About National Pet Food Standards Day
National Pet Food Standards Day is an annual UK awareness day founded by Pets Magazine to focus attention on the standards governing commercially manufactured food for dogs and cats, and to encourage constructive, evidence-led improvements in safety, transparency and consumer confidence.
About National Pet Food Standards Day
Every pet owner knows the sheer excitement that takes over when it is mealtime. Whether it is a dog wagging its entire body or a cat winding around your ankles, our animal companions trust us completely to fill their bowls with something wholesome.
Behind every kibble crunch and savoury paté served across the United Kingdom lies an intricate network of pet food standards working tirelessly to make sure that trust is never broken.
In the UK, pet food is classified and regulated under animal feed legislation, meaning manufacturers, distributors, and importers are held to exacting statutory requirements. The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) and the Food Standards Agency (FSA) enforce strict hygiene, safety, and traceability rules across every stage of production. In fact, animal by-products used in pet foods must come from animals inspected and certified as fit for human consumption before slaughter.
This shared agricultural oversight prevents toxic contaminants, regulated veterinary drug residues, and transmissible diseases from ever entering pet bowls.
Did you know? In the UK, commercial pet food is governed by more than 50 separate pieces of legislation, ensuring hygiene standards match those across the human food supply chain!
However, an evidence-led investigation by Pets Magazine has identified areas where greater scrutiny, transparency and surveillance could potentially strengthen existing protections.
National Pet Food Standards Day provides an annual focal point for pet owners, veterinary professionals, researchers, animal-welfare organisations, policymakers and responsible pet-food businesses to consider how standards can continue to improve.
The day supports the new Pet Food Standards Charter, also founded by Pets Magazine. The Charter is focusing on evidence-led areas including scrutiny of unfamiliar ingredients and significant formulation changes, clearer ingredient information, transparent risk-based testing, improved aggregation and surveillance of suspected adverse events, contaminant standards and greater transparency around evidence supporting pet-food claims.
It is intended to complement existing regulation and good industry practice, rather than suggest that UK pet food is currently unregulated.
Why 12 November?
The date was chosen to place pet-food safety and standards within the wider annual conversation around quality, assurance and continuous improvement.
The inaugural National Pet Food Standards Day on 12 November 2026 falls during World Quality Week, 9–13 November 2026, organised by the Chartered Quality Institute.
National Pet Food Standards Day is an independent Pets Magazine initiative and is not affiliated with the Chartered Quality Institute or World Quality Week.
How to Get Involved in National Pet Food Standards Day
You can look at the integrity of your pet's diet and take an active role in their well-being at home:
Check the packaging for the word "complete" rather than "complementary" to ensure your pet is receiving a fully balanced daily diet.
Learn to read the analytical constituents table on the label to monitor protein and moisture levels.
Practice proper kitchen hygiene by washing bowls and measuring scoops frequently, and sealing open food bags in airtight containers.
Consult your vet whenever transitioning diets to ensure new foods suit your pet's age, weight, and lifestyle.
Support the Pet Food Standards Charter, read the evidence behind it and sign a Change.org petition (Change.org/petfoodstandardscharter) calling for evidence-led improvements to UK pet-food standards.
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