But Is It Human Quality?

Let’s start by defining these two words.* 

Feed is not acceptable for people to eat, even when it is called pet food.

Food is acceptable for people to eat, but might be formulated for their pets.

*AAFCO and FDA define the words to be interchangeable thus equal. We (NGPFMA) want people to know that feed is not food. 

The journey to define human grade pet food started with the desire to distinguish between these two terms – or levels of quality. There’s a group of pet owners who want to feed their pets food that is made of ingredients legal for humans to eat – not waste product. 

By law, a pet food is either 100% people food, including handling and transportation (thus human grade), or it cannot use the term “human grade”. It cannot be made with some ingredients legal for humans and some not. Nor can it be made in a factory not allowed to make people food. 

You’ve seen “human grade” on some pet food, but that’s about as far as the label can go. 

Why? Because pet food is regulated by feed officials, not food officials.  While it is called Pet FOOD, most products are actually pet FEED. Even more confusing, AAFCO defined feed and food to be interchangeable. This was lead by the giant companies who are trying to limit what goes on the label. (Next Gen PFMA tried to fight this but deep pockets prevailed).  

The FDA regulates pet food/feed (using AAFCO guidelines) while USDA regulates human food products containing meat.  Since FDA allows pet “feed” to be called “food” most consumers are not aware of the huge differences in the regulations.  Regulations make it nearly impossible for companies using high-quality, human-grade ingredients and manufacturing to communicate that difference on the label.

Bottom line, “human grade” is a helpful term and implies higher quality standards than feed products. Fresh pet food manufacturers are typically happy to share their sourcing and manufacturing standards.  When in doubt, contact the manufacturer and ask what goes on behind the label.