Iams: Facts, Recalls & Verified Foods
Iams is made by Mars, Incorporated (Mars Petcare), founded 1946 — it scores green on 2 of 5 WSAVA-aligned criteria we track (0 red, 3 undisclosed), 8 FDA recalls on record, and 0 of the 70 Iams foods we've verified carry an AAFCO feeding-trial statement.
· 70 Iams food labels checked
The scorecard
WSAVA-aligned criteria
The World Small Animal Veterinary Association's nutrition guidelines suggest questions to ask any pet food maker before you buy. Here are this brand's answers, each with its source, or marked undisclosed when we could not confirm one.
2 of 5 criteria confirmed yes · 0 confirmed no · 3 undisclosed. Undisclosed is common, especially for smaller brands — it means we couldn't confirm an answer from a public source, not that the answer is unfavorable.
We could not confirm this from a public source.
source
Iams is produced at Mars Petcare's owned/operated Mattoon, Illinois plant.
source & quote
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No feeding-trial AAFCO statement found on the 70 labels we’ve verified for this brand, and no company-wide claim was found either. Most pet foods are only "formulated to meet" AAFCO profiles (a paper calculation) rather than fed to real animals in trials — this is common, not necessarily a red flag.
no QC process described.
666 PubMed papers (animal/pet filtered) list Waltham Petcare Science Institute (Mars Petcare) in an author address; we checked 200 and 200 really name the company. A floor, not a total.
source
These five checks come from WSAVA's guidelines on selecting pet foods — not our own opinion score. WSAVA does not approve or list brands. See how all 50 brands we track answer WSAVA's questions → · Our methodology →
The company
Who makes Iams
Ownership and history, each sourced independently — private-label and co-packed brands often hide the actual manufacturer behind the name on the bag.
Parent company
Mars, Incorporated (Mars Petcare)
source
view source →
Founded
1946
source
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Headquarters
Dayton, Ohio, U.S. (brand origin)
source
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The cost
What Iams costs, against everything else we have priced
The median Iams dry food we have priced works out at $1.16 per 1,000 kcal, against $2.17 for the median dry food we have priced — so it sits about 1.9x below the market. Cost per 1,000 kcal is the only basis that survives different bag sizes and moisture levels; per pound this comparison would mean nothing. On composition the gap is usually smaller than the price gap implies: 28.9% dry-matter protein against a median of 32.2%.
Iams foods by cost per 1,000 kcal
What Iams actually puts in its food
The ingredients this brand reaches for most across its 70 verified foods, counted once per recipe. Each links to what the ingredient is, what the evidence says, and how common it is industry-wide.
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By-Product Meal (Meat / Poultry By-Product Meal)
In 41 of 70 Iams foods (59%).
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Beet Pulp
In 37 of 70 Iams foods (53%).
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Mixed tocopherols (natural vitamin E)
In 33 of 70 Iams foods (47%).
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Prebiotics (chicory root / inulin, FOS)
In 33 of 70 Iams foods (47%).
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Rosemary extract
In 33 of 70 Iams foods (47%).
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Flaxseed (ALA omega-3)
In 26 of 70 Iams foods (37%).
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Brewers Rice
In 12 of 70 Iams foods (17%).
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Xanthan Gum
In 11 of 70 Iams foods (16%).
The safety record
FDA recall history
From the FDA's Animal & Veterinary recall list, last checked 2026-10-19, plus older FDA notices we added by hand. Iams recall page →
Iams dry dog foods and dry cat foods, specific lots (also Eukanuba)
Potential Salmonella contamination
Iams ProActive Health Smart Puppy dry dog food, one production lot
Aflatoxin above the acceptable limit
Iams Indoor Weight Control with Hairball Care dry cat food, 6.8 lb bag, one code date
Potential Salmonella contamination
Iams Proactive Health Indoor Weight & Hairball Care dry cat food, small number of bags in Loveland, Colorado
Potential Salmonella contamination
Expanded recall: Iams Veterinary dry formulas (all dry sizes) and some specialized Eukanuba dry dog and cat foods
Potential Salmonella contamination
Iams Veterinary Formulas Feline Renal dry cat food, 5.5 lb, two lots
Potential Salmonella contamination
Iams canned cat food, specific lots
Low levels of thiamine (vitamin B1)
Iams wet dog food pouches and cans (Select Bites, Chunky, Small Bites) and wet cat food cans (Slices and Flakes), made by Menu Foods, part of the 2007 melamine recall
Possible melamine contamination; kidney failure reports
The FDA's online recall list is complete for recent years but leaves out many notices from before about 2023. We add older FDA recall notices by hand when we find them.
The labels
What we've verified from Iams's labels
Computed directly from the official-label data we've extracted for this brand — never estimated.
Foods verified
70
43 dog · 27 cat
Feeding-trial validated
0
of 70 (0%)
Formulated to meet
0
AAFCO paper calculation
Label transparency
40%
avg. fields disclosed
The foods
Foods from Iams we've verified
Every one links to its own Verified Label — guaranteed analysis, AAFCO statement, and (where priced) cost per day.