Feed materials (ingredients) have to be listed in descending order by weight, and the list has to be preceded by the heading: Composition. On the label of pet foods for dogs and cats, individual feed materials can be replaced by ingredient categories. These categories are designed to provide consumers with some indication of the source of raw materials used, while allowing the manufacturer some flexibility in the selection of the ingredients within a specific category<ref name="Burger">2. Burger IH. '''Reading a petfood label'''. Journal of Small Animal Practice 1993; 34: 189-191.</ref>. The categories are defined by law in Commission Directive 82/475/EEC laying down the categories of feed materials which may be used for the purposes of labelling compound feeding stuffs for pet animals (Table 1). | Feed materials (ingredients) have to be listed in descending order by weight, and the list has to be preceded by the heading: Composition. On the label of pet foods for dogs and cats, individual feed materials can be replaced by ingredient categories. These categories are designed to provide consumers with some indication of the source of raw materials used, while allowing the manufacturer some flexibility in the selection of the ingredients within a specific category<ref name="Burger">2. Burger IH. '''Reading a petfood label'''. Journal of Small Animal Practice 1993; 34: 189-191.</ref>. The categories are defined by law in Commission Directive 82/475/EEC laying down the categories of feed materials which may be used for the purposes of labelling compound feeding stuffs for pet animals (Table 1). |