Testing that feeds straight back into your formula. Every report is reviewed by our nutrition team against your targets and your market’s rules — not just sent as a list of numbers.
Testing confirms that a pet product contains what its label says, is safe to feed and stays that way through its shelf life. It covers nutrient composition, contaminants such as mycotoxins and heavy metals, microbiological safety and stability over time.
We plan testing alongside development, from supplier approval to routine batch checks. Analyses run through Guires Analytical Lab and qualified partner laboratories, and every report is reviewed by our nutrition team against your targets and your market’s rules — with reformulation advice where results fall short.
Start your project with Guires PNLEach service has its own page with the scope, the scientific challenges, the evidence behind our approach and what you take away.
Proximate, mineral, vitamin, amino-acid and fatty-acid analysis that verifies what your label declares.
Explore →Microbiology, mycotoxins, heavy metals and emerging contaminants.
Explore →Real-time and accelerated studies that track nutrients, oxidation, microbiology and texture.
Explore →Testing is most useful when it is planned with development, from supplier approval to routine batch checks.
| Stage | Recommended tests | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Ingredients & suppliers | Nutrient composition, mycotoxins, heavy metals, microbiology | Qualify suppliers and use real values in formulation |
| Prototype | Proximates, key minerals and vitamins, water activity | Confirm the recipe delivers its nutrient targets |
| Pilot / first batch | Full nutrient panel, pathogens, kill-step validation | Prove nutrition and safety under real process conditions |
| Launch | Label claim panel against declared guarantees and market tolerances | Support the guaranteed analysis and calorie statement |
| Shelf life | Oxidation, water activity, microbiology, nutrient retention, packaging | Set and defend the best-before date |
| Routine batch QC | Risk-based pathogen, contaminant and nutrient checks | Verify your food safety plan batch after batch |
Built from our test menu, and adjusted to your product and market.
Guaranteed analysis (protein, fat, fibre, moisture, ash) plus calculated energy, checked against your declared values and market tolerances.
Extended nutrients reviewed against AAFCO, FEDIAF or IS 11968 profiles by our nutrition team.
Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes, STEC E. coli and Enterobacteriaceae for raw and minimally processed foods.
Microbiology, mycotoxins, heavy metals and water activity for treats and chews.
Designed storage study with pull points and endpoints, ending in a best-before recommendation.
Evidence that your thermal process or HPP delivers the required pathogen reduction.
PFAS, packaging migration and pesticide residues through specialist partner laboratories — for brands preparing for tighter rules.
| Panel | Sample needed | Typical turnaround | Why it takes this long |
|---|---|---|---|
| Label Claim Panel | About 250–500 g of finished product | 5–7 working days | Proximate methods such as AOAC |
| Complete & Balanced Panel | About 1 kg, from one production lot | 10–15 working days | Amino acids, minerals and vitamins run as separate methods |
| Raw & Fresh Pathogen Panel | 5 sample units per lot, sealed and chilled or frozen | 5–7 working days | Culture methods such as ISO 6579-1 and ISO 11290-1; presumptive positives need extra days to confirm |
| Treat & Chew Safety Panel | About 500 g–1 kg | 7–10 working days | Microbiology, mycotoxins, metals and water activity |
| Shelf-Life Study | Enough packs for every pull point, plus reserve | Length of the study | Accelerated 3–6 months; real time to the end of shelf life |
| Kill-Step Validation | Set in the validation protocol | Project-based | Depends on process, product and challenge design |
| Emerging Contaminants Panel | About 250–500 g | 10–20 working days | Specialist methods such as LC-MS/MS at partner laboratories |
Typical industry ranges from receipt of samples, based on the standard methods for each test. Your testing plan confirms exact quantities and dates.
Testing plans are built around the limits and verification rules of your target markets. Last reviewed: September 2026.
| Market | Microbiology | Contaminants | Labels & verification |
|---|---|---|---|
| European Union | Processed pet food: Salmonella absent in 25 g (n=5, c=0); Enterobacteriaceae n=5, c=2, m=10, M=300 per g. Raw pet food: M=5,000 per g (Reg. (EU) 142/2011, Annex XIII) | Undesirable substances (aflatoxin B1, lead, cadmium, mercury, arsenic, dioxins) against Directive 2002/32/EC maximum levels | Analytical tolerances for labelled nutrients: Reg. (EC) 767/2009, Annex IV |
| United Kingdom | EU animal by-product microbiological standards continue as assimilated law; pet food plants must carry out bacteriological sampling | EU undesirable-substance limits continue as assimilated law | Same tolerances as the EU (assimilated law) |
| United States | Pet food contaminated with Salmonella and not further heat-treated is adulterated (FDA CPG 690.800) | Aflatoxin action level for pet food: 20 ppb (FDA CPG 683.100) | FSMA verification under 21 CFR 507.49: product testing and, where needed, environmental monitoring; H5N1 in food safety plans for uncooked poultry or cattle materials |
| India | Tested to the requirements of IS 11968:2019 (BIS, voluntary) | As specified in IS 11968:2019 | Legal Metrology declarations; import clearance where relevant |
| Australia | Tested to support AS 5812:2023 (voluntary) and PFIAA practice | Limits agreed per product and market | Import conditions set by BICON |
Peer-reviewed surveys of commercial pet food show why testing cannot be skipped.
A 2026 survey of 126 dog and cat foods found fumonisin B1 in over 94% and more than one mycotoxin in over 92% of products.
Multi-mycotoxin screening of ingredients and finished product, not single-toxin tests.
In a 2025 survey of 93 products, 8.6% exceeded lead limits; in another study, ingredients such as wheat bran carried higher metal levels.
Heavy-metal testing of both raw materials and finished product.
One study found Salmonella in 26.2% and Listeria monocytogenes in 19% of raw diets, and in none of the extruded diets tested.
Pathogen testing of every raw and minimally processed batch, plus kill-step validation where a step exists.
Canned cat food lost 17.8% of added thiamine over six months; thiamine deficiency outbreaks have been linked to low-thiamine cat food.
Thiamine measured in finished product and during storage, not only assumed from the formula.
In a 2026 study, 82.3% of 96 products met their declared guaranteed analysis — so nearly 1 in 5 did not.
Every guarantee verified analytically before launch, with results checked against market tolerances.
Peer-reviewed studies now report bisphenols from can linings, PFAS (highest in fish-based foods) and microplastics in commercial pet foods.
We track these findings and advise when testing is warranted for your ingredients and packaging.
Tell us the product, format, markets and what you need to prove.
Which tests, how many units, which lots — agreed before sampling.
Submission form and shipping guidance for your samples.
Carried out by Guires Analytical Lab and qualified partner laboratories.
Results reviewed by a nutritionist against your targets and market rules.
Approve, reformulate or adjust the process — then verify again.
Testing is delivered through Guires Pet Nutrition Lab together with Guires Analytical Lab and qualified specialist partner laboratories — giving you one point of contact for a broad testing menu.
Stay ahead with regulation updates, the latest research, ingredient spotlights, recalls and market trends for testing and validation — written by our formulation, testing and regulatory teams.
Every project at Guires Pet Nutrition Lab runs inside an ISO 9001:2015 certified quality system and FSSAI-licensed operations, with documented methods, calibrated instruments, traceable raw materials and reviewed reports — so the results behind your product can be checked and defended.
It depends on your product’s risks and your food safety plan. Raw and minimally processed foods usually need pathogen testing on every batch; nutrient panels are typically run at launch, after any recipe or supplier change, and periodically after that. We build a risk-based schedule with you.
We check the result against the market’s analytical tolerances, retest if needed, then trace the cause — raw materials, process or formula — and recommend a fix, from a supplier change to reformulation.
Yes. Results are reviewed by our nutrition team against the profile and limits you are selling under.
Yes — pathogen panels for Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes, STEC E. coli and Enterobacteriaceae, plus kill-step validation where a step is used.
No. We do not offer DNA species identification or measured energy; energy values are calculated using each market’s specified method.
It depends on the panel: typically 250 g–1 kg of finished product and 5–15 working days for nutrient and safety panels, with 5 sealed units per lot for pathogen testing. See the table under Testing Panels; your testing plan confirms exact figures.
Clients in the USA, UK and UAE on working with Guires PNL. Names are withheld at clients’ request.
“Their nutritional and stability testing produced documentation we could present to retailers and regulators. Having that validation in hand made our retail listing process far smoother.”
“As a small brand, independent validation of our nutritional claims was beyond our own resources. They verified our shelf life and nutrient retention and provided the data to back every claim.”
“They tested our formula under the heat and storage conditions of our region and delivered audit-ready reports. We launched knowing the product would perform exactly as specified.”
Real client projects — the problem, the science and the result.
A premium Indian pet food brand’s chicken-and-vegetable wet diet failed three production trials in a row after sterilisation. Guires PNL traced the cause to the formulation, not the retort, and validated a fix the manufacturer could run on its existing line.
Read the case study →A first-time founder had a gently cooked dog food recipe customers wanted to buy — but the contract manufacturer’s first run failed. Guires PNL took the recipe through nutrient analysis, reformulation, pilot processing, testing, labelling and tech transfer to a first production batch in 90 days.
Read the case study →Tell us the product and what you need to confirm, and we will propose a testing plan.
Every Guires PNL product is formulated to comply with the FEDIAF Nutritional Guidelines and the AAFCO Dog and Cat Food Nutrient Profiles. Neither body issues certificates to manufacturers, so compliance is verified independently against their published standards — and every product comes with a complete documentation package for regulatory submissions in the EU, US, Australia and Asian markets.
How we verify compliance →