How to read a feed tag, something all horse owners should know

The Association of American Feed Control, regulates the feed laws developed to insure the product you are purchasing is safe, consistent, and meets the nutritional statements the manufacturer is claiming for that product. All feed tags are required to have, a list of ingredients, feeding directions, net weight, precautions, guaranteed analysis of the feed and the product name and its purpose statement.



 The dominating issue is food safety!!!
 Any regulation concerning feed is influenced mostly by the food safety aspect. Relevant
for horse feeds are regulations for feed labeling, feed additives, undesirable substances, forbidden substances, and at least in some countries, specific regulations regarding special feed for dietetic purposes
(ex. small intestine digestion).In the United States, federal agencies require that all products containing plant material be inspected prior to importation to make sure no viable seeds from foreign plants enter the United States.


Sources:
http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=16524
http://www.ker.com/library/proceedings/10/Equine%20Nutrition%E2%80%93A%20European%20Perspective.pdf