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Over the last two decades, the pet food industry has seen some pretty extraordinary changes. For over a century, dry kibble dominated the pet food industry as a relatively inexpensive and convenient way to meet canine nutritional needs, and to be fair, kibble was a vast improvement on the questionable quality of the leftovers and table scraps dogs had been living on before.
Most modern commercial foods are formulated to meet all our dogs’ nutritional needs, and as long as those AAFCO requirement boxes were being ticked, everyone was pretty happy. However, providing the right levels of protein, fats, or carbohydrates isn’t necessarily the same as providing the right types of protein, fats, or carbohydrates, and the more we understand how the form of those nutrients impacts health and behavior, the more we find ourselves moving away from overprocessed food.
For example, most veterinarians and nutritionists agree that protein levels have an impact on canine behavior. However, there is still debate over which type of protein is best. Research has shown that reducing protein levels or adding the amino acid tryptophan to high-protein diets can reduce dominance aggression, while dogs exhibiting territorial aggression showed more improvement on a low-protein diet supplemented with tryptophan.1 The evidence suggests that it’s not just about the amount of protein, but the structure of protein that matters. Providing the right building blocks can have a positive impact on canine behavior, reducing aggression and anxiety, and improving attention span and trainability. The wrong type of ingredients, however, could have the opposite effect.
Understanding how the form of nutrients affects canine health and behavior has led many experts and pet owners to move away from heavily processed pet foods towards diets made from fresh, natural ingredients that more accurately mimic the nutrients dogs would consume in the wild, with a shift towards high-quality, minimally processed foods that make sense for canine digestion.
As part of this evolution in pet nutrition, two words that make any dog food stand out are: Human Grade.
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What Is Human Grade Dog Food?
These days, dogs are not simply seen as pets; they are members of our family, and we want to feed them as such. Of course, dogs are still dogs, and that means their nutritional needs are quite different from ours, so although we might want to offer them ingredients that are good enough for humans, they can’t just eat whatever we have on our plates. We can prepare our own dog food at home, but the reality is that most of us don’t have the time, patience, or freezer space to create nutritionally balanced food our dogs actually want to eat, which is why we are seeing an increasing number of pet foods described as ‘human grade’ hitting the market.
When a pet food is described as containing human grade ingredients, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the food itself is suitable for human consumption (although, in some cases, it’s probably of a higher quality and more nutritious than some of the things we do eat!). Human grade means the ingredients have passed the same health and quality inspections that human foods are subjected to, and are prepared under the same sort of conditions as food made for humans.
No rendering. No by-products. No meat-meal. No cheap fillers.
With the popularity of human grade pet food on the rise, there is more choice than ever before, so how do we decide which product is best for our four-legged family member? Why not start with the company that pioneered the movement? The Honest Kitchen.
The Honest Kitchen – The Original Human Grade Dog Food
At a time when raw dog food and fresh-frozen subscriptions were starting to make waves in the pet food industry, Lucy Postins was busy in her San Diego kitchen, creating recipes for her dog, Mosi, whose chronic skin & ear problems were finally improving on a homemade diet. Lucy wanted to share those benefits with other dogs, and in 2002 she started the world’s first human grade pet food company: The Honest Kitchen.
One of the biggest obstacles for pet owners who want to give their dogs fresh, whole-made food is the loss of convenience. When you know you can meet your dog’s nutritional needs with a bag of dry food stashed away in the pantry, it’s not so easy to start storing packets and boxes of pre-prepared meals in the freezer. And if your dog is bigger than a Cocker Spaniel? Forget it!
The Honest Kitchen saw this and found a way to give us the best of both worlds: human grade dog food with shelf-stable convenience.
The Benefits of Fresh with the Convenience of Dry
The concept was simple: dehydration. The Honest Kitchen Wholemade diets are complete and balanced recipes containing real, non-GMO, whole-food ingredients like chicken, beef, turkey, fish, and vegetables. By gently removing moisture, the nutrients and flavor are preserved in a shelf-stable formulation with the convenience of a dry food. Simply add water, wait 3 minutes, and serve as a meal, a topper, or in your dog’s favorite enrichment toy.
A recent survey of The Honest Kitchen customers revealed that 77% saw improved overall well-being & energy, 80% reported improved digestion, and 71% noted that their dog had improved skin and coat since being on human grade ingredients*.
The Honest Kitchen has been evolving too, adding kibble-like clusters and wet-food formulas to its range of human grade, complete and balanced foods. You’ll find a product for every life stage from puppy to senior, plus limited-ingredient recipes using a variety of proteins for dogs with allergies, sensitivities, or food intolerances.
Then there’s the price. Compared to many premium pet foods, the daily cost of feeding The Honest Kitchen is surprisingly affordable, particularly if you sign up for a subscription. Unlike most fresh pet food companies, The Honest Kitchen doesn’t force you to sign a contract or provide your personal information and a detailed history of your pet to purchase their products. You can buy directly from their website or from reputable pet stores – the choice is yours.
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Real Food Made Simple
When it comes to feeding my own dogs, I always want the best ingredients, but with four hungry mouths to feed, it can get pretty difficult – and expensive – to achieve. Since discovering The Honest Kitchen Wholemade Dehydrated Food, it has become a whole lot easier. They love how it tastes, and I love how it smells! But most importantly, I love giving them something they really enjoy, knowing it’s great for their health.
If you want to give your best friend food made with human grade ingredients produced to the same standards of quality and safety as the food you eat, without having to buy a second freezer or take out a second mortgage, The Honest Kitchen might be just what you need.
With shelf-stable, quality whole food ingredients in nutrient-dense recipes, The Honest Kitchen is the convenient and affordable alternative to feeding fresh. If you’re looking for a company that’s doing human grade food best, go to the company that’s been doing it the longest.
*Based on a poll of more than 1,000 The Honest Kitchen customers who feed a variety of complete & balanced recipes daily to dogs and cats. Responses reflect customer responses where their pet displayed that specific problem. For informational purposes only—results are not guaranteed and may not be typical for other pets.