Have Aafco Standards Changed?

[prairiepanda]

I recently contacted Nature's Variety to find out why the original formula limited ingredient diets are rated for all life stages while the new formulations are only rated for maintenance. Their response was that the changes they made in the food formula were minimal and the nutritional values are very similar, but that the AAFCO standards for growth have changed and due to those changes the formula no longer meets requirements.

I tried to find information of such changes with no luck. I looked around the AAFCO website and didn't see anything. Have they really changed the standards for growth foods? If they have, is there a chart somewhere that shows what changed?

 

[MissMolly08]

I'm not sure where you can find specific changes but I believe they have. I read on another post here that Tiki cat now has menadione (synthetic vitamin K) and a poster said when they called to ask why and complain, the company's response was to blame AAFCO because their requirements change and now require more Vitamin K.

 

[prairiepanda]

Yeah, I read on the AAFCO site that foods with made up of more than 25% fish on a dry matter basis require vitamin K supplementation. Less fish-heavy foods would be exempt from that.

I wish I could find some older documentation for comparison, though. If a food was considered sufficient for kittens before, it's probably fine now (at least for an older kitten like Jonesy), but I'm not entirely sure about that because the requirements for maintenance and for growth are drastically different on some nutrients. I requested a nutrient breakdown from Nature's Variety so that I can try to make my own judgement. With how much filler is in kibble, I want to be careful and make sure I'm not missing something important.