Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. Animal Diet Formulator works on all the latest web browsers. We recommend using Google Chrome or Safari. We also have an App that is available for IOS, MacOS, Android, and Windows. 

You can reset your password using this link
(https://animaldietformulator.com/reset-password).

AAFCO is the US commercial pet food standard. It assumes very high energy intake to result in adequate essential nutrient intake, and so may only be appropriate for highly active adults, as well growth and reproduction lifestages. Few maximum nutrient levels are included. Nutrient profile updates are infrequent.

FEDIAF is the European commercial pet food standard. It provides both active and less active adult nutrient profiles, as well as nutrient requirements based on metabolic body weight, which allows formulation of a complete and balanced diet to any caloric intake level. Early and late growth profiles are provided. More maximum nutrient levels are included as compared to AAFCO or NRC. Nutritional guidelines are typically updated annually, with nutrient profile updates occurring as indicated by the latest nutritional research.

NRC is the National Research Council, which has compiled nutritional research that set nutrient minimums, recommended allowances, and a few safe upper limits. It also assumes very high energy intake to result in adequate essential nutrient intake in its adult caloric nutrient profiles, but does provide nutrient levels on a metabolic body weight basis to allow for formulation of a complete and balanced diet to a customized caloric intake. It includes early and late growth nutrient profiles, as well as lactation/gestation nutrient profiles. It is updated infrequently.

We recommend using Google Chrome, Firefox and/or Safari, etc.

YES. You can choose ingredients in raw or cooked form, to reflect the state in which each ingredient will be served. Alternatively, you may formulate using all raw ingredients, then apply a cooking method to the entire recipe to account for the nutrient losses that occur during various cooking processes. 

Yes. The software calculates recommended calories (and amount of the recipe to feed) based on the entered desired weight and activity level or lifestage. For Professional and Commercial users, metabolic formulation capabilities allow for more specific caloric and weight loss or gain customization.

We recommend you start by watching our video tutorials and webinars to get an idea of how the program works. Additionally, you will find “Tips for Adding Ingredients” and other helpful guides in your User Dashboard and in the “Articles” section. Our guide book can also be a helpful resource for learning about specific features of our software.

Most recipes begin with the user entering the basic macronutrient ingredients they would like to include - eg. protein source, fat source and carb source.  Once these are entered into a recipe, using amounts to meet a basic overall percentage you need for your recipe, then proceed to balance using ingredients that resolve and complete your micronutrient requirements (vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, amino acids, etc), and adjust for palatability, sourcing availability, cost and other factors. 

Not unless you re-check the recipe with the ADF.

If you change an ingredient in a recipe while making the food, it is best to use the ADF to see what nutrients have changed with the new ingredient. You may need to change the recipe to maintain balance with the new meat ingredient. It is best to know if you have created a diet deficient or in excess of a nutrient with the change.  NOTE:  All meats do not have the same nutrient profile, and new meat or even meat with different fat content can create an unbalanced recipe.  The recipe you create is balanced WITH THE INGREDIENTS AS LISTED.

Yes, we do offer a 14-day trial for the Individual Version at $9.99. It is currently available if the monthly payment option is selected. You can cancel anytime during the 14-day trial period. If you do not cancel your subscription within the 14-day trial period you will automatically be subscribed to the Monthly payment term for Individual Version with a 1-Year commitment.

1-year commitment is applied to the Monthly payment terms of any Animal Diet Formulator version. This means, you are required to subscribe for at least 12 months. After a year of commitment, you are allowed to cancel anytime. Click here to learn more.

• For Monthly, should you cancel after subscribing, you’ll be charged a lump sum amount of 50% of your remaining one-year contract obligation, and your service will continue until the end of that month’s billing period. After your one-year contract obligation, you can cancel anytime and your service will continue until the end of that month’s billing period.

• For Upfront,  you can cancel anytime and your service will continue until the end of your contracted term.

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We get our nutritional data from multiple different sources. Most of our data comes from national nutrient databases such as USDA, NZ, AU, and FRIDA. We also get nutritional data from commercial companies who are willing to share their tested nutritional data with us. Each ingredient has a badge that explains where the nutritional data for that specific ingredient was sourced from. 

Yes! 

Our Export and Import functions allow for sharing recipes between ADF users. If you would like to share one of your recipes with another user, you can export your recipe and send the user the resulting .adf file. If you try to open this file on your computer, it will be a document full of random text. This is because the recipe needs to be imported into the software in order to generate the recipe. 

The Animal Diet Formulator is a software that helps formulate recipes. We do not sell any additional products, supplements, or food. We rely on subscription fees in order to continue adding new features, resources, and updates. In addition, there are many more tools available to users in ADF that allow greater individual customization as compared to Balance-IT.

No, only you can see those ingredients in your account. This is the same for the recipes that you create.

ADF works continuously with board-certified veterinary nutritionists to ensure the validity and functionality of our software so that nutritionists, veterinarians, commercial pet food producers, and pet parents can have confidence in their formulations.

Not at this time.

You may request that a new ingredient is added to the database by submitting a support ticket with the required information. 

If you are requesting the addition of a specific product,  please include the product name, a link to the product, and all available nutrient data. If the manufacturer only provides a macronutrient guaranteed analysis, we recommend contacting the company directly to request a Complete Nutritional Analysis or any additional nutrient data they are willing to share. Please attach any obtained information to your support ticket.

If you are requesting the addition of a general ingredient (for example, ground deer meat), it can only be added if reliable nutrient data is available. This typically means the ingredient must be supported by data from the USDA or another recognized national nutrient database. If no such data exists, we are unable to add the ingredient to the database. 

Most of our nutrient data comes from USDA. While they are a very helpful source, most of their ingredients do not list a value for Chloride, Iodine, and Taurine. This missing data can cause apparent deficiencies in a recipe, however, this can be misleading. A nutrient not being listed does not mean its value is zero. 

When looking at the ingredient list, you will notice “missing data” badges on ingredients that are missing nutrient data. In the ingredient details, we have listed what specific data is missing. When formulating with these ingredients, it is helpful to keep in mind which nutrients are missing if there are recipe deficiencies.

To add your own personal ingredient, follow these steps: Select 'ingredients' from the menu in the top left of your dashboard. You will see a “+ New” purple button above the ingredients list. Click on “+ New” which will open up the fields to start naming and adding the data you have for that new/personal ingredient.  Once you click “Save”, navigate to that ingredient in your personal ingredient list. Click on the three dots to the right of the ingredient, and select either “Nutrients per 100g” or “Nutrients per 1000 kcals” depending on how your ingredient data is listed. Make sure to click “Save” when you are done. 

Our database uses nutrient values from USDA and other international nutrition  databases, along with some commercial company supplied data, and we tag our ingredients with the data source for transparency to users. So our software, like other formulation tools, relies on the integrity of the food database or manufacturer data. Similarly, just like other formulation tools, our software is a means for using that supplied data to determine the nutrient content of a formulation rather than a policing agency of food database nutrient information.

However, we have many commercial users who utilize our software to formulate commercial pet food products. These users often test their individual ingredients, enter those as custom ingredients in their formulation account, then formulate recipes using their tested ingredients. The companies then test their final product. The survey feedback we have received is that their final products’ tested nutrient values fall within about 1% of the formulated values. This indicates a high degree of accuracy in our software calculations, as well as highlights the need for the user to select (or enter) an ingredient in the database that corresponds closely to the actual food or supplement ingredient they are putting into the bowl.

ADF software sources ingredients from USDA, New Zealand, Australia, Denmark, India, and other global food databases, and the ingredients are tagged with the data source for transparency. Ingredients are verified and updated on a rolling annual basis to ensure the database reflects current available nutrient data.

In addition, our database includes ADF Typicals^TM ingredients: these are ingredients for which multiple data points are available, which are then aggregated and analyzed to determine a representative nutrient profile. This approach better accounts for the natural variability in nutrient content that exists across common whole food ingredients such as meats, organs, vegetables, fruits, and more, where factors like sourcing, season, and growing conditions can meaningfully influence nutritional composition. Relying on a single entry from USDA or another food database may not capture this variability, and in some cases a single entry may represent an outlier rather than a true typical value for that ingredient. In addition, USDA does not supply complete nutrient data for dog and cat nutrition; chloride and taurine levels are almost never included, and other essential nutrients like iodine, choline, and even vitamins D and E and some amino acids are often missing. ADF Typicals^TM list sound representative values for all essential nutrients for dogs and cats.

ADF Typicals^TM are updated on a rolling basis as additional data points become available.

Our cooking method adjustments are based on the USDA Table of Nutrient Retention Factors (Release 6), which provides retention values for 16 vitamins and 8 minerals across approximately 290 foods, and the USDA Table of Cooking Yields for Meat and Poultry, which documents moisture and fat changes resulting from cooking across different meat and poultry cuts and preparation methods. Our team manually reviewed and analyzed the retention and yield data, aggregating them by ingredient category to account for variability in nutrient retention across food groups. Additionally we conducted our own cooking tests where we weighed ingredients before and after cooking to verify the yield percentages applied in our software are accurate.

Both retention and moisture loss due to cooking are accounted for in our calculations, ensuring that the final nutrient values in a formulation accurately reflect the prepared ingredient rather than its raw state.

Yes! We also make our software available to all board-certified ACVIM diplomates (in nutrition, or any of the disciplines) to collect their feedback for continuous refinement and improvement of all software functions.

ADF reports the Ca:P ratio of each recipe, as this is an explicitly listed requirement in both AAFCO and FEDIAF guidelines. The omega 6:omega 3 ratio for each recipe is also clearly listed.

For nutrients like copper and zinc, there is no established ratio requirement in AAFCO, FEDIAF, or NRC guidelines, as the relationship between these minerals is more complex and context-dependent than a single ratio can capture. Both copper and zinc values (as well as all essential nutrients, plus some additional nutrients) are reported individually, so users can formulate their recipes to meet the needs of the animal for which it is intended.

All individual nutrient values are reported in units/1000kcal (caloric), dry matter, and units/total recipe weight (as fed/as formulated), giving users the data they need to assess any nutrient relationships relevant to their formulation. 

ADF computes nutrient values of a given recipe using the data points provided. The math itself does not introduce variability, and the equations can be easily verified by any user with an understanding of the science of formulation by evaluating the outputs. A single margin of error figure is not a meaningful way to evaluate formulation software. Accuracy is dependent on the quality of data being used. Choosing ingredient listings that accurately reflect the products being used will determine how accurate the reported formulation values are. Users who test their own ingredients and enter those values as custom ingredients in their own account consistently find their final tested product falls within approximately 1% of the formulated values. This highlights the precision of the calculations when appropriate nutrient data is used.

Ingredient quality and nutrient content can vary meaningfully depending on where and how an ingredient is sourced or produced. ADF addresses this in several ways.

First, our database includes multiple listings for many ingredients, sourced from USDA, New Zealand, Australia, Denmark, India, and other global food databases, with each ingredient tagged by its country or data source for transparency to users. This allows users to select the listing that most closely reflects the actual ingredient they are using in their formulation.

Second, our ADF Typicals^TM ingredients aggregate multiple data points for a given ingredient to determine a representative nutrient profile, reducing the influence of outlier values and providing a more reliable baseline for ingredients where sourcing variability is a known factor. Where adequate data is available, ADF Typicals^TM differentiate between conventionally raised vs grass fed/pastured animal products.

Third, our database includes commercial and company-specific ingredient data where it has been shared with us directly or made publicly available by the manufacturers. Users who prefer not to share their proprietary ingredient data can instead enter custom ingredients into their own account, which remain private to that user.

No matter which data source is selected, it is the user’s responsibility to ensure that the ingredient entered in the formulation is a match for the ingredient that goes into the bowl.

ADF provides all users with documentation that outlines the responsibilities and limitations associated with using our software. This includes our End-User License Agreement (EULA), our Disclaimer, and the “Know your Ingredients” section within the App.

Our EULA outlines what users can do with recipes created in ADF depending on their subscription tier. Professional users may distribute recipes formulated for specific animals to their clientele, while Individual users are limited to personal use (for their own pets), and formulation that results in products for sale requires the Commercial version.

Our Disclaimer and “Know your Ingredients” section are clear that responsibility for healthy, appropriate, and balanced formulations belongs to the software user. The user controls ingredient selection, sourcing, preparation, and feeding, and is responsible for monitoring the animal’s response to any diet.

ADF is a formulation tool. It reports recipe nutrient data and flags deficiencies and excesses against established guidelines. What users do with that information, including distributing recipes to clients, falls under their own professional judgment and responsibilities.

ADF makes the framework for the science of formulation accessible to everyone, but - as with any formulation tool - the art of formulation lies with the user.