Methodology & Data Sources
Trust is the entire point of this tool. Here is exactly how we source and calculate every rating you see — including the formula, so you can reproduce any score on this site yourself.
Data Sources
Recall history is compiled from the FDA's published recall notices (Recalls, Market Withdrawals & Safety Alerts, including the Animal & Veterinary category), the openFDA enforcement API, and official company press releases. Every recall listed on a brand page links to its original source document so you can verify it yourself. We do not use anonymous user reports as a primary source.
Controversial Ingredients
Ingredients are flagged when they appear in peer-reviewed research, FDA investigations (e.g. grain-free & DCM), or are banned/restricted in comparable pet food markets. Severity reflects strength of evidence, not certainty of harm.
Review Cadence
Brand pages display the date we last checked FDA sources. Because the score decays with time, it is recalculated on every deploy rather than stored — a recall from 2012 counts for less today than it did the year it happened. New FDA recalls are summarized once a month in our free recall digest and on the 2026 recall list page.
What the badge means
The badge at the top of every brand page states what the recall record is, not how worried we think you should be. Each status is a statement of fact you can check against the recall timeline on the same page.
| Active Recall | At least one recall on record is not yet marked resolved. |
| Recall in Last 3 Years | All recalls resolved, but the most recent was within three years. |
| Past Recalls, All Resolved | All recalls resolved, and the most recent was more than three years ago. |
| No Recalls Found | No recall matching this brand was found in the sources listed above. |
| Not Yet Reviewed | We have not completed a source check for this brand. |
The risk score formula
The 0-100 score estimates current risk, not how bad a brand's worst moment ever was. It is computed from the recall records listed on the brand page:
- 1. Score each recall by severity.
High (e.g. FDA Class I — reasonable probability of serious harm) 85 Medium (e.g. Class II — temporary or reversible harm) 45 Low (e.g. labelling or packaging defects) 18 - 2. Discount it by age. A recall matters less the longer ago it happened and the longer it has stayed resolved. The multiplier never reaches zero, because a serious recall remains permanently informative about a manufacturer's quality controls.
Less than 1 year ago ×1.00 1 to 3 years ago ×0.75 3 to 6 years ago ×0.50 6 to 10 years ago ×0.30 More than 10 years ago ×0.20 - 3. Discount it again if it has been resolved. A recall the manufacturer has closed out is multiplied by ×0.70. An unresolved one is not discounted.
- 4. Combine multiple recalls. The most serious recall counts in full; every additional one counts at ×0.35. A repeated pattern is real signal, but four minor recalls should not out-score a single Class I event, and a long-established brand should not look worse simply for having existed longer.
- 5. Add flagged ingredients. High severity adds 8, medium 5, low 2. These are not time-decayed — an ingredient is either in the current formulation or it is not.
The total is capped at 100. Scores of 50 or above are shown in red, 25-49 in amber, and below 25 in green. These colours are a reading aid only; the factual status badge above is the actual claim we make.
Worked example
A brand with one high-severity recall from January 2019, since resolved, and no flagged ingredients: 85 × 0.30 (six to ten years ago) × 0.70 (resolved) = 17.85, rounded to 18. The same recall, had it happened last month and still been open, would score 85.
Limitations & Disclaimer
"No Recalls Found" is not proof a brand has never been recalled. It means no matching record appeared in the sources listed above on the date shown. Recall reporting is incomplete by nature, and smaller brands attract less regulatory attention than large ones — an absence of records is not the same as a clean bill of health.
PawSafe Checker is an independent informational resource and is not affiliated with any pet food manufacturer or regulatory agency. Risk scores are informational only and are not a substitute for veterinary advice. This site participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and other affiliate programs, and may earn a commission from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. Affiliate relationships never influence a brand's risk score or its recall status — recommended alternatives are selected because they have no recalls on record, not because of what they pay.