The Guaranteed Analysis, found on pet food packages, lists important information about the nutrient content of your pet’s food. It’s similar to the nutrition labels on foods made for humans—but different in that it lists minimums and maximums rather than exact amounts.
This includes minimum percentages of protein and fat, and maximum percentages of fiber and moisture (water). Reviewing this information, you can be sure a food contains at least that much protein and fat (it may contain more), and no more than that amount of fiber and moisture (it may contain less).
Other nutrients, vitamins, and minerals are not required to be listed, but are often included voluntarily—for example, Omega 3 or 6 fatty acids, or a maximum fat content for low-fat diets.
These minimum and maximum values are guaranteed, and therefore important in terms of legal requirements and pet food regulations in the U.S.
However, as you can imagine, there are limitations when it comes to analyzing your pet’s food based solely on these numbers. In addition to not being exact values, they are also listed on an “as fed” or “as is” basis. The as-is basis is the product straight out of the bag or can. That makes it difficult to compare recipes side by side (especially canned food versus kibble), since water weight and calorie density can affect nutrient percentages.
One more important note: The term “crude” is used to describe these values (i.e. you’ll see “crude protein” on the label) because of the way they are measured—it’s not a reference to the quality of that nutrient.
The Typical Analysis, on the other hand, provides more detail in terms of a longer list of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals, with a specific value for each. This includes some values measured on a “dry matter basis,” which eliminates the water weight factor when comparing recipes side by side.
These numbers can’t be guaranteed in the same manner as the Guaranteed Analysis maximums and minimums, since exact nutrient content may vary with ingredients in each batch, especially from season to season. However, the Typical Analysis can still give a much better idea of the full nutritional content of each pet food recipe, which is very helpful when determining whether or not a recipe is suitable for your pet.
Our Typical Analyses are calculated using data from actual lab analyses of our pet foods.
You can find this information on our website, for each of the Fromm Family Foods recipes, under the caloric information and Typical Analysis tab. You or your veterinarian are also welcome to contact us to learn more.