Getting to Know the SNQ Pet Food Quality Mark

Have you heard of SNQ, Taiwan's national quality mark for pet food? What makes it special?

SNQ stands for Symbol of National Quality — and also for Safety and Quality. It places particular weight on scientific evidence and is Asia's first certification scheme to evaluate pet health foods, with the aim of raising food-safety standards for companion animals.

So how is a pet food judged?

SNQ audits four dimensions: quality control, safety and hygiene, product features and product substance. To qualify we must pass at least six categories of safety testing — aflatoxin, microbes, heavy metals, pesticides, preservatives and antioxidants, and melamine — and provide scientific literature supporting the formula, proof of ingredient origin, and HACCP and ISO certification for the processing plant.

Image source: SNQ National Quality Mark — Institute for Biotechnology and Medicine Industry

The review is then carried out by the regulators (Council of Agriculture, Ministry of Science and Technology) and a panel of experts — professors of animal science at national universities and veterinarians — so that owners choosing pet nutrition products can look for the SNQ mark, buy with confidence, and give their pets food produced to near human-grade standards.

SNQ is reviewed annually and valid for one year. A formal, systematic review like this pushes Taiwan's pet-food industry to keep improving and shows what locally made pet food is capable of.

Sources:

(1) SNQ National Quality Mark — Institute for Biotechnology and Medicine Industry. (2) "SNQ pet food certification announced — safer meals for fur kids", Health News (healthnews.com.tw).