What is the best food for your dog?

What Is AAFCO?

AAFCO stands for the Association of American Feed Control Officials.
Most people don’t know this, but pet food isn’t classified as food — it’s classified as feed, the same category used for cows, chickens, horses, and other livestock. Because of that, AAFCO is the group that tells pet food manufacturers what they can and cannot do when producing pet feed.

AAFCO has a manual that’s about 150+ pages long. Here’s the surprising part:

• Only 30–40 pages explain what ingredients can or cannot be used in pet food

• The remaining 90+ pages focus on packaging and labeling regulations

So the majority of AAFCO’s rules are not about the quality of the ingredients — they’re about how the label looks and what the company is allowed to say on the bag. Their job is to create consistency and protect consumers from misleading claims, but AAFCO does not test, approve, or regulate pet food quality. They simply set the definitions and guidelines that states follow.

So Many Forms of Pet Food — Which Is Best?

The quick answer:
The best foods have the highest meat content and the lowest carbohydrate content.

Dogs and cats have zero biological requirement for carbohydrates. Their bodies are designed to use fat and protein for energy, not carbs. While carbs aren’t necessarily harmful, they do not offer essential nutrition — and in lower-quality foods they’re often used just to cheaply “fill up” the bag.

When we look for the best possible food, we’re looking for:

• High-quality whole ingredients

• High meat content

• High digestibility

• Low processing

• Low unnecessary fillers

To figure this out, it helps to understand how processed different types of pet foods are. The more processed the food, the more nutrients are lost and the more synthetic vitamins must be added back in.

Here’s the breakdown — from least processed to most processed:

1. Complete & Balanced Raw Food (Least Processed)

This is the closest diet to what dogs and cats were built to eat.
Raw diets use fresh, natural ingredients such as:

• Raw meat

• Raw bones

• Organs

• Sometimes fruits and vegetables

These diets are high in moisture and naturally rich in nutrients. Many high-quality raw food brands add fruits and veggies for their natural vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, not synthetic replacements.

Raw food typically has the highest meat content and lowest carbohydrate content of any pet diet. It’s minimally processed, so nutrients are preserved in their natural form — which is why many pets on raw experience:

• Shinier coats

• Better digestion

• Smaller stools

• Healthier skin

• More stable energy

2. Fresh/Gently Cooked Food

These are lightly cooked meals made from whole, human-grade ingredients.
They’re still moist and nutrient-rich, but gently heated to remove bacteria.

Fresh food is:

• Highly digestible

• Less processed

• Often higher quality than kibble

• Lower in carbs, higher in real meats

3. Freeze-Dried & Dehydrated Raw

This is raw food with the moisture removed, making it shelf-stable.
It rehydrates into a soft, nutrient-dense meal.

Pros:

• Lightweight

• Convenient

• Still minimally processed

• High protein, low carb

4. Wet / Canned Food

More processed than raw or fresh but still contains:

• Higher protein

• Higher moisture

• Fewer carbs than kibble

Wet food is great for hydration and picky eaters, but the cooking process can destroy some nutrients, requiring vitamin/mineral packs to be added back in.

5. Dry Kibble (Most Processed)

Kibble is the most heavily processed form of pet food.

The ingredients are:

• Ground

• Heated

• Pressurized

• Extruded

• Then sprayed with flavorings or fats

Because of high heat processing, kibble often depends on artificial vitamin packs and requires carbs to hold the pieces together. Many brands also include fillers such as corn, wheat, soy, pea starch, and potato to bulk up the formula.

Kibble can still be good quality — especially if the company uses whole meats and healthy fats — but it is the most processed option.

Now That We Understand Who Sets Pet Food Standards…

we can finally start to look at different food brands and types and break down what is actually inside these diets.

Understanding AAFCO helps you see the bigger picture:
Just because a bag looks pretty or says “premium,” “natural,” or “holistic” doesn’t mean anything about the quality of what’s inside. Companies must follow label rules — but ingredient quality is up to them.

Check out the next post about how to read pet food labels!