Our Standard
The Truva Standard
Five checks. Pass or fail. Every product on this shelf passed all five, and every product page shows you how. If something did not pass, it is not here.
1. Named animal protein first
The first ingredient has to be an animal, and it has to have a name. Chicken, beef, salmon, lamb. Not "meat", not "poultry", not "animal by-product". A generic term gives the maker room to change the protein from batch to batch, and you would never know. A bag that leads with a vague protein, or with a grain or legume, does not pass.
2. Honest about what it is
A meal has to be complete and balanced per AAFCO for the life stage printed on the bag. A treat, topper, or supplement has to say so plainly. We reject anything that reads like a meal but carries an "intermittent or supplemental feeding only" statement in small type. You should never have to hunt for what a product is actually for.
3. Nothing we cannot defend
No BHA, BHT, or ethoxyquin. No artificial colors. No unnamed "animal fat". If an ingredient is on the panel, we should be able to tell you what it is and why it is there. If we cannot, the product does not pass. Natural preservatives like mixed tocopherols and rosemary extract are fine.
4. Recall record checked
Before a brand goes on the shelf, we read its FDA recall record, all of it. A recall alone does not fail a brand. A pattern does, and so does a recall the brand never explained. We check again every year, because formulas and facilities change quietly.
5. True value
We price a product against what the dog gets: protein, fat, and named ingredients per dollar, not per bag. A high price is not a red flag. A high price for a bag built on cheap filler is. Products that cost more than the panel justifies do not pass, no matter how the front of the bag looks.
What true value means
Two bags can cost $60. One leads with chicken and puts more named protein in every cup. The other is 40% peas. Same price, not the same value. We do the math per named ingredient so you can compare what actually ends up in the bowl. That is the whole point of the Standard.
What we do not do
- No paid placements. No brand pays to be here, and no brand can. Ever.
- No letter grades. We do not rank brands or hand out scores. A product either passes the Standard or it is not on the shelf.
- No medical promises. We are not veterinarians and we do not make claims about health conditions. We tell you what is in a product and why it passed. Your vet knows your dog.