Quality Breeds Credibility in the Pet Supplements Market

As consumers express a willingness to pay a premium for pet supplements that offer human-quality ingredients and clinical validation, they’ll continue to look for certification standards, scrutinize product labels and ingredient lists, and defer to the expertise of their veterinarian.

Clean Labels and Quality Concerns

Consumers inspect ingredient lists carefully when it comes to their pets’ nutrition products.

“They’re seeking products with a clean label, natural, non-solvent, non-chemical, sustainable-sourced, non-GMO ingredients with minimal fillers and artificial additives. Transparency in sourcing is no longer a bonus, it’s an expectation,” said Ariati Aris, PhD, scientific affairs specialist at PhytoGaia.

Holistic-minded pet owners are actively seeking products with direct anti-synthetic marketing claims, noted Joni Kamlet, RVT, CCRA, director of practitioner and pet supplements at Real Mushrooms and sales associate with its parent company Nammex.  While whole food nutrition is being touted as ideal, “more education is needed in this space about the safety and importance of synthetic ingredients in some formulations to create a complete and balanced product,” she said.

Several issues impact the quality standards of pet nutraceuticals.

“Some production sites are feed specific, while others can be human grade,” said Caitlin Donohue, global marketing director of pet and animal well-being at ADM. “My division pulls from human supplements, so it has some of the highest global standards possible, such as a regulatory audit from the TGA (Therapeutic Goods Administration) in Australia. It mostly depends on the facility in which an ingredient is being made; soft chew facilities, for instance, don’t need to meet high global standards. But, because the framework for the pet and animal industry was set up after the human industry, some standards are actually higher, and there are times where you need more safety and efficacy data. Certain additives like palatants could be from a rendering facility … sometimes the bar is really high, and sometimes it’s not.”

In the absence of strong regulatory oversight, “the industry is responding with a strong push toward self-regulation,” said Aris. “Forward-thinking brands are adopting human-grade manufacturing standards such as GMP and ISO certifications, conducting third-party testing, and investing in clean-label formulation.”

PhytoGaia recently became a preferred supplier of the National Animal Supplement Council (NASC), and is the first palm-derived phytonutrient company to achieve this distinction. “PetGaia embodies this commitment. It offers a natural palm fruits extract that is extracted via a non-chemical, non-solvent, and non-biodiesel process. It not only meets clean-label expectations but also aligns with EU regulations (BaP/PaH requirements).”

“Made in USA” claims carry a lot of weight in this market, said Mark Walin, senior vice president of business development and marketing at BIO-CAT. It “not only carries the advantage of heightened FDA oversight, but also provides a shorter supply chain and higher assurance in guaranteeing delivery of critical ingredients. This is only compounded by the possibility of tariffs creating unpredictable cost structures, versus relying on trusted suppliers based in the United States,” he said.

With the right protocols in place, it shouldn’t be difficult to achieve parity in quality to human products, noted Renee Simovart, director of pet products at Standard Process Veterinary Formulas. “We continually raise that bar through ongoing improvements in our ingredient sourcing, our organic and regenerative farming practices, and our rigorous quality testing. Our scientists conduct up to 2,000 tests each week to ensure consistency, potency, and purity of our ingredients and products.”

Where brands can rely on human-grade ingredients, they should, noted Dinesh Patolia, global business development director at IFF, due to “fragmented regulatory guidelines and varying global standards … In markets with limited oversight, the responsibility falls on trusted brands to self-regulate and uphold rigorous standards.”

Authoritative Voices

The regulatory environment for pet nutraceuticals is patchy and inconsistent, said Ben Winters, company director at Aroma NZ. “There’s no DSHEA-like federal law, but the NASC, working with the FDA, has developed guidelines that essentially serve as a DSHEA-like framework for the pet space.”

Since its humble beginnings as a single issue-focused collective of 18 animal health companies, NASC has grown to include 300 member companies. Today, it operates as an auditor to verify the compliance of companies with FDA product quality standards and marketing practices, noted Robert Silver, DVM, expert in veterinary integrative medicine and chief veterinary officer at Real Mushrooms. “Real Mushrooms and its parent company, Nammex, have undergone the multiple-year rigorous approval process that the NASC demands.”

The Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) serves as another authority on manufacturing and marketing animal nutrition products. However, it’s focused primarily on dosage claims and recommendations, labels, toxicology, and safety studies, noted Kevin Owen, PhD, associate director of key accounts and global animal health lead at Lonza. “Manufacturers seeking ingredient definition approval from AAFCO for pet edible products such as treats, chews, and nutritional supplements must provide further scientific evidence,” he said. “Claims are all structure-function related and cannot be made unless signed off by the FDA or supported by AAFCO or NASC.”

Each year, AAFCO releases a manual of guidelines for labeling and the inclusion of various ingredients, but offers limited guidance in emerging areas like microbiome support compared to guidelines offered by NASC, said Donohue. For instance, the AAFCO manual has approved several spore-forming probiotics, along with about two dozen other strains, and makes no differentiation between pre-, pro-, or postbiotics. “So, we look to the NASC claims list and, following a clinical study, we see what best matches the results so that we ensure we avoid making drug-like claims, and stick to safer options like ‘supports oral care,’ or ‘supports optimal gum health.’”

“Brands have to navigate a confusing regulatory landscape, one that’s really only tricky if you’re ethical and want to follow the rules. Honest brands face an uphill battle because the barrier to entry for e-commerce is so low, which means you’re often competing with companies that cut corners or over-promise,” said Winters. “Sourcing high-quality ingredients, especially if they’re also in demand for human nutrition, can be tricky and expensive, and you have to balance that against cost pressures and consumer perceptions of newer or by-product ingredients … the gap between brands that are just trying to sell something and those that invest in real quality and clinical validation is only getting wider.”

Veterinary Recognition

Veterinary recommendations remain the number-one purchase driver of pet supplements. But differentiating a product to achieve widespread recognition from vets is no small feat.

“Pets can’t tell us what they need,” said Aris. “Brands that collaborate with veterinary professionals through advisory boards, clinical partnerships, or continuing education sponsorships signal that they value veterinary input and are committed to the highest standards.”

Much like the healthcare practitioner channel in the human nutrition market, some high-potency, premium supplements are sold exclusively through vets, and many of those brands often provide a consumer-facing product alongside the ultra-premium version, noted Colton Clason, senior marketing manager of pet nutrition at ADM. “That level of differentiation within a product line is key. When it comes to vets making recommendations and trusting a product or purchasing it wholesale, they’re paying close attention to scientific research.”

Organizations like the Veterinary Oral Health Council (VOHC) can also help to verify certain products.

More than 23 years ago, Standard Process started with a professional veterinary line of supplements sold through the practitioner channel. “When Standard Process launched the Spirited Paw consumer pet line, they were already well-known in the veterinary market,” Simovart said. “Providing great service, support, and partnership to veterinary clinics can earn trust within the veterinary community. Controlled channel sales and high-quality products will be trusted by veterinarians.” 

IFF Health Sciences’ evidence-based claims, technical dossiers, and education efforts are “designed to engage the veterinary community with credibility and clarity,” noted Patolia. “Veterinarian trust holds great influence, often even more so than physician recommendations for human health, because pet parents view vets as their animal’s primary advocates.”

“Veterinarians tend to be very loyal to a brand, and highly value the endorsement of their veterinary colleagues,” said Kamlet. “Once they choose a product, they are often loyal for the duration of their career. This can be a veterinarian-formulated product or one that a colleague’s veterinary office carries and recommends … Having at least one member of the sales staff with a veterinary background is a gamechanger. It’s almost impossible to get past the front desk of a veterinary office unless you ‘speak the language.’”

Clinical pet nutritionists and certified pet health coaches also represent a growing segment that is very knowledgeable about supplements, fresh feeding, and natural health, said Kamlet. “Supplement companies can find collaboration with these knowledgeable influencers very lucrative.”

Vet recommendations might not carry as much weight for less serious health concerns compared to traditional marketing, however, noted Winters. “Most of the growth in supplements is coming from marketing spend, not from what’s actually working. It’s just like what we see in human supplements.” 

Nutraceutical brands can earn attention from the veterinary community with species-specific products that have clear dosing instructions, well-documented safety profiles, and clean labels, said Aris. Additional support materials like brochures, dosing guides, webinars, and training sessions can also be valuable to vets.

Eric Anderson, managing director of NXT USA, said that data specific to the size of an animal is critical for credibility with vets. “If it’s a 20-pound dog, it’s a different dose from an 80-pound dog. You want to formulate a dose for the right size of an animal.”

He added, “Why do we expect human data to work for animals? It’s irresponsible to take something for humans and give it to a pet without knowing it’s effective and safe.”

Pet nutrition and veterinary services have been converging since the rise of telehealth visits for dogs and cats during the COVID-19 pandemic. Just like human telemedicine and nutrition services such as Hims/Hers, which offer both supplements and prescription medicine, brands like Allivet and Chewy formed a business model in which consumers could access pet supplements, access to vets, pet insurance, and prescription products all from one platform.