some ingredients are included to improve the quality of the pellet like bentonite which acts as a binding and anti-caking agent. And, some ingredients act as a preservative to increase the shelf-life of the feed.

The order of ingredients is important. Per the AAFCO Official Publication the ingredients should be listed in order of weight in formulation from highest to lowest. So, the first ingredient is the largest component of the feed, by weight and the last ingredient is the smallest component, by weight.

6. Directions for use and precautionary statements

Somewhat self-explanatory, this section contains directions on how to use the product and if there are any special considerations that the consumer needs to be aware of in using the product. An obvious direction for use would be, how much of the product to feed. Is the product a complete feed and can be fed without any other nutrient source, or is it a fed supplement to a diet that is otherwise supplied by pasture, hay or other food source. If a supplemental feed is fed as a complete feed, there may be inadequate nutrition for the animal. For the animals’ health, it is good to know how to use the product. In addition, there may be ingredients or unintended uses that can be detrimental, that the consumer should be aware of.

With many horse feeds, there is a cautionary statement regarding the feed containing added copper, which may be harmful if fed to sheep. This is an example of a precautionary statement. I have also seen warnings to not feed the product if it appears moldy, rodent- or insect- infested or abnormal in smell or appearance as these are indication of contamination and can be harmful to the animal. In essence, the precautionary statements are how NOT to use the product.

7. Name and mailing address of manufacturer, or person(s) responsible for distributing the feed

Rather self-explanatory. At what address, or who can the consumer contact with questions, comments or concerns?

8. Quantity statement of how much product is in container

Again, rather self-explanatory. How much product is in the container? This can be by weight, liquid measure or count.

Other Information that may be on Container

Textured, Pelleted, Extruded feed

You may run across these terms on the packaging. Sometimes in the name of the product and sometimes in the direction for use. These terms refer to the form of the product, and in how the product was manufactured (see Processes page for more details on the pelleting and extruding processes).

Textured. A textured feed will have whole cereal grains like wheat, barley and oats with pelleted or extruded components. The grains may be processed to break their outer shells, thereby making the starch content more readily available. Terms like cracked, flaked and rolled refer to the process that a grain has gone through to break the outer layer.

Pelleted. Pelleting is a production process where ingredients are combined with steam into a mash that is pushed through a mulit-hole die by rollers. Product is in a cylindrical shape and quite uniform in size. The grinding and mixing process improves the digestibility of ingredients over cracking, flaking and rolling of grains in a textured feed.

Extruded. Like pelleting, ingredients are mixed together with steam and heat to create a mash that is force through a single hole die. This process more fully cooks the ingredients than pelleting which improves the digestibility and pasteurizes the feed. Extruding is used when the product will have a higher moisture, meat or fat content.