FEDIAF (EU) vs AAFCO (US) — verified comparison (2026-07-19 rewrite; only claims backed by local sources retained).
Bodies: FEDIAF represents the national pet food industry associations in the EU (plus Norway, Switzerland and others) and publishes Nutritional Guidelines for Complete and Complementary Pet Food for Cats and Dogs (local copy: FEDIAF 2025 edition). AAFCO publishes model regulations and nutrient profiles used by US state feed programmes (local copy: AAFCO 2024 model regulations).
Energy calculation: AAFCO model regulations specify the "Modified Atwater" formula — ME (kcal/kg) = 10[(3.5 × %CP) + (8.5 × %CF) + (3.5 × %NFE)]. FEDIAF 2025 recommends the NRC 2006 four-step predictive equations (GE from 5.7/9.4/4.1 kcal/g for protein/fat/NFE+fibre, then energy digestibility from crude fibre, then ME with urinary correction 1.04 kcal/g crude protein for dogs, 0.77 for cats), which are referenced by European Standard EN 16967; the modified Atwater method is discussed as an alternative. (Previous claim that "AAFCO uses unmodified Atwater (3.5/4.0/8.5)" was fabricated.)
Taurine: FEDIAF 2025 sets taurine minimums for cats only — adult maintenance 0.10 g/100 g DM in dry pet food and 0.20 g/100 g DM in canned pet food (higher for growth/reproduction). For dogs, FEDIAF states healthy dogs synthesize sufficient taurine from dietary sulphur amino acids and sets no minimum. AAFCO taurine profile values are not present in the local source set — not verified here. (Previous claims "FEDIAF requires minimum 25 mg/100g DM for dogs" and "AAFCO 0.015% DM" were fabricated.)
Vitamin A: FEDIAF 2025 recommended level for adult dog maintenance is 702 IU/100 g DM, with a nutritional maximum (N) of 40,000 IU/100 g DM applicable to all dog life stages. AAFCO vitamin A profile values are not present in the local source set — not verified here. (Previous claim "FEDIAF upper limit 3333 IU/kg DM" was fabricated — off by two orders of magnitude.)
Removed pending sources: claims about hemp/CBD status and "grain-free" marketing definitions are not verifiable against the local source set and were removed.