Nutritional evaluation of new alternative types of dog foods including raw and cooked homemade-style diets

BACKGROUND: New alternative types of pet foods such as raw and cooked homemade-style diets containing human food ingredients have been introduced due to a trend of pet humanization and diversification of consumer needs. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate nutritional adequacy of new alternative types of dog foods containing human food ingredients as maintenance diets for dogs. METHODS: Eleven homemade-style foods for adult dogs were purchased from online channel in Korea and analyzed to evaluate nutritional adequacy for adult dogs. Nutrients analyzed included crude protein, amino acids, crude fat, fatty acids, and minerals. RESULTS: Crude protein and amino acids in all products satisfied Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) requirements. Crude fat in one of 11 products did not meet AAFCO requirements. The most deficient minerals were selenium (10 of 11, 90.9%), copper (five of 11, 45.5%), zinc (five of 11, 45.5%), potassium (three of 11, 27.3%), calcium (three of 11, 27.3%), iron (two of 11, 18.2%), and magnesium (one of 11, 9.1%). Six products were not in the range of the recommended Ca:P ratio in AAFCO dog food maintenance nutrient profiles. CONCLUSIONS: This study performed nutritional evaluation of raw and cooked homemade-style foods as maintenance diets for adult dogs. Some nutritional inadequacies were observed including some minerals, Ca:P ratio, and omega-6:omega-3 fatty acid ratio, although three products (26.2%) satisfied the AAFCO standard except selenium. Overall, the data suggest a need for accurate nutritional adequacy statement for consumers based on proper methods to validate the formula.