Truly human grade foods for cats and dogs
It's a little confusing to grasp, but here's the gist of it: The term Human-Grade refers to the quality of a finished pet food product. The term applies to a product that is legally suitable and approved for consumption by a person ("edible").
In contrast, the term Feed-Grade applies to a product that is not suitable for consumption by people and is only legally approved to be fed to animals ("inedible").
The FDA and USDA are responsible for regulating human foods and determining 'edible' status. In order to be allowed to produce human foods, a manufacturing facility undergoes far more frequent and detailed inspections by these and other agencies, compared with the inspection that a pet food plant undergoes.
Other terms like "Human Quality" or "Table Grade" are not legal definitions for human food or pet food. A number of manufacturers use these terms to imply that their manufacturing and finished products are better than they really are.
Only a facility that actually produces human foods, undergoes the inspections and approval necessary to have genuine human grade status and therefore, a pet food must be made in such a plant in order to be called ‘human grade’. Human food plants to not make kibble, the dry nuggets of food fed to many pets in the US.
And the term "Made with Human-grade Ingredients" doesn't mean that a finished product is actually, legally, human grade either. An ingredient (let’s say, a carrot) may start off being human edible but once that carrot has been shipped to and processed in a pet food plant, the 'human-grade' term can no longer legally be used. By definition, it is now feed-grade.
Beware also of pet food manufacturers that bandy about the ‘human grade’ term liberally on their web sites and other marketing materials - but don’t actually state it on the bag. This is a good indicator that the authorities have already picked them up for breaking the rules – or that they’re being a little liberal with the truth. Short-staffed and under-funded inspectors generally only have time to check labels and don’t usually get to the online and printed marketing pitch.
So what’s a pet mom to do? Home cooking is one option, though this can be time-consuming, and achieving nutritional balance is tricky. Raw diets are also a nutritious, healthy way to incorporate real human food into Fido’s menu.
When shopping the pet food aisle, look for a brand that is marked as being produced in a human food factory under FDA or USDA inspection. If in doubt, call your pet food manufacturer and ask them where their food is made.
Our food bridges the gap between raw, homemade and commercial, ‘kibbled’ pet foods. We start with fresh, raw ingredients and gently dehydrate them so that almost all the valuable vitamins, minerals and enzymes remain. Dehydration makes food completely safe even for pups, and senior pets with compromised immune systems.
Our finished products are nutritious, delicious, and healthy – some even call them gourmet!
Production occurs in a human food facility right here in California, alongside products such as breakfast cereals and beverage mixes for human consumption. Our facility is FDA inspected.
What’s more – human beings actually taste our products as part of our diligent Quality Control Process – and all raw ingredients are individually tastes by people during Research and Development of every new diet we make. Not a lot of pet food companies can say that!
Already know what you need? Click Here to visit our Quick Shop!
|
