Methodology & editorial standards

Kibble Grade is a focused pilot for US dry dog food. Its purpose is to help shoppers form a defensible shortlist, not to diagnose disease or declare a universal best food. The catalog is not a claim of complete market coverage.

Separate the recipe from its revision

A recipe identifies a market-specific product. A formulation identifies a particular label and ingredient list. Package sizes and dated offers are recorded separately. Published pages read only active D1 revisions; a failed candidate must preserve the prior published record.

Prefer a source that answers the question

Manufacturer labels support composition and adequacy statements. Retailer observations support offers when package and formulation identity match. Official FDA notices support recalls. Research needs its original publication, methods and applicability rather than a marketing summary. Every public source includes a URL, retrieval date and content hash; source publication dates remain unknown when unavailable.

Explain record status

Listed means a sourced record has been published with gaps visible. Verified means automated checks support its recorded core facts. Reviewed describes an automated assessment, not a named human expert or veterinary endorsement. Neither check is a guarantee of factual or clinical accuracy. Authors and reviewers are not invented.

Separate ingredient scores from nutritional quality

The ingredient scoreboard uses six explicit naming rules and 100 editorial points to compare the specificity of recorded ingredient lists. Brand, price, nutrient analysis, feeding studies and manufacturing records do not affect those points. Missing, damaged or unsupported ingredient declarations remain unscored. This is not a scientifically validated nutrition, health or safety rating. Nutritional evidence assessments remain separate.

Make useful comparisons

Life-stage eligibility requires documented adequacy; large-breed growth needs explicit support. Ingredient exclusions omit derivatives, ambiguity and unknown labels. Dry-matter and feeding-cost calculations use shared functions and withhold unsupported or conflicting inputs. Standard and conditional offers remain separate, and observed prices are visibly dated.

Keep safety notices independent

A recall concerns specified products, packages, lots, dates and geography. A brand-level history cannot label every current food as affected. Unresolved matching stays unresolved. No missing record or stale check establishes a recall-free status. Official safety sources have their own publication path.

Correct with evidence

Compare a disputed claim to its current source and exact formulation. The underlying publication system retains revisions and rejects stale overwrites. A reader who finds a discrepancy should use the linked manufacturer or FDA source for immediate decisions; a public correction-submission inbox is not yet provided. This is a known pilot limitation.

There are currently no affiliate commissions in the pilot's shopping links. If affiliate links are introduced, the relationship must be disclosed near each recommendation. Revenue does not determine eligibility or ordering.

Keep the scope in view.

Agent-authored educational synthesis; no veterinary specialist review has been recorded.

Source publication dates are unknown where not supplied.

This page is educational. It is not an individualized feeding or treatment recommendation.

Sources & dates

Manufacturer statements describe the label; they are not independent clinical findings. Check your bag for the current formulation.

fda.govregulator · retrieved Oct 23, 2026 · publication date unknown
aafco.orgguidance · retrieved Oct 23, 2026 · publication date unknown
wsava.orgguidance · retrieved Oct 23, 2026 · publication date unknown
fda.govregulator · retrieved Oct 23, 2026 · publication date unknown

Put the guide to work in the food finder

Ingredient categories and evidence scores

Every available ingredient declaration is preserved verbatim. Parsing retains its order, nested components, preservatives and unresolved text. Normalized catalog identities match label wording; provisional entries are not claims that two different ingredient forms are equivalent.

Cloudflare Clef Flash suggests an ingredient type using a fixed set of categories. Uncertain results are held for classification review. These automated categories describe names, not nutritional quality, dose safety, digestibility, allergen risk or clinical effectiveness. Category probabilities are not ingredient scores.

A separate evidence assessment can assign up to 100 points: identity documentation (20), function documentation (20), applicable canine evidence (40), and use conditions or limitations (20). Each dimension has three levels: 0, reviewed but unsupported; 1, partially documented or indirect; 2, directly supported within the stated scope. Points equal the dimension weight multiplied by its level divided by two.

Every nonzero dimension requires cited sources and a written rationale. Canine-evidence points require a research paper or evidence guidance. Missing reviews remain unassessed, never zero. Unresolved identity or conflicting evidence withholds the total. The dated review and rubric version remain attached to the ingredient revision.

This is a documentation score, not a rating of an ingredient's healthfulness. Ingredient scores are not averaged into food rankings. A label does not establish ingredient proportions, nutrient availability, suitability for a particular dog or cross-contact controls.

Food formulation scoring

The food scoreboard uses six ingredient-list naming rules, totaling 100 editorial points. It measures specificity, not nutritional quality, safety or individual suitability. Missing, damaged or conflicting labels remain unscored. Ingredient documentation scores are never averaged into this score. Read the full rubric and inspect every formula’s assessment.