Will eating pet food kill you?
It’s normal to feed our furry friends morsels from the table. But is the reversal safe? Can a human eat pet food safely? Is there any chance it could kill you?
The short answer is that pet food can be harmful to humans when it’s contaminated, according to Dana Hunnes, an assistant professor in the Fielding School of Public Health at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and senior nutritionist at the Ronald Reagan Medical Center of UCLA. Foodborne pathogens such as salmonella and E. coli Effects on pet food, just like human food. Because of this, it’s important to follow your pet food’s storage guidelines to protect your furry friends health line (opens in new tab). For example the USA Food and drug management (opens in new tab) recommends storing dry and canned food in a cool, dry place that’s no warmer than 80 degrees Fahrenheit.
But because we often don’t store pet food as carefully as we do our own food, eating your pet’s food can pose a greater risk of contamination, said Dr. Beth Ann Ditkoff, a member of the biology department at Sarah Lawrence College in New York VICE (opens in new tab).
Related: Can a person survive eating only beef?
The FDA has issued numerous over the years Recalls and Withdrawals (opens in new tab) about pet food, including a potential salmonella Contamination from rodent activity at a distribution center in 2022 and dog food with elevated levels of aflatoxins, or toxins produced by certain fungi found on agricultural crops, in 2021.
But uncontaminated pet food is safe, at least in the short term, Hunnes said. Most animal feed is made up of food-grade leftovers and by-products, she told Live Science. Parts such as bone meal, meat trimmings and offal (such as the stomach, colon or tongue) from slaughterhouses or soybean and grain by-products from processing plants are the main components of pet food. While these ingredients aren’t very appetizing, pet food comes from the same sources as human food. So it’s not inherently toxic, and it’s safe to try if you’re curious about munchies or even decide to eat it in an emergency, Hunnes said. However, you should stay away from some raw pet foods. That’s never a good idea for people, according to the report health line (opens in new tab).
Hunnes said it’s best to keep pet food consumption to a short duration – ideally no longer than a few days. In an emergency, pet food provides a source of calories and protein. However, it’s important to remember that pet food is designed to meet the unique needs of pets, not humans.
For example, dog food contains vitamin K, which can be toxic to humans in high amounts, Hunnes said. And both dogs and cats make their own vitamin C, a nutrient that humans need to get from their diets, so some pet foods omit that. In other words, long-term consumption of pet food in humans puts them at risk of nutrient deficiencies, Hunnes said.
It’s also important to know that most pet foods are labeled “not fit for human consumption.” So if you get sick from eating pet food, either due to nutrient deficiencies or a contaminant that got into the food before it reached your home, you have limited remedies, according to a report by VICE (opens in new tab).
Ultimately, pet food isn’t toxic to humans, but it’s not ideal. You can try it or even use it if you need it. But it’s not a long-term solution from a nutritional or food safety perspective.
Originally published on Live Science on February 26, 2013 and updated on June 11, 2022.
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