Would you eat your pet’s food for a month?
Recently, a pet food retailer in Richland, Washington made headlines when she decided to eat nothing but pet food for a month. The idea came to Dorothy Hunter when she worked up an appetite at her store and was unable to run out for food. She picked up a bag of dog treats and after reading the label decided they were better quality than most snack foods for people. Dorothy started a video blog documenting her 30 day dog food diet.
Dorothy’s intention is to draw people’s attention to pet (and human) food labels. She believes that the pet foods she sells are healthier than many foods sold for human consumption.
This story brings up several issues.
1. Any animal – human or pet – can survive on just about any food for a short period.
This woman is doing an abbreviated AAFCO feeding trial. The “Gold Standard” for pet foods to show they are complete and balanced is a feeding trail. In a feeding trail, 8 animals are fed the pet food for 6 months. (25% of the animals in the trial can be removed for “non-nutritional reasons.”) So the fact that 6 animals can survive on the food for 6 months allows the pet food to say your pet should eat it every day for his entire life.
2. BPA!
When I saw Dorothy dig into the can of chicken cat food all I could think of was the study that linked the BPA in pull-top canned cat food to feline hyperthyroidism. The plastic chemical Bisphenol A (BPA) is found in the lining of many canned foods and is a known disruptor of the endocrine system.
3. Pet food labels lie.
My previous 2 blogs documented the many ways pet food labels can be misleading. For example, even “natural” and “holistic” can contain preservatives that are not included on the ingredient list. You also cannot tell the quality of the pet food ingredients from the label. Food that is unfit for human consumption often gets dumped into pet foods. The pet foods this woman is eating may not be as healthy as she thinks.
4. Most people do eat unhealthy diets. (But even “natural” pet food is not much better)
It is true that many Americans eat foods and snacks loaded with sugar and carbs. Unfortunately, most pet foods are also laden with way too much starch which promotes excessive weight gain, inflammation, and cancer. Poor diets for people and pets are the main reason we are plagued with chronic diseases.
5. Eating strictly processed foods is not healthy for people or pets.
It appears that at least some of the pet foods Dorothy is eating are freeze dried and not heat processed. This is good because pet food processing destroys important nutrients. That’s why I’m a proponent of raw diets for pets. While I do not personally eat uncooked meats, I do eat fresh fruits and veggies and my steaks are medium rare. I do not eat People Chow. Pets that are fed strictly processed foods miss out on the nutrition they need.
I applaud Dorothy Hunter for really standing behind the pet food she sells and her quest to inspire people to read food labels. I wish her the best.
What do you think? Is Dorothy crazy or is there a method to her madness?
I used to buy what I thought was a top of the line pet food (NOT from a grocery store), until my dog (now 13) was diagnosed with Megaesophagus last summer. For a while I cooked for her, but was concerned that the air introduced when putting her food through the blender was creating loss of nutrition through oxidation. I finally found The Honest Kitchen, Thrive, which is an organic, human grade dehydrated food. The company was wonderful about helping me find something appropriate for her. We still supplement with fresh food tidbits that she can tolerate. I cannot believe that with all her health problems she is actually doing better than she was before. Her coat is beautiful, black and shiny. She has more energy and less arthritis stiffness. I won’t go raw because of her condition, but I will say I do believe I could safely live on her food for a month. Dorothy is probably correct that some dog foods are better than some human foods — humans should avoid those also!