What "natural" means on pet food — US, EU, China and Korea
"Natural" is widely used on pet food, but it is not a single global definition. Four markets in the in-repo crosswalk define it differently; each quoted clause below is a verbatim substring of a first-hand source.
United States — AAFCO model definition
The US relies on AAFCO's model-regulatory definition (FDA states pet-food labelling follows AAFCO model regulations). AAFCO defines "natural" as "a feed or feed ingredient derived solely from plant, animal or mined sources, either in its unprocessed state or having been subject to physical processing, heat processing, rendering, purification, extraction, hydrolysis, enzymolysis or fermentation, but not having been produced by or subject to a chemically synthetic process and not containing any additives or processing aids that are chemically synthetic except in amounts as might occur in good manufacturing practices."
In short: plant/animal/mined origin, physical or biological processing allowed, no chemically-synthetic process, and only trace synthetic additives from GMP.
European Union — FEDIAF Code §5.2.4.1
The FEDIAF Code of Good Labelling Practice restricts "natural" to "substances in pet food (derived from plant, animal, microorganism or minerals) to which nothing has been added and which have been subjected only to such physical processing as to make them suitable for pet food production and maintaining the natural composition." Acceptable processes include freezing, concentration, drying, and extraction without chemicals; bleaching, chemical oxidation and chemical treatments are not.
China — a recognised characteristic claim
China lists '天然/天然粮' (natural / natural-food) as a recognised characteristic claim (特性声称) under MOA Ann. 20 Art. 20. All claims require substantiation — via publications, formula data, or test reports.
South Korea — "only under defined conditions"
Korea permits "natural" wording only under defined conditions (per MAFRA Art. 10 emphasised-labelling rules).
The through-line
Every definition converges on the same idea — minimally processed, no synthetic transformation — but the permitted process list (US is the broadest, EU the strictest on "nothing added") and the enforcement hook (US/AF: model regulation; CN: substantiation requirement; KR: conditions) are jurisdiction-specific. A "natural" label that clears one market is not automatically compliant in another.
Sources
label_claim_matrix— five-term × five-jurisdiction claim-definition crosswalk; the "natural" per-term section quotes the US AAFCO, EU FEDIAF §5.2.4.1, CN 特性声称, and KR "defined conditions" sources verbatim.