FEDIAF Presents The New Nutritional Guidelines For Dogs And Cats
The European Pet Food Federation (FEDIAF) is an organization which, since its foundation in 1970, has played a representative role in the pet food sector in Europe. His work reaches the union of 26 European countries – belonging or not to the European Union – and represents 95% of the companies that produce pet food.
In September 2020, FEDIAF presented a new nutritional guide with guidelines for feeding dogs and cats. The document was released at the Veterinary Congress of the European Society of Comparative and Veterinary Nutrition (ESVCN), held virtually. Below you will find the most relevant information about this new guide.
What is the goal of FEDIAF?
One of the main objectives of the European Federation for Pet Feeding (FEDIAF) is to determine the welfare of animals. This is achieved by offering pet food that contains the ideal amount of nutrients.
These foods must have an optimal nutritional balance. In this case, food health in pets is achieved at the production level thanks to the new nutritional guidelines for dogs and cats, generated annually – with the support of scientists and technological advances.
Likewise, FEDIAF ensures that the nutritional guidelines are developed by a competent team of researchers and scientists. The new nutrition guide has the most advanced knowledge on dog and cat nutrition, enabling pet food manufacturers to ensure balanced and safe production for the pets of thousands of European families.
The FEDIAF Scientific Advisory Council (SAB) is instead the body in charge of interpreting and evaluating the latest scientific research. Their goal is to ensure that nutrient recommendations in nutrition guides and documents are as up-to-date as possible. For this reason, the guidelines of this project included 2 researchers, with extensive knowledge in the veterinary field.
The first was Charlotte Reinhard Bjørnvad from Denmark, who has experience in metabolic disorders, such as obesity and diabetes mellitus in pets. Second place went to the Portuguese Ana Luísa Lourenço, who has experience in nutrition and physiology. With these positions, SAB’s board of directors has grown to 12 people, who try to keep the guides up to date.
What news does the FEDIAF guide bring?
In addition to providing recommendations on the minimum and maximum levels of nutrients in commercial dog and cat foods, the new guide to nutrition guidelines for dogs and cats contains valuable information for assessing the nutritional value of pet food and recommendations on the energy contribution of the same.
The guide also reflects the amounts of essential nutrients found in commercial products. In this way, animal keepers will have more information to decide which product to buy, in order to ensure adequate and safe nutrition through long-term consumption.
Safety Levels in Nutrition Guidelines for Dogs and Cats
Likewise, this document presents a safety margin in the minimum recommended nutritional levels. Therefore, the prevention of deficiencies in pets due to animal variations and interactions with nutrients is encouraged. This measure has been proposed for ingredients with normal digestibility in dogs and cats, with a protein digestion greater than 80%.
The maximum measurements of the document are those allowed under EU legislation in this area of veterinary medicine. However, FEDIAF makes a clarification regarding pet foods whose nutrient levels are outside the recommendations of the document. The agency argues that these may be adequate, depending on the justification provided by the manufacturer as to their suitability and safety.
As you appreciated, FEDIAF strives to ensure that pets can have a balanced and above all safe diet. The digestion of dogs and cats is the protagonist in the nutritional guidelines that are established thanks to the work of several scientists, who always try to ensure that the pet food industries adhere to the guidelines they recommend.
