At this time official organic standards for pet food have not been finalized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That means the word “organic” on a pet food label does not necessarily mean the product complies with USDA organic standards. Unless the pet food you buy bears the USDA Certification label (which means it must comply with the same federal standards established for human organic food), you may not be getting what you expect.
Here’s a guideline:
Certified USDA Organic
Any pet food bearing the USDA Certification label must be manufactured to the federal standards established for human organic food (where products must contain a minimum of 95% organic ingredients, and the other 5% is allowed to be non-organic only if an organic ingredient is not available. Product also must be independently certified under the USDA rules). Any pet food displaying the USDA seal does so voluntarily. This means the company claims its product complies with the same standards established for human organic food.
Organic food cannot contain any of the following:
- synthetic pesticides
- synthetic fertilizers
- antibiotics
- added growth hormones
- bio-engineered ingredients
Here is an example of a difference between non-certified organic human food and pet food: Under the U.S. Department of Agriculture rules, human food products labeled as “Made with organic” ingredients must contain at least 70% organic ingredients. However, current rules for pet food allow any product containing only 3% of a specific ingredient to be labeled as “Made with (that ingredient)”. This means human food labeled “Made with organic beef” must contain at least 70% organic ingredients, whereas a pet food labeled “Made with organic beef” may contain as little as 3% of that organic ingredient.
