Smalls: Facts, Recalls & Verified Foods
Smalls is made by Smalls, founded 2017 — it scores green on 0 of 5 WSAVA-aligned criteria we track (1 red, 4 undisclosed), no FDA recalls on record, and 0 of the 10 Smalls foods we've verified carry an AAFCO feeding-trial statement.
· 10 Smalls 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.
0 of 5 criteria confirmed yes · 1 confirmed no · 4 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.
Smalls claims its formulations were 'developed by a PhD in animal nutrition,' but that person is unnamed and there is no explicit statement they are full-time staff (could be a consultant). The named individual, Dr. Sarah Mitten, is described only as a veterinary advisor with no ACVN/ECVCN board certification or PhD credential attributed.
source & quote
view source →
Smalls uses third-party USDA-regulated kitchens rather than owning its own plant. cats.com references a USDA kitchen in Chicago.
source & quote
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No feeding-trial AAFCO statement found on the 10 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.
Batch-testing claims exist only in third-party reviews. Web search quota exhausted.
PubMed lists no animal or pet paper with Smalls in an author address. Not proof no research exists — only that none is indexed under that company name.
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 Smalls
Ownership and history, each sourced independently — private-label and co-packed brands often hide the actual manufacturer behind the name on the bag.
Founded
2017
source
view source →
The cost
What Smalls costs, against everything else we have priced
None of the 10 Smalls foods we have verified is currently price-matched to a live retail listing, so we will not state a cost per 1,000 kcal for this brand. The composition figures below are verified regardless.
What Smalls actually puts in its food
The ingredients this brand reaches for most across its 10 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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Taurine (supplemental)
In 10 of 10 Smalls foods (100%).
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Mixed tocopherols (natural vitamin E)
In 2 of 10 Smalls foods (20%).
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. Smalls recall page →
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 Smalls's labels
Computed directly from the official-label data we've extracted for this brand — never estimated.
Foods verified
10
0 dog · 10 cat
Feeding-trial validated
0
of 10 (0%)
Formulated to meet
0
AAFCO paper calculation
Label transparency
37%
avg. fields disclosed
The foods
Foods from Smalls we've verified
Every one links to its own Verified Label — guaranteed analysis, AAFCO statement, and (where priced) cost per day.