How to formulate a complete and balanced dog food: the formulator’s method

01The short answer

A complete and balanced dog food supplies every essential nutrient at or above its minimum, and below every safe maximum, for a stated life stage, so it can be fed as the only food ⁴. To build one, a formulator sets an energy target, chooses the FEDIAF or AAFCO profile for the market ^2,3, solves the recipe per 1000 kcal of metabolisable energy (ME), adds processing overages and confirms the finished food by laboratory analysis.

A recipe that looks balanced on a spreadsheet can still fail its label claim once energy density, processing losses and real digestibility are counted. Below is the method our formulators follow, with the numbers that make each step checkable.

02The method, step by step

The same six steps apply to a puppy kibble or an adult wet food.

1. Energy target. Species, life stage, adult size and activity decide the profile and the energy density. Set ME in kcal/kg with the method each market specifies; see our energy calculation guide ¹.
2. Nutrient standard. FEDIAF for the EU and UK ², AAFCO for the US ³; NRC 2006 supplies the science behind both, including safe upper limits ¹.
3. Ingredients. Choose sources that fit the format, cost and claim, and require a specification or certificate of analysis for each, not just a database value.
4. Solve per 1000 kcal. Least-cost software uses linear programming to meet every minimum and maximum at the lowest cost ³. The formulator then checks what it cannot see: the Ca:P ratio, individual amino acids and inclusion limits for texture and palatability.
5. Processing overages. Extrusion, retorting and storage destroy part of some vitamins ^6,7; in one canned cat food study, premix thiamin fell 17.8% over six months ⁷. Overages keep the food above its minimums at the end of shelf life.
6. Lab verification. Analyse the finished food through nutritional analysis and compare it with the target profile. A failed result loops back to step 4.

03Worked numbers: an adult dry recipe per 1000 kcal

Working per 1000 kcal puts a kibble and a wet food on equal terms: nutrient in g/kg as fed ÷ ME in kcal/kg as fed × 1000. Take a sample adult dry food with 10% moisture, 24% crude protein, 14% fat, 3% crude fibre, 7% ash and 42% nitrogen-free extract (carbohydrate by difference). Modified Atwater factors give 24 × 3.5 + 14 × 8.5 + 42 × 3.5 = 350 kcal per 100 g, or 3,500 kcal/kg. Protein is then 240 g ÷ 3.5 = 68.6 g per 1000 kcal.

AAFCO limits from the AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles ³; confirm against the current AAFCO Official Publication. Recipe figures are calculated for illustration and are not laboratory results.

04Six errors we find in client recipes

1. Solving per kg, not per 1000 kcal. AAFCO’s dry-matter profiles assume 4,000 kcal/kg of dry matter. A food with 20% protein on a dry-matter basis passes the 18% adult minimum, but at 5,000 kcal/kg of dry matter it supplies only 40 g per 1000 kcal, below the 45 g minimum, because the dog eats less of it ³.
2. Ignoring safe upper limits. Vitamin D, calcium and some trace minerals have maximums ^1,3. A full premix on top of mineral-rich meat and bone meal can breach them.
3. Checking crude protein only. Plant-heavy recipes can meet total protein yet run short of methionine and cystine, the sulphur amino acids dogs use to make taurine.
4. No processing overages. A recipe that passes at month 0 can fail on thiamin by the end of shelf life ⁷.
5. Optimistic digestibility. The profiles assume typical digestibility ¹; poor proteins or high fibre reduce what the dog absorbs.
6. No laboratory confirmation. Database values vary by supplier and batch, so without analysis the claim rests on estimates.

05How the claim is substantiated

In the US, “complete and balanced” is a nutritional adequacy statement backed by one of two routes, and the label wording shows which ⁴.

Formulation is faster and cheaper, so most products use it. A feeding trial adds evidence that dogs do well on the food, which some retailers and export buyers ask for; see our AAFCO feeding trials. In the EU and UK, a complete pet food is one that, “by reason of its composition, is sufficient for a daily ration” ². Treats and toppers are usually complementary and cannot carry the claim.

06Standards that apply: FEDIAF, AAFCO and BIS

A recipe built to one standard is not automatically compliant with another. FEDIAF’s adult minimums are given for dogs eating either 110 or 95 kcal per kg^0.75 of body weight a day; for the less active dog, calcium rises from 1.25 to 1.45 g per 1000 kcal ². Exporters usually formulate to the stricter value for each nutrient. Cat food uses the same method with different profiles.

07Questions brands ask

Sources

1. National Research Council (2006). Nutrient Requirements of Dogs and Cats. Washington, DC: National Academies Press. Source ↗
2. FEDIAF (2025). Nutritional Guidelines for Complete and Complementary Pet Food for Cats and Dogs. Source ↗
3. AAFCO (2014). Revised AAFCO Dog and Cat Food Nutrient Profiles. Pet Food Committee Report, Appendix A. Source ↗
4. AAFCO. How to understand a dog or cat food label. Source ↗
5. Bureau of Indian Standards (2019). IS 11968:2019 Pet food for dogs and cats: Specification (first revision). Source ↗
6. Riaz MN, Asif M, Ali R (2009). Stability of vitamins during extrusion. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition 49(4):361–368. Source ↗
7. Dainton AN, White B, Lambrakis L, Aldrich CG (2022). Impacts of vitamin premix and/or yeast ingredient inclusion in a canned cat food on thiamin retention during 6 months of storage. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 9:1090695. Source ↗

Evidence reviewed by the Guires Pet Nutrition Lab scientific team. This article is general information for product developers and is not legal or veterinary advice.