The Honest Kitchen successfully completed in-home, comprehensive AAFCO Feeding Trials that substantiate our foods provide nutritional adequacy and overall health in dogs. 

We’re excited to announce that we have completed comprehensive in-home versions of the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) feeding trials that included our Whole Grain Dehydrated, Grain Free Dehydrated and Grain Free Whole Food Clusters foods for dogs. 

The feeding trials were conducted by a third-party veterinarian group, fluent in both AAFCO standards and The Honest Kitchen’s products, spanning over six months and including eight healthy dogs in each trial (24 total). The trials showed overall excellent results and substantiated nutritional adequacy of The Honest Kitchen’s diets. ​

Our In-Home AAFCO Feeding Trials Exceeded Standards

As we do with our foods, we wanted to not only meet the guidelines required for an AAFCO feeding trial, but exceed them so that the quality of our test results met our strict standards.

The below chart outlines the requirements of a standard AAFCO trial compared to the additional requirements we added to our trials. We chose to add these additional guidelines to ensure the trials were more comprehensive, accounting for overall health, heart health, safety and pet wellbeing. 

The Result of Our AAFCO Trials: Healthy Dogs

Our results showed that dogs who participated in our in-home feeding trials:

• Maintained ideal body and muscle condition scores and had excellent physical performance in their training and activity throughout the entire trial. 
• All dogs had normal healthy blood work results collected at three time periods throughout the trial. 
• Stool quality and fecal scores remained ideal throughout as well. 
• Plasma and whole blood taurine levels were excellent at all time points. 
• The echocardiograms performed at the beginning and end of the trial showed no significant difference in any dog’s cardiac measurements from the beginning to the end of the trial, as evaluated by a board-certified veterinary cardiologist.

Overall, the trials showed that our foods provide nutritional adequacy, and support overall and heart health in dogs. 

Which Recipes are Covered By the Trials?

• These core recipes were tested in the trials:
  • Dehydrated Grain Free Chicken
  • Dehydrated Whole Grain Chicken
  • Grain Free Chicken Whole Food Clusters

• These recipes are nutritionally comparable to the recipes above, and are considered substantiated by the results:
  • Grain Free Dehydrated Recipes
    • Dehydrated Grain Free Turkey
    • Dehydrated Grain Free Beef
    • Dehydrated Grain Free Fish
  • Whole Grain Dehydrated Recipes
    • Dehydrated Whole Grain Turkey
    • Dehydrated Whole Grain Beef
    • Dehydrated Whole Grain Fish
  • Limited Ingredient Dehydrated Recipes
    • Limited Ingredient Chicken
    • Limited Ingredient Turkey
    • Limited Ingredient Duck
    • Limited Ingredient Fish
  • Gourmet Grains Dehydrated Recipes
    • Gourmet Grains Chicken & Duck
    • Gourmet Grains Turkey & Fish
    • Gourmet Grains Beef & Salmon
  • Grain Free Whole Food Clusters Recipes
    • Grain Free Turkey
    • Grain Free Beef
    • Grain Free Chicken for Small Breeds
    • Grain Free Chicken for Puppies

Does This Mean The Honest Kitchen’s Dog Foods are AAFCO Approved?

While AAFCO does not approve pet foods, The Honest Kitchen foods tested in our trial are substantiated to provide complete and balanced nutrition, according to the procedures for feeding trials as established by AAFCO.

Additionally, all of our complete & balanced dog and cat food recipes are formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by AAFCO, even those not included in the trials. You can find each recipe’s guaranteed analysis on our website, or by  visiting this link.