When selling dog treats from your home, pet shop, retail store, veterinary practice or even cafes and pubs, there can be some concern over whether you are adhering to food trading standards.

All suppliers of dog treats should be compliant with trading standards within the UK. When you sell dog treats from your store, this means you have no concerns over the quality of the food and manufacturing and can safely supply dog treats to your customers.

In this article:

1. Do dog treat retailers need to adhere to trading standards?
2. Who regulates dog treats in the UK?
3. Retailer vs manufacturer responsibilities
4. Packaging requirements for dog treats
5. Choosing a compliant dog treat supplier
6. FAQs

Do dog treat retailers need to adhere to trading standards?

Yes, all businesses in the UK selling dog treats, must supply to trading standards. This means whether you manufacture the food yourself or order from a supplier, the food should meet trading standards set out by legal bodies or your local council.

Dog treats are classed as animal feed, meaning there is a legal responsibility under animal feed regulations to ensure products are safe and correctly labelled. For many retailers, this often means:

• Keeping products in original packaging
• Purchasing from reputable suppliers
• Identify where products are sourced from
• Avoid misleading or inaccurate packaging

By doing this, store owners make sure all products they purchase are compliant with trading standards, preventing any issues with selling dog treats.

Who regulates dog treats in the UK?

As a supplier of dog treats, regulation is often enforced by your local council. However, there are 3 potential regulators of dog treats in the UK, including:

• Local Trading Standards
• Animal & Plant Health (APHA)
• Food Standards Agency (FSA)

Dog treats are regulated under UK animal feed legislation, which is enforced by Local Authority Trading Standards, usually at council or county level depending on where your business is based. Likewise, your suppliers and manufacturers will work with their local authority trading standards to ensure compliance.

In more serious or escalated cases, central government bodies (such as DEFRA or the Food Standards Agency) may become involved.

Retailer vs manufacturer responsibilities

Understanding the difference between retailer and manufacturer responsibilities is key for shop owners selling dog treats. Retailer responsibilities often comes down to advertising, ensuring any stock that has been purchased is not falsely advertised.

Retailer responsibilities:

• Only selling dog treats that appear legally compliant
• Keeping packaging and labels intact
• Not making additional or misleading claims about the product
• Storing products appropriately
• Being able to identify their supplier if trading standards request this

Manufacturer responsibilities:

• Producing safe animal feed products
• Ensuring recipes and ingredients comply with legislation
• Creating accurate and compliant product labels
• Assigning batch for traceability
• Source compliant products and ingredients
• Working with their local trading standards authority

Retailers are not expected to analyse ingredients but simply be diligent with the suppliers you select.

Packaging requirements for dog treats

Specific labelling for dog treats is a legal requirement as it’s classed as animal feed. Retailers must be aware of this and ensure stock they have has compliant and accurate packaging. This typically includes:

• Product name and description
• Analytical constituents
• Ingredient list
• Feeding instructions
• Weight
• BBE date
• Batch numbers
• Supplier business name and address

Keeping treats in the existing packaging is the best option for suppliers to remain compliant. If you have to make any coverings, repackaging or changes to labelling, you must ensure the new packaging is fully compliant.

Choosing a compliant dog treat supplier

For retailers, choosing reputable and compliant suppliers is the best way to ensure you adhere to all trading standards. When choosing a dog treat supplier, consider:

• Is the supplier UK based?
• Are products produced under animal feed regulation?
• Are treats clearly labelled and packaged?
• Can the supplier ensure they are compliant with trading standards?

Here at T.Forrest, all dog treats we supply across the UK are compliant with trading standards. We work with the local authority to ensure compliance, whilst using suitable packaging to make it easy for retailer to stock and sell our treats.

For more information, contact our team. For free next day delivery, sign up for a trade account today and order wholesale dog treats with trade discounts and a minimum order quantity of £100 + VAT.

FAQs

Are dog treats legally considered food?

Dog treats are legally classified as animal feed, not human food. This is why animal feed regulations apply.

Can Trading Standards inspect my pet shop?

Yes. Trading Standards can inspect retail premises, usually as part of routine checks or in response to a complaint.

Am I responsible if a supplier’s packaging is incorrect?

Retailers can be held responsible for selling non-compliant products. This is why choosing reputable suppliers and keeping packaging intact is important.

Do dog treats need ingredients and feeding instructions?

In most cases, yes. Required labelling depends on the product type, but clear information is expected for animal feed products.

What should I do if Trading Standards contact me?

Remain cooperative, provide supplier details if requested, and contact your supplier for support. Most issues are resolved through clarification rather than enforcement.