The most nutritional diet for your dog

This article was written by Adam Cecil of PolicyGenius. The Daily Mail scared a lot of readers with this headline: "How pet food is killing your dog." Sensationalist? Yes. But is there a nugget of truth in there? Some, including the Daily Mail, claim that dog food is full of ingredients that would make it unfit for human consumption -- ingredients like meats from diseased slaughterhouse animals. While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates both human and pet food, its standards for pet food are much lower. Though pet food must be deemed "safe," the FDA does not require pre-authorization before coming to market and safety is judged based on the type of ingredients, not necessarily the packaging or processing methods. For example, scientists question the effect of heating processes on the overall nutritional value of dog food, despite the addition of amino acids and vitamins as supplements. Watch our video taste test of human grade dog food: Critics of commercial dog food also look at the history of dog food. The first modern dog food product was invented by James Spratt in England in 1860. His product -- a biscuit made up of wheat meals, various vegetables, beetroot, and meat -- was the first attempt at creating a nutritious "complete meal" for dogs. Since then, commercial dog food has become part of the largest pet-related industry in the world -- it's estimated that Americans alone spent $23 billion on pet food in 2015 -- primarily by marketing itself as ...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - Category: Science Source Type: news