Our Seal

Why look for the Healthy Pet Alliance Certified® seal?

The Healthy Pet Alliance Certified® seal promotes pet health by raising the standard for pet food. The seal allows you to recognize foods that meet higher standards across ingredients, nutrition, and manufacturing.

As an independent third-party, the Healthy Pet Alliance ensures your pet gets the best. Our standards are continuously reviewed and updated by a team of Board Certified Veterinary Nutritionists®, veterinarians, and manufacturing experts.
Dog Food
Treats & Toppers

Standards Required to be Healthy Pet Alliance Certified®

Pet foods are evaluated against the following criteria:
Better Nutrition
Quality Ingredients
Safe Manufacturing

Better Nutrition

A complete and balanced diet is essential to maintaining your pet’s health and wellness. The FDA has minimum nutritional requirements for pet food, but we've raised the standard to promote a healthy lifestyle for your pet. We've instituted higher standards for crucial nutrients, vitamins, and minerals. In addition, we created new standards for nutrients not currently regulated by the FDA.
See how we've raised the standard for nutrition:
Scroll through the table to view the Healthy Pet Alliance difference
Adult Dogs
Puppies & Pregnant
Nutrients
Min/Max
Unit DM Basis
 Existing Standards
Crude Protein
Min
%
18.00
28.00
Crude Fat
Min
%
5.50
11.0
Omega 6
Min
%
1.10
1.90
Omega 3
Min
%
none
0.30
Omega 6:3
Max
Ratio
30 : 1
10 : 1
Zinc
Min
%
80.00
150.00
Vitamin A
Min
IU/kg
5,000
10,000
Vitamin E
Min
IU/kg
50
80
 Added Standards
Carbohydrates
Max
%
none
40.00
Fiber
Max
%
none
8.00
Taurine
Min
%
none
0.15
% of Protein from Meat
Min
%
none
66.00
Nutrients
Min/Max
Unit DM Basis
Existing Standards
Crude Protein
Min
%
22.50
32.00
Crude Fat
Min
%
8.50
14.00
Omega 6
Min
%
1.30
2.10
Omega 3
Min
%
0.08
0.30
Omega 6:3
Max
Ratio
30 : 1
10 : 1
Zinc
Min
%
80.00
150.00
Vitamin A
Min
IU/kg
5,000
10,000
Vitamin E
Min
IU/kg
50
80
Added Standards
Carbohydrates
Max
%
none
35.00
Fiber
Max
%
none
8.00
Taurine
Min
%
none
0.15
% of Protein from Meat
Min
%
none
66.00
The FDA does not currently require analytical and digestibility testing to confirm the Guaranteed Analysis. We've introduced these tests to confirm that the product label accurately depicts what's inside.

Quality Ingredients

Quality ingredients ensure your pet receives proper nutrition. The quality and type of ingredients can impact how your dog digests food and the nutrients extracted from the food. The Healthy Pet Alliance ensures that foods contain quality ingredients that are safe and highly digestible to ensure longer, happier years with your best friend.
Ingredients are evaluated against the following:
Required
Ingredients are vessels for nutrition and serve important functions for your dog. With the help of veterinarians and pet nutritionists, we make sure your dog is getting the correct nutrition through necessary ingredients.
Disallowed
Certain ingredients are known to be dangerous and linked to several diseases. Using the latest research and erring on the side of caution, we make sure that unsafe ingredients are disallowed.
Limited
Some ingredients are acceptable in moderation but can be harmful in greater quantities. We moderate unwholesome ingredients (like cheap fillers) to optimize nutrition.
Clarified
A transparent ingredient statement is very important. Ingredients that are broad and unspecified leave opportunities for harm. We seek clarity on unspecified ingredients to ensure safety.

Safe Manufacturing

Safe manufacturing is key to reducing the risk of foodborne illness. It's up to manufacturers to follow proper procedures to ensure food safety. The Healthy Pet Alliance utilizes standards taken from human-food production to ensure proper production, handling, and storage of foods and treats.
Certified manufacturing facilities are required to have the following:
Designated Food Safety Program
Product Traceability
Country of Origin
Consumer Complaint Management
Designated Food Safety Program 
Designated person(s) responsible for the operation's food safety program and ensuring pet safety.

Maintains food safety specifications for suppliers and all incoming products, ingredients, and materials are evaluated against the criteria.

Established and validated cleaning procedures to ensure that all parts of the facility and equipment are cleaned and/or sanitized on a defined schedule.
Product Traceability
Outlined procedure for product tracking that enables the trace-back and trace-forward of supplies. This is critical in the event of a safety or quality incident.

Contains documented recall program including procedures, recall team roles and contact details, external contact listing, requirements for recall effectiveness checks, explanation of different recall classes, and handling of recalled product.
Country of Origin
The final product is produced in a country with strict manufacturing regulations and food safety standards.

These include the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and European regions.
Consumer Complaint Management
Documented procedure for dealing with customer food safety complaints/feedback. Maintains records of complaints/feedback, company responses, and corrective actions.

Standards Required to be Healthy Pet Alliance Certified®

Dog treats are evaluated against the following criteria:
Quality Ingredients
Safe Manufacturing

Quality Ingredients

The Healthy Pet Alliance ensures that dog treats contain quality ingredients so you can safely reward your pet for good behavior (or for being adorable).
Required
Treats should be part of your pet's balanced diet. A short list of natural, purposeful ingredients and minimal processing results in a more nutritious treat.
Disallowed
Certain ingredients are known to be dangerous and linked to several diseases. Using the latest research and erring on the side of caution, we make sure that unsafe ingredients are disallowed.
Limited
Some ingredients are acceptable in moderation but can be harmful in greater quantities. We moderate unwholesome ingredients (like cheap fillers) to optimize nutrition.
Clarified
A transparent ingredient statement is very important. Ingredients that are broad and unspecified leave opportunities for harm. We seek clarity on unspecified ingredients to ensure safety.

Safe Manufacturing

Safe manufacturing is key to reducing the risk of foodborne illness. It's up to manufacturers to follow proper procedures to ensure food safety. The Healthy Pet Alliance utilizes standards taken from human-food production to ensure proper production, handling, and storage of foods and treats.
Designated Food Safety Program
Product Traceability
Country of Origin
Consumer Complaint Management
Designated Food Safety Program 
Designated person(s) responsible for the operation's food safety program and ensuring pet safety.

Maintains food safety specifications for suppliers and all incoming products, ingredients, and materials are evaluated against the criteria.

Established and validated cleaning procedures to ensure that all parts of the facility and equipment are cleaned and/or sanitized on a defined schedule.
Product Traceability
Outlined procedure for product tracking that enables the trace-back and trace-forward of supplies. This is critical in the event of a safety or quality incident.

Contains documented recall program including procedures, recall team roles and contact details, external contact listing, requirement for recall effectiveness checks, explanation of different recall classes, and handling of recalled product.
Country of Origin
The final product is produced in a country with strict manufacturing regulations and food safety standards.

These include the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and European regions.
Consumer Complaint Management
Documented procedure for dealing with customer food safety complaints/feedback. Maintains records of complaints/feedback, company responses, and corrective actions.
linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram