How PawScore works
You photograph a pet food label. We extract the ingredient list and guaranteed analysis verbatim, and a fixed scoring rubric grades it. The same label always gets the same score. AI reads the label. Deterministic rules do the scoring.
The three pillars
Every complete diet is graded on three pillars that add up to 100 points.
- Ingredient Quality50 points
- Nutritional Adequacy30 points
- Transparency and Safety20 points
Ingredient Quality (50 points)
We grade the ingredient list as printed on the label, in order. Named animal proteins like chicken, deboned salmon, or chicken meal earn full credit, especially in the first positions. Unnamed sources like meat meal, animal by-product meal, or animal digest take heavy penalties because you cannot know what species or quality they contain. Artificial preservatives such as BHA, BHT, TBHQ, and ethoxyquin each carry major penalties, citing FDA and EU regulatory positions. Artificial colors like Red 40 are penalized because they serve no nutritional purpose for your pet. Added sweeteners and propylene glycol are penalized, and propylene glycol in cat food is flagged as prohibited by the FDA. We also detect filler stacking, meaning several low-value carbohydrate fillers stacked in the first five ingredients, and ingredient splitting, where one base ingredient appears under multiple names to push meat up the list. Beneficial inclusions like named organ meats, taurine, and natural preservatives such as mixed tocopherols earn positive credit, capped so that bonuses cannot mask serious problems.
Nutritional Adequacy (30 points)
Complete diets are checked for an AAFCO nutritional adequacy statement matching the declared life stage. A food labeled for intermittent or supplemental feeding only but sold as everyday food takes a heavy penalty. From the guaranteed analysis we estimate carbohydrate content as 100 minus protein, fat, moisture, fiber, and ash, and we hold cat food to a stricter carbohydrate standard than dog food because cats are obligate carnivores. Protein and fat are checked against healthy ranges for the declared life stage. Treats skip this pillar entirely. They are complements, not complete nutrition, so grading them on daily adequacy would be unfair, and their total score is rescaled from the remaining two pillars.
Transparency and Safety (20 points)
This pillar grades how honestly the label communicates. Unnamed animal ingredients and vague terms cap this score, because a label that will not say which animal is in the food is withholding the most basic fact an owner needs. Vague flavoring terms like natural flavor or artificial flavor reduce the score, with artificial flavor penalized harder. Marketing claims contradicted by the label itself, like a banner that says real chicken when chicken sits far down the ingredient list, are flagged. Every penalty and bonus on this page links to a published source, and no brand can pay to change a score. Recall alerts are coming soon: we are building checks against FDA and CFIA recall databases so a product's recall history can inform its safety picture.
Score bands
Excellent
80-100
Good
60-79
Mediocre
40-59
Avoid
0-39
Special cases
Treats. Treats are scored on Ingredient Quality and Transparency only, then rescaled, because they are complements rather than complete nutrition. We do not penalize a biscuit for not meeting AAFCO adequacy.
Therapeutic and prescription diets. These get a badge instead of a grade. They belong to a conversation with your veterinarian, not to a public scoring rubric.
Variety packs. Variety packs are scored per recipe. When we detect more than one ingredient panel, we ask you to pick the recipe you want graded.
Our rules
- Every flagged ingredient cites a published source.
- No brand pays to influence a score, ever.
- Scores update when our rubric improves, and past results update with them so the same label never carries two different grades.
A note on what this is
PawScore is educational information, not veterinary advice. A grade summarizes what is printed on a label. It cannot account for your pet's medical history, allergies a label does not list, or the advice of a professional who knows your animal. Consult your veterinarian about your pet's diet.