Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to add extras like meat or other foods?
No, adding other ingredients to our diets (except Preference*) is not necessary and our foods are formulated to meet the AAFCO Nutrient Profiles. However, many of our customers love to augment their companion’s meals with home-made extras. We encourage this because we think pet’s deserve variety in their diets just like we humans do. Our foods have balanced calcium: phosphorus ratios to allow you to add in extras in moderate amounts without throwing these important minerals outside their optimum range of 1:1 to 2:1 parts Calcium: Phosphorus.
If I want to add extras, what do you recommend?
You can really add as many or as few additional ingredients as you wish, depending on time and convenience, if you are using our ‘complete and balanced’ diets. Popular add-ins are meat, raw meaty bones, cottage cheese, plain yogurt, veggies and fruits. We recommend 1/2 to 1 cup of extra ingredients for each dry-measured cup of the food. A more active dog would have these quantities added to the regular food serving. For a less active or senior pet, you can cut back the amount of Honest Kitchen food to allow for the additional ingredients being included, and prevent the calories from increasing too much.
*Using Preference, where additional protein is mandatory to create a balanced meal, we suggest a minimum 1 to 2 cups of extras, to be added to each dry-measured cup.
Must I add the water?
Yes! It is imperative that you re-hydrate these foods before serving. The food swells when it comes in contact with moisture so it’s important that this takes place in the food bowl before consumption, and not in your pet’s tummy. When the food is hydrated with water, it will not swell further after eating, which is why our food is so great for breeds who are prone to bloat.
What does the term ‘human-grade’ mean?
It’s a little confusing to grasp but here’s the gist of it: Human-grade refers to the quality of a finished product. The term refers to a product that is legally suitable for consumption by human being (“edible”). The term feed grade refers to a product that is not suitable for consumption by people and is only to be fed to animals (“inedible”). The FDA and USDA are responsible for regulating human foods and determining ‘edible’ status. Our plant actually makes foods for human consumption and is regulated and inspected by the FDA. The Honest Kitchen is the only manufacturer in the US to have written permission from the FDA to use the term ‘human-grade” on its product labels.
Other terms like “Human Quality” or “Table Grade” are not legal definitions for human food or pet food. And the term “Made with Human-grade Ingredients” doesn’t mean that a finished product is actually, legally, human-grade. Ingredients may start off with ‘human-grade’ status but once an ingredient has been shipped to and processed in a pet food plant, the ‘human-grade’ term can no longer legally be used.
Various ingredients used in other pet foods are not fit for human consumption at all, and may include by-products, chemicals, fillers and parts from ‘4D’ meats (animals which are dying, diseased, disabled or deceased).
What do The Honest Kitchen diets look like?
All of the diets have a texture resembling muesli or ‘loose mixes’ before hydration, with some colorful pieces of recognizable fruits, veggies, and grains (for Verve & Keen). All diets have a very pleasant aroma. After hydration, the foods look more like oatmeal or stew.
Do the Honest Kitchen diets contain bone?
The Honest Kitchen diets do not contain any bone. Bones are not in high demand for human foods, so they are not a readily available ingredient for our diets either. Our meats are 100% pure, USDA muscle meats only. Raw Meaty Bones may be mixed in with our foods if desired.
Will adding in meats and raw bones affect the Calcium: Phosphorus ratio in my pet’s diet?
The Calcium: phosphorous ratio in our foods is balanced with the vitamin premix, containing human-grade tri-calcium phosphate, and is set at a ratio that allows for additional meat and raw bones to be mixed in without throwing the ratio outside its optimal limits. As a general guideline, we recommend about 1/2 cup of meat or RAW meaty bones (such as chicken backs/ or necks) to 1 cup of dry-measured Honest Kitchen diet. We say this a lot – please, NEVER FEED COOKED BONE!!
How do I measure out 1 cup of food and how much fresh food will this make?
Our label feeding recommendations are based on the Dry-Measured amount. One cup (8 oz by volume or 4 oz by DRY weight). 1 Cup of dehydrated food will make approximately 1 lb (or a little over two cups) of fresh food once re-hydrated. A 10 lb box will make about 43 lbs of re-hydrated food.
How long will a box last?
This depends on the size of your dog. A 30 lbs dog will eat about 1 dry-measured cup per day of our food. This will make about 1 lb of fresh food. A 10 lbs box hold 43 dry-measured cups so it will last a 30 lbs dog about 6 weeks.
What is the shelf life on The Honest Kitchen Diets?
All of The Honest Kitchen foods and treats have about 12 months’ shelf life prior to hydration. Once re-hydrated, any leftovers should be treated like raw food and refrigerated or discarded. Our herbal supplements have a 24 month shelf life depending on ambient temperature and humidity.
What’s the difference between dehydration and freeze drying?
Dehydration and freeze drying are somewhat similar, in that they both remove moisture from foods. Freeze drying usually involves pre-cooking (in the case of meats), then freezing the ingredients, followed by a rapid drying process under vacuum. Dehydration or ‘air drying’ is a slower, slightly gentler process that can take place at different temperatures (above 120F for meats and below 104F for other ingredients) and takes varying amounts of time depending on the ingredient. Generally freeze drying results in a much longer shelf life since more of the moisture is removed, but most freeze dried foods are much more costly than dehydrated foods, which generally only have a 1 year shelf life.
What about ingredient origin and QC?
Our company purchases raw ingredients from several different suppliers, to insure a safe, reliable supply and to avoid shortages during drought or other situations that affect harvests.
Our meats are hormone and antibiotic free, fruits and vegetables are certified non-GMO and our grains are 100% Organic. All ingredients are tested for Standard Plate Count, Yeast & Mold, Coliform, E Coli and Salmonella. A Certificate of Analysis is issued for each & every lot. All ingredients purchased by The Honest Kitchen are the same products that are used in a variety of human foods including soups and stews. As an additional assurance, our finished products are routinely tested to ensure they are free of contaminants such as Melamine and heavy metals like Lead, Arsenic and Mercury.
As we continue to grow, we have a strong focus on increasing the number of organic ingredients in our foods, and also transitioning to 100% certified humanely raised meats. We will accomplish these goals as availability improves and costs become more affordable.
Which food do I choose for my pet?
There are lots of factors to consider. If you just can’t decide, we welcome you to call us for a complimentary consultation. 1-866-437-9729.
How do I know if my pet will like this food?
If you’re not sure, then we can only speculate. Most pets adore it but some don’t. If you have a picky pooch or fussy cat, may we suggest our mini-samples or travel size packets so you can try a smaller quantity before purchasing a full size box.
What’s your return policy?
We stand behind our products 100%. If this is your first time ordering the food we recommend a travel size or mini packet as a taste-test. If your pet has been eating the food for some time and starts to show less enjoyment at meal time, it may be a sign of boredom, in which case you can change to another recipe from our line or vary the add-ins that you add in. If you’re concerned, then please call us so we can assist you and if necessary, arrange an exchange or refund.
How much does this food cost?
Force, our most popular diet, costs about $1.67 per lb on a re-hydrated basis. This is a little more than some kibbles and less than most frozen raw diets, which can cost up to $3 or $4 per lb.
Where is your accent from?
Our founders are both from the UK and despite having been here in the States for over a decade, they still can’t do an American Accent.
How do I make this crazy food!?
It’s actually very simple! If you can turn on a tap you can probably do it! Just measure out the appropriate quantity of dry food based on your pet’s weight. Then add just over an equal amount of warm water and stir. Wait 5 minutes and it’s ready to serve.
Do I need to add vitamin supplements?
No, this is not necessary, since our foods contain a human-grade vitamin mineral premix. Other supplements such as enzymes and herbs can be added according to your pet’s individual needs.
Where did your company name originate from?
The ‘Honest’ part is a reference to the conventional pet food industry which isn’t always as honest as its marketing would have you believe. The ‘Kitchen’ part emphasizes the truly human-grade nature of our products, and the fact that we’re a family owned company – though the commercial production of our recipes actually takes place in a human food manufacturing plant and not actually in our Kitchen – though we have on occasion been tempted to try making it at home, on those days when we’re all sold out and lots of hungry pups are calling on the phone!
Are you on the stock markets and can I buy shares?
No, we’re privately owned and not currently available on the stock market. Sorry!
My pet has urinary tract problems. What is the pH of The Honest Kitchen’s pet foods?
The Honest Kitchen’s pet foods have a pH of 5.5 to 6.4 depending on the particular diet. The resultant output urine will have a pH of between 6.1 to 6.6 for a normal healthy pet consuming our foods. When checking or monitoring urinary pH it’s important to test promptly; urine that has been left in a container for a period of time prior to testing will gradually acquire a higher and higher pH as time goes on, which can skew the result. Our foods are not designed to artificially alter urinary pH like some prescription diets. Rather, they are formulated to be naturally slightly acidic for optimum health in a normal animal. If you pet suffers from urinary tract problem, a high moisture diet like The Honest Kitchen can be excellent for helping to keep the urinary tract and kidneys well hydrated and ‘flushed out’ to reduce the likelihood of problems occurring, compared with very dry, highly-processed diets which can cause an animal to be chronically dehydrated all the time. You can learn more by reading the article here.
Your food sounds great – can I feed it to my husband?
Although our foods are all guaranteed human edible, we are not actually licensed to sell them for consumption by people. We do taste all our products ourselves as part of our QC process but as the box says, they are nutritionally balanced to be fed to pets!
What about feeding them to chickens and other birds, ferrets or other small pets?
We haven’t conducted any research studies into the suitability of our foods for other species. We do have customers who feed our diets to pets other than dogs and cats but we just don’t have any scientific data on this.
How can I really show my pet how much I love him?
We recommend a well rounded combination of tickles, exercise, quiet conversation and good wholesome food. Clothing, glitzy collars and painted toenails are not the most obvious expressions of love for an animal (in our humble opinion).
How do I find a holistic vet?
We recommend the comprehensive directory at www.ahvma.org
What can you tell me about The Honest Kitchen’s manufacturing?
Our company is privately owned and our proprietary manufacturing process takes place in a human food producing, FDA inspected facility here in in the United States, in Illinois and California. The facility names are confidential due to privacy for the other high-end human foods that are also made there, as well as for homeland security. Our California facility has however been toured by Nancy Kerns, editor of the Whole Dog Journal and Sabine Contreras of the Dog Food Project. No other pet products are made in the facilities that make The Honest Kitchen’s products. Humans also taste our finished products as part of our normal QC process at the manufacturing plant and we also taste all raw ingredients during R & D stages, too.
How do I get in touch with you Doggone People?!
Please visit the Contact Us link at the top of every page. We try our best to answer the phone on the first ring and respond to every email within two business days! Sometimes it takes a tiny bit longer but that’s what we strive for and we’d love you to let us know how we did!
