With all the pet food scares out there, it can be daunting choosing a nutritious meal plan for your pet. What makes the task even more daunting are the confusing food labels on pet food. The steps below will help you make sense of pet food labels.

Step 1: Read the easy stuff first. The easiest info to find is the brand name of the food and who the food was intended for (puppies, mature adults, etc.) Make sure you see the purpose clearly labeled, such as "to maintain healthy weight" etc.

Step 2: Where's the beef? Know that if the label on the product is touting that it's beef, 95% of it must be meat. If it's a combination of meats (such as pork and chicken), the combination must total 95% of the product.

Step 3: On the other hand, know that if the label has a word like dinner, meal, nuggets, formula or some other qualifying word, the amount of meat is over 25% but less than 95%.

Step 4: Four-letter word. If the label says "with" beef or chicken for example, it only has to have 3% of meat. Likewise, if the word byproduct is listed on the packaging, it can mean any part of the animal that it is a byproduct of. Read those words again, it can mean any part of the animal.

Step 5: List of ingredients. There will most likely be a very long list of ingredients on the food packaging. It's ideal to have meat be the first ingredient because the order of the list of ingredients is important; the most prevalent food is listed first, followed by the other ingredients in order by weight.

Step 6: Recommendations by the food company. Examine the serving size and feeding instructions listed on the packaging. Both of these might vary based on the animal's weight and this would be the place to receive those instructions.

Step 7: Weigh the costs. Although one bag of food might appear to be less expensive than another, be sure to find the weight of the bag, which should be clearly listed, in order to evaluate the cost of the food. Examine the cost of the food based on cost per ounces and that will tell you which bag of food is the most cost effective. (Remember that it's not a good idea to switch your pet's food on a weekly basis based on sales at the store.)