{"topic_id":"AAFCO_2024_model_regulations_overview","category":"aafco","context":"---\ntopic_id: \"AAFCO_2024_model_regulations_overview\"\ncategory: \"aafco\"\ntitle: \"AAFCO 2024 model regulations overview\"\nlang: en\nsource_document: \"AAFCO Model Pet Food Regulations\"\ncitation:\n  authority: \"AAFCO wp-content/uploads PDF\"\n  title: \"AAFCO 2024 model regulations overview\"\n  url: \"\"\n  retrieved: \"2026-07-21\"\n  ref: \"\"\n  doc_type: \"official source\"\n  needs_review: true\nauthority_tier: T1\nauthority_tier_basis: \"T1:std-body\"\nauthority_tier_date: 2026-08-04\n---\nAAFCO 2024 Model Regulations document (official publication PDF 636,145 bytes; parsed text 1,323 lines) sets out the Model Regulations for Pet Food and Specialty Pet Food Under the Model Bill (Section Editor—Lizette Beckman), organized as Regulations PF1 through PF12: PF1 Definitions and Terms (including \"All Life Stages\", \"Family\", \"Food Mixer\", \"Food Supplement\", \"Familiar Household Unit\"); PF2 Label Format and Labeling; PF3 Brand and Product Names (95% rule — named ingredient at least 95% of total weight excluding water and at least 70% including water; 25% rule with a descriptor such as \"dinner\", \"platter\", \"entree\", \"formula\" or \"recipe\"; 3% \"with\" rule; flavor designations; declared moisture may not exceed 78.00% unless the product is identified as a stew, gravy, sauce, broth, aspic, juice, milk replacer or similar); PF4 Intended Use Statement and Nutritional Adequacy Claims (\"Complete [Species] Food\", veterinary diets, treats, food supplements and mixers); PF5 Pet and Specialty Pet Nutrition Facts (the boxed panel with calorie content per familiar household unit and ordered nutrient guarantees); PF9 Determination of Calorie Content (Modified Atwater formula ME kcal/kg = 10[(3.5 × CP) + (8.5 × CF) + (3.5 × NFE)], or AAFCO feeding-test procedures); PF10 Descriptive Terms (e.g., \"light\" calorie thresholds); and further regulations on ingredients, drugs, feeding directions and manufacturer address. The Model Regulations are a template that US states may adopt under their own state feed laws; pet food products must comply with the version adopted by the destination state. Source: pdf-raw/aafco_2024_model_reg.pdf, parsed to pdf-parsed/aafco_2024_model_reg.txt (identical text also in aafco_2024_official_from_ctfassets.txt).\n","sources":["AAFCO wp-content/uploads PDF — AAFCO 2024 model regulations overview (retrieved 2026-07-21)"],"source":{"authority":"AAFCO wp-content/uploads PDF","title":"AAFCO 2024 model regulations overview","url":"https://www.aafco.org/","retrieved":"2026-07-21","ref":"","doc_type":"official source","source_document":"AAFCO Model Pet Food Regulations","verification_file":""},"source_document":"AAFCO Model Pet Food Regulations","source_file":"","trust":{"authority_tier":"T1","fidelity":"verbatim","license":null,"display_grade":"A"},"tokens_estimated":243,"generated_at":"2026-07-16","tip":"Use /api/v1/topics to discover more topics. /api/v1/nutrient for precise single-point queries. /api/v1/cross_compare for 2-3 standard comparisons."}