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All pet parents want the best for their fur kids, especially when it comes to choosing a dog food. Unfortunately, clever — and misleading — marketing often masks inferior ingredients, unreliable safety standards, and fewer health benefits. How is a pet parent to cut through all the marketing noise and determine what their dog needs? One pet food category that has become increasingly more popular is human-grade, fresh dog food. Today we do a deep dive into what that term means and explore whether making the switch from feed-grade, dry dog food can really benefit dogs’ wellness. Simply put, is human grade dog food worth it?
What Is Human-Grade Dog Food?
Human grade dog food means the food is of the same quality and safety as the food humans eat. More specifically, human-grade ingredients must be free from disease, spoilage, rot and infestation. A final dog food product that is human-grade means that it is also manufactured, packaged, and stored in accordance with quality and safety controls fit for human consumption. In other words, a human grade dog food product can’t just have human-grade ingredients. It must be made in a USDA human-grade facility.
For example, a dog food might be “made with human-grade ingredients,” but then cooked, handled and stored in non-USDA kitchens and facilities. We believe this is still a better choice than kibble products that are made with non-human-grade ingredients, which are much less transparent and reliable. But it’s important to note the difference between a final human-grade pet food product and a dog food that is simply made with human-grade ingredients.
Human-grade does not necessarily mean that the food is a complete and balanced meal for dogs. If the diet is intended to be a full meal plan, rather than just a topper, then it should also be formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles for the appropriate life stage to ensure that all nutritional dog needs are being appropriately met.
What Does Feed-Grade Mean?
Feed-Grade, which is what the lions share of commercial dog food is made from, refers to food that is inedible for human consumption. In other words, all feed-grade ingredients, including the highest quality, has either failed USDA human food inspection or includes animal parts that humans typically do not eat, such as the organs, carcasses, and even heads, hooves and feathers.
Putting these two terms together, when ingredients fail USDA inspection — because the material is not free from disease, spoilage, rot and infestation, and thus is inedible for human consumption — those ingredients are removed from the human grade supply chain go to the feed-grade supply chain.
The Truth About Rendering Feed-Grade Ingredients
The Food and Drug Administration FDA regulates what ingredients are safe for human and animal consumption. While feed-grade food must be safe for animal consumption, what constitutes safe is not the quality of the ingredients themselves. Rather, what can be very low-quality ingredients are “rendered” at extremely high temperatures in order to remove the moisture and fat, as well as to sanitize bacteria and toxic waste. The result is what is called “meal” on ingredient labels.
High-quality meals identify the animal source, such as beef, poultry or fish — but those animals either failed USDA human food inspection or comprise the by-product parts that humans do not eat. Otherwise they would be used for human-grade consumption. With respect to animal ingredients that fail USDA inspection, this includes what is referred to as the “4 Ds,” which are dead, dying, diseased or disabled animals. Low-quality meals do not identify the specific animal source and will be listed generically as “meat meal” or “animal meal.” This can refer to basically anything, including roadkill, rats, dogs from animal shelters, and supermarket waste — even the plastic-wrap packaging.
The realities of rendering facilities also demonstrate the stark contrast between feed-grade and human-grade raw ingredients and food production. Rendering is the process of cooking raw animal material to remove the moisture and fat. The cooking process produces a fat of yellow grease that rises to the top and is skimmed off. The cooked meat and bone are sent to a press, which squeezes out the remaining moisture and pulverizes the product into a powder — which is the “meal.” Once finished, all that is left is yellow grease and meal. This is why even the most premium dry kibbles always contain two ingredients: meal and animal fat. Whereas human-grade facilities are subject to quality and safety controls, such as temperature and rigorous cleanliness standards, the USDA does not inspect pet food production facilities. Rendering plants are often operating in extreme heat with insects swarming the animal carcasses.
It’s not just the feed-grade animal products that are concerning. Feed-grade grains and vegetables have also failed USDA human food inspection. Otherwise, those ingredients would be used for human food! Like with animal ingredients, grains and vegetables fail human food inspection when they are not free from spoilage, rot and infestation. For example, mycotoxin-contaminated grains at levels that are condemned for humans but not for animal feed. Vegetables that are processed in unsanitary conditions that could have mold, insects, or rodent contamination. By-product ingredients, such as soybean hulls from oil processing, corn and grain waste from refining, or bread and cereal rejects. Just like with animal ingredients, these vegetables by-products can be rendered into meals for wet and dry dog food.
You can often identify by-product ingredients by the term meal, but not always. For example, corn gluten meal is a by-product of the corn wet-milling process that produces corn starch and high fructose corn syrup. On the other hand, brewers rice, a common filler ingredient in wet and dry dog food, is the small fragments of white rice separated during the milling process for human consumption. Both ingredients are by-products but do not both contain the word meal on ingredient labels.
As you can see, there is a big difference between what the FDA deems “safe” and what pet parents might consider high-quality. Similarly, the Association of American Feed Control Officers (AAFCO) is a volunteer organization that sets minimum nutrient requirements for dogs and cats. But AAFCO also does not regulate pet food or its quality.
Some say that feed-grade is not lower quality. We disagree. The “feed-grade” label can cover a vast spectrum of quality and it can be very difficult from a company’s clever marketing to discern the difference. This is why it’s so important for pet parents to read ingredient labels carefully and even email dog food brands to ask questions about their sourcing and manufacturing processes. It’s also ok to ask for a complete nutritional analysis. Companies that are proud of their food will gladly provide this. If you don’t get the answers you want, don’t buy that dog food!
Benefits of Bramble’s Fresh, Human-Grade Dog Food
Humans know we should be minimizing our consumption of ultra-processed food in our own diets. When it comes to our pets, why are we taught to trust commercial ultra-processed wet and dry dog food, made with feed-grade ingredients, rather than human-grade, fresh dog food? Could it be because all of the veterinary schools are sponsored by large kibble companies, such as Purina, Mars, and Science Diet? None of those ultra-processed dog food companies produce fresh, human-grade diets. Dogs and cats are dying of chronic degenerative diseases at higher levels. Allergies, autoimmune diseases, organ failure and cancer are increasing. Over 50% of dogs are overweight or obese.
Choosing Bramble’s fresh, human-grade food provides assurance that your dog is eating real, whole food made with the same high-quality ingredients you would choose for yourself. Fresh dog food diets are also gently cooked, preserving greater nutritional value of the ingredients, which is also better for your pup’s long-term wellness. Here are some other benefits to Bramble:
- Higher Digestibility: A dog’s gastrointestinal tract more easily break down and absorb the nutrients of fresh dog food.
- Improved Gut Health: An independent feeding trial proved that dogs fed Bramble had healthier microbiomes, which may help with digestion, immune function, and skin and coat health.
- Lower Cholesterol: Bramble was also shown to lower cholesterol, making it a heart-healthy diet that could also help to maintain a healthy weight.
- Hypoallergenic: Free from the common dog food allergens (beef, dairy, chicken, wheat gluten, soy and eggs), Bramble works with board-certified veterinary nutritionists to formulate complete and balanced plant-based fresh food that reduces the risk of allergic reactions. No other hypoallergenic dog food is made with human-grade ingredients that are gently cooked without preservatives, so Bramble is a great choice not only for dogs with true allergies, but also for dogs with sensitive tummies.
- Bioavailable Protein: Our feeding trial also proved that Bramble’s plant protein is just as digestible as the animal protein diet it was compared to. When you or your dog eat protein, our digestive systems works to extract amino acids —the essential protein building blocks that support everything from muscle repair to energy levels. Bramble’s plant protein was shown to be just as highly digestible as animal protein, meaning a greater percentage of Bramble’s amino acids become available to your pup’s body after digestion, maximizing the nutritional benefit they receive from it.
- Palatability: Let’s face it, most dogs prefer the taste and smell of fresh food, which is especially helpful for picky eaters.
Bramble’s vet nutritionists formulate complete and balanced meals packed with human-grade superfoods, without by-product grain fillers, preservatives, and artificial additives. Just real food that is gently cooked to nourish your pup for a longer and healthier life. See for yourself whether human-grade fresh food is worth it! You can learn more about our hypoallergenic, fresh dog food recipes here.