FEDIAF Nutritional Guidelines

FEDIAF · European Pet Food Industry Federation

Europe’s working reference for what a complete dog food must provide, the industry counterpart to America’s AAFCO.

01 What It Is

FEDIAF, the European Pet Food Industry Federation, represents the pet-food industry across Europe and publishes the Nutritional Guidelines for Complete and Complementary Pet Food for Cats and Dogs. The guidelines set out the nutrient levels a complete food should provide across life stages. They are industry self-regulation rather than law, but they are the reference the European industry actually formulates to.

02 What It Covers

The guidelines define the nutritional requirements for complete dog and cat foods, the level of each nutrient by life stage, and are revised as the science develops. They sit alongside rather than replace EU feed law: Regulation 767/2009 governs how pet food is labelled and what must be declared, while the FEDIAF guidelines supply the nutritional detail behind a “complete” food.

03 How It Is Checked

These are guidelines, not a certified standard, so there is no FEDIAF inspection or seal. Their authority comes from near-universal adoption by European manufacturers and recognition by vets and regulators as the working benchmark. Legal enforcement runs through EU and national feed law on labelling and safety, not through FEDIAF itself.

04 Why It Matters

In Europe a dog food described as complete is almost always formulated to the FEDIAF guidelines, so they quietly determine whether the food in the bowl actually meets a dog’s needs. They are the reason a complete European dog food can be trusted as a sole diet, even though the assurance rests on an industry guideline rather than a government nutrient law.

Primary sources

FEDIAF Nutritional Guidelineseuropeanpetfood.org
Regulation (EC) 767/2009 on the marketing and use of feedeur-lex.europa.eu