Can people eat dog-food without ill effects?

[Aelita Daystar]

Reading the thread about Iams got me wondering about this. Can people eat dog food without suffering any ill effects? Basically I'm asking "is it bad for you health". I was always under the impression that it was, but now I'm second guessing. I'm sure it would be utterly repulsive to eat though. I'm curious though, is it that unhealthy for people?

[DrFidelius]

Years ago I read the ingredients on the food we feed Duchess (NutroMax lamb and rice). She eats a better, more balanced diet that I do.

Dogs are omnivores with carnivorous preferences. The main reason they moved in with us in the first place ws because they can eat the same things we can, and aren't as picky so they will eat what we throw out.

I am thinking a diet of dog food exclusively migh tlead to scurvy, since dogs don't need dietary vitamin C.

[BorgHunter]

I, shamefully, had a prime opportunity to test this with experimentation, which I have lost. Yesterday, upon shelving all the various foodstuffs I acquired from the grocery store, I discovered a package of Cesar dog food that had somehow found this way into my bags. (I have one cat, but no dogs.) I checked my receipt to make sure I hadn't been charged by an unscrupulous dog food vendor who bribed my cashier to ring up this "T-Bone steak in meaty juices", but finding no such item on the receipt, I then proceeded to give the package to my landlord, who actually has a dog.

But rest assured, if I still had the container of dog food, I would be savoring those meaty juices right now. For science. Braving the vitamin C deficiency and the crashing waves of meaty juices, I would have added to the sum of human knowledge selflessly, with no regard for my health, tongue, or indeed anything else.

But I don't. Sorry.

[Bijou Drains]

They certainly don't taste test it with people so it could very well taste really bad compared to what humans are used to.

[SCSimmons]

Originally Posted by Bijou Drains

They certainly don't taste test it with people so it could very well taste really bad compared to what humans are used to.

Here's a 'review' that corroborates your guess ...

Originally Posted by Steve

Beggin' Strips slogan is "Dogs don't know it's not bacon!" Newsflash: Dogs are retarded.

[Chez Guevara]

Originally Posted by Bijou Drains

They certainly don't taste test it with people so it could very well taste really bad compared to what humans are used to.

Simon Allison thinks it tastes bland.

He's a senior food technologist for Marks & Spencer, with special responsibility for pet food. He samples all his products before they go on sale, although he draws the line at swallowing them.

Link.

[Shamozzle]

Isn't pet food manufactured under very relaxed standards as compared to human food? If so, who knows what's going in there.... I envision mechanically separated "this and that", "and/or", "may or may not contain", etc. No thanks.

When I was a kid working in a restaurant we kept our used deep fryer grease in open 45-gallon drums out back. All kinds of stuff would collect in there, including garbage as it fell out of the adjacent, overflowing dumpsters. Occasionally, some guy would come and pick them up. "What do you do with that stuff?". "Dog Food", was his answer.

[SmackFu]

That just makes me think our standards are above-and-beyond what is actually required for safety alone.

Clearly the dog food isn't actually poisonous and doesn't make the dogs sick, so how bad can it be?

[janeslogin]

I was part of a study in a university lab about a half century ago. My only complaint was bits of bone.

A few days ago I read that sometimes the bits of bone might physically aggravate esophageal and stomach problems.

[Shagnasty]

I have eaten bunches of dry dog food and cat food without any ill effect. It doesn't taste that great but it isn't vomit inducing either. I just wanted to see what my furry friends were consuming. There were no ill effects at all although I did notice that both my howl and sense of smell became a whole lot stronger.

[PoorYorick]

When I was a kid, we had some neighbors who bred bird dogs, and so bought dry dog food by the pallet (maybe not really, but they bought a lot of it). I was visiting once when one of the kids there walked by an open bag of food, grabbed a handful, and started munching it like it was mixed nuts or something. When he saw my "ewww" reaction, he couldn't understand, and said, "It's fine, really, I eat it all the time. Try it."

I did eat some a couple of years later when my older brother held me down and forced it down my throat. I'm not sure he did it out of scientific curiosity, though. I think he was just being an asshole.

[Shamozzle]

Originally Posted by SmackFu

That just makes me think our standards are above-and-beyond what is actually required for safety alone.

Clearly the dog food isn't actually poisonous and doesn't make the dogs sick, so how bad can it be?

Non-poisonous does not not necessarily mean non-gross-and-aesthetically-disgusting.

[Oredigger77]

I had a friend growing up that liked to eat a Milkbone every day after school. I never got around to joining him but he didn't die and liked the flavor.

[Claire Beauchamp]

I've been on a personally-guided tour of a pet food plant. They made dry dog and cat food that was sold as the "house brand" for various retailers like rhymes-with-SmallMart as well as things for a few name-brand lines. It's true, the fat and meat components were typically "by products" -- things that wouldn't go into western human food because we can afford to ignore it as a food source. The day I was there they were making a dry dog food. The largest single ingredient was corn meal; it and the rest of the stuff was dumped into a huge mixer with water to make a dough, then pressed out into the little shapes and baked. The guy who gave me the tour grabbed a blob of dough and sure enough, it basically smelled like a tortilla chip. He nibbled at it (showing off a bit I think, LOL).

So yeah, edible and safe, but perhaps not a food of choice for reasons of aesthetics or personal taste.

[snailboy]

While I've never eaten a large quantity of it, I've found the dry dog food to be alright, not delicious but edible. The treats (the ones shaped like little bones) though taste like cardboard. I don't see how they can eat that crap.

[SmashTheState]

Beggin' Strips are awesome. They taste very much like vegan jerky, which I love, and are cheaper. And back when I ate dead animals, I used to use dog food in place of corned beef or hamburger in recipes like meat loaf or stroganoff or casseroles where it's well-cooked and mixed with other strong-tasting foods like garlic, tomatoes, and onions. I couldn't tell the difference in taste, and it was about a quarter the cost. And it kept my coat glossy!

[KarlGrenze]

IIRC, some lots of dog food have, at various times, tested positive for Salmonella, and have been vaguely implicated in some human Salmonella cases (information obtained by going to a CDC week-long conference).

Granted, the same thing happens in humans (and more frequently), but it is not completely safe.

[Old Goat]

My sister sent me this story:

Yesterday I was buying a large bag of Purina dog chow for Sophie the wonder dog at Wal-Mart and was about to check out, when a woman behind me asked me if I had a dog.

Well... Looking at the bag and realizing that it actually did say DOG FOOD, in big bold letters. . . I was a little bit curious . So . . . since I'm retired with little to do, on impulse, I told
her that no, I didn't have a dog. I was starting the Purina Diet again, although I probably shouldn't because I had ended up in the hospital the last time. But since I'd lost 50 pounds, before I awakened in the intensive care ward with tubes coming out of most of my orifices
and IVs in both arms, I had decided to give it another try.

I told her that it was essentially a perfect diet and that the way that it works is to load your pants pockets with Purina nuggets and simply eat one or two every time you feel hungry. The food is nutritionally complete, so I was going to try it again and just be a little more careful
this time. (I have to mention here that practically everyone in the line was by now listening and enthralled with my story.)

Horrified, she asked if I ended up in intensive care because the dog food poisoned me. I told her no, I stepped off a curb to sniff an Irish Setter's butt and a car hit me.

I thought the guy behind her was going to have a heart attack, he was laughing so hard, he fell.

Wal-Mart has now taken away my shopping privileges.

[CateAyo]

When I was in the military, we frequently carried Milk Bones in the field with us. They were reasonably nutritious, and not perishable. They were also amongst the least offensive of the things that we ate while in the field.

[Hari Seldon]

I read somewhere that 10% of dog food is consumed by humans and was regulated as such. As long as you avoid melamine, of course.

The only thing I can think of that would be missing is vitamin C since most mammals, aside from primates, can synthesize it. So we need sources of it, mostly vegetable, but dogs don't.

[Tamex]

Face it, if dog or cat food was that dangerous, most kids would never have survived. The dry stuff is like meaty cereal. My husband has admitted to me that he liked the green Milkbones best.

[norinew]

Originally Posted by Tamex

Face it, if dog or cat food was that dangerous, most kids would never have survived.

Heh. So true. I have a niece (who is now grown and married with kids of her own), and when she was a little kid (three? four?) we'd be in the living room, and the dog would be in the living room with us, and yet we'd hear the distinctive crunch of dry doggie kibble from the kitchen. Someone would announce "Someone go get Tracy out of the dog food". The kid loved it and would scarf it down every chance she got.

[Pyper]

It seems that the consensus is that dog food tastes pretty good. Cat food, on the other hand, I know is awful from personal experience. When I got my kitten from the SPCA, he came with all sorts of free offers and food samples. He wouldn't touch any of the kitty treats I offered him. Finally, I popped one in my mouth to see what was so horrible. Augh! Worst taste ever! I never offered him another treat and he doesn't seem to mind.

[Johnny L.A.]

A long time ago on Second City TV there was a 'Lorne Greene' (Eugene Levy) episode where they parodied Greene's ALPO commercials. Here's the gist of it:

'Hello, I'm Lorne Greene. My friend Jack, here, is 78 years old. That's 546 in dog years. <snip> Maybe Jack's been around so long because ALPO's been around so long.'


Context:When the episode aired there was a 'scandalous situation' wherein senior citizens in the U.S. (and possibly Canada) could not afford food, so many resorted to eating dog food. At the same time, Lorne Greene was hawking ALPO dog food. The commercials were folksy, with Greene introducing an old dog who is still sprightly due to it's diet of ALPO. The commercials ended with Greene saying 'Maybe [dog's name] has been around so long because ALPO's been around so long. The SCTV sketch loses something if you have to explain it, but it was funny if you were around at the time.

[GuanoLad]

Originally Posted by PoorYorick

I'm not sure he did it out of scientific curiosity, though. I think he was just being an asshole.

Hmm. Was he wearing a lab coat? If not, you may have assumed correctly.

[BACI]

Old Goat you just made me laugh like a drain.

Thank you.

[Aelita Daystar]

Originally Posted by Pyper

It seems that the consensus is that dog food tastes pretty good. Cat food, on the other hand, I know is awful from personal experience. When I got my kitten from the SPCA, he came with all sorts of free offers and food samples. He wouldn't touch any of the kitty treats I offered him. Finally, I popped one in my mouth to see what was so horrible. Augh! Worst taste ever! I never offered him another treat and he doesn't seem to mind.

hmm... I woulda thought that food for cats would taste better.

(Also, thanks to everyone for the answers)

[thirdname]

A Russian fighter pilot who defected found American cat food to be delicious: http://web.archive.org/web/200101110...le/belenko.htm

First of all American super-market, my first visit was under CIA supervision, and I thought it was set-up; I did not believe super-market was real one. I thought well I was unusual guest; they probably kicked everyone out. It's such a nice, big place with incredible amount of produce, and no long lines! You're accustomed to long lines in Russia. But later, when I discovered super-market was real one, I had real fun exploring new products. I would buy, everyday, a new thing and try to figure out its function. In Russia at that time (and even today) it's hard to find canned food, good one. But everyday I would buy new cans with different food. Once I bought a can which said "dinner." I cooked it with potatoes, onions, and garlic-it was delicious. Next morning my friends ask me, "Viktor, did you buy a cat?" It was a can of chicken-based cat food. But it was delicious! It was better than canned food for people in Russia today. And I did test it. Last year I brought four people from Russia for commercial project, and I set them up. I bought nibble sized human food. I installed a pâté, and it was cat food. I put it on crackers. And they did consume it, and they liked it. So the taste has not changed. By the way, for those who are not familiar with American cat food. It's very safe; it's delicious, and sometimes it's better than human food, because of the Humane Society.

[madrabbitwoman]

Originally Posted by Hari Seldon

I read somewhere that 10% of dog food is consumed by humans and was regulated as such. As long as you avoid melamine, of course.

The only thing I can think of that would be missing is vitamin C since most mammals, aside from primates, can synthesize it. So we need sources of it, mostly vegetable, but dogs don't.

Simply for the sake of well... whatever... guinea pigs need a dietry source of vit C too.

[Raguleader]

The thing that occurs to me when someone is concerned about getting food poisoning from pet food: If someone gets sick and dies from tainted tomatoes or peanut butter, well, what a shame.

If Fluffy gets sick and dies from tainted cat food, suddenly we've all been betrayed.

This might just be a side effect of the fact that a cat has never cut any of us off on the Turnpike though.

Oh, and someone on the bus convinced me to eat a dog biscuit when I was in elementary school. I recall that it didn't taste half bad, but I still prefer the little vanilla cookies from the grocery store.

[Hazle Weatherfield]

Originally Posted by SmashTheState

Beggin' Strips are awesome. They taste very much like vegan jerky, which I love, and are cheaper. And back when I ate dead animals, I used to use dog food in place of corned beef or hamburger in recipes like meat loaf or stroganoff or casseroles where it's well-cooked and mixed with other strong-tasting foods like garlic, tomatoes, and onions. I couldn't tell the difference in taste, and it was about a quarter the cost. And it kept my coat glossy!

[Dallas Jones]

Originally Posted by Shamozzle

When I was a kid working in a restaurant we kept our used deep fryer grease in open 45-gallon drums out back. All kinds of stuff would collect in there, including garbage as it fell out of the adjacent, overflowing dumpsters. Occasionally, some guy would come and pick them up. "What do you do with that stuff?". "Dog Food", was his answer.

Recovered oil is traded on the commodities market as Yellow Grease. A large part of that may go to Bio-diesel now, I have been away from the biz for a few years. There are also various grades of tallow, fish oil, canola, mixed vegetable oils traded.

Here is a link to with an explanation of the uses of some of these products.

http://www.bakercommodities.com/feeding-fats.asp

[Pedro]

Wet food for cats tastes terrible but why would it be harmful unless contaminated with pathogens? I'm sure that if I was starving and malnourished I'd think it tasted like caviar.

[Sparky812]

Originally Posted by Aelita Daystar

Reading the thread about Iams got me wondering about this. Can people eat dog food without suffering any ill effects? Basically I'm asking "is it bad for you health". I was always under the impression that it was, but now I'm second guessing. I'm sure it would be utterly repulsive to eat though. I'm curious though, is it that unhealthy for people?

As a teenager, I worked in a grocery store and there was an old homeless guy who was a regular customer. He would come in and buy two cans of Dr. Ballard's dog food, then he'd go sit on the bench outside, produce a can opener and a spoon and proceed to eat it straight out of the can. I don't know what ever happened to him but he seemed to enjoy it.
IMHO, he probably believed the myth that it was highly nutritious at a low cost and supplemented it into his diet. I'm certain he was a drunk and he didn't have any teeth that I could see which would suggest maybe he did have a vitamin deficiency. The soft food was probably easier for him to eat as well.

[Apollyon]

Originally Posted by Pyper

It seems that the consensus is that dog food tastes pretty good. Cat food, on the other hand, I know is awful from personal experience.

Seems to vary. Back when my lad was a bit younger he got into sneaking into the pantry and scarfing down the dry cat-food (to the point where we had to relocate the cat biscuits to the kiddy locked cupboards along with the detergents). In the interests of being a good parent I tried the store bought brand he was eating... meh... tasted a lot like dry mix in instant soup packets. Later my wife got some fancy cat biscuits from the Vet (apparently good for helping to clean the cat's teeth), and those... *blecch*

[Sailboat]

Originally Posted by SmackFu

Clearly the dog food isn't actually poisonous and doesn't make the dogs sick, so how bad can it be?

That's not always the case.

[thelabdude]

Ah, how about the human recall on ground turkey now? The FDA regulates both animal food and human food to strict standards. Never the less there are recall problems.

[DeptfordX]

Originally Posted by Oredigger77

I had a friend growing up that liked to eat a Milkbone every day after school. I never got around to joining him but he didn't die and liked the flavor.

Plus he always had a shiny healthy coat!

[alphaboi867]

My mother once accidently ate homemade dog treats (that I made). I was home from college and had recently gotten a cookbook of homemade pet food. I baked peanut butter cookies for my dachshund (like most dogs he loved peanut butter). I left them out on the cooling racks while I went into the living room to watch TV. Mom came home and assumed I'd just baked normal cookies for people. So she tried one. They tasted terrible, but naturally she told me they were delicious. Then I mentioned who they were for and she told me the truth (after gagging a bit).

Something similiar happened a few years later with a coworker's 11 yr old son. They'd just gotten a god and I gave her some liver brownies I'd baked. SHe told her son not to eat them, but he later overheard her joking about a "special indgrediant" and thought they were pot brownies. Having no idea what pot brownies actually taste like he ate one, then two trying to get high. And he shared it with a friend (who also though that's how they were supposed to taste). She thought the whole think was too hilarious to bother punishing him (well other than telling him what was in the brownies).

[foolsguinea]

I've eaten dry dog food (bland), and dry cat food (very salty), but never tried the canned stuff.

I wouldn't want to subsist on cat food, nor could I, really. Dog food is OK, but can be really high in cereal grains. Apparently they used to use more bonemeal before 1980 or thereabouts. I don't know which is healthier for the dog, really. But neither bonemeal nor cornmeal is toxic to humans. The rest is pretty much meat & vegetable matter for dog food, same stuff we eat. Meat and maybe some blood in the cat food, as far I know.

[ralph124c]

Never tried dog food..but it is probably safe for humans. One thing puzzles me: every dog I have ever had has LOVED plain white rice! They go crazy over it-yet it has no flavor.
For carnivores, dogs are pretty strange.

[thelabdude]

Interesting point on the rice. Dog forums are full of questions from people so badly over feeding their dogs, that they won't eat. Frequently people suggest rice and chicken. It is a standard remedy for upset canine digestions too. I guess the dogs usually go ahead and eat the rice when offered. I usually send people with dogs that don't eat to http://www.longliveyourdog.com/twoplus/RateYourDog.aspx

Getting back to people eating dog food, or at least expanding what is in it. What is in it varies widely. The lower priced foods start with corn or corn meal. The FDA has 2 classes. Depending on what you call it, a dog food must have at 35% of the first ingredient and in some cases a lot more. Moving up many of the foods have chicken meal or chicken as the first ingredient. Chicken is just that, chicken with whatever moisture content chicken is allowed. Chicken meal is dried, so a chicken meal and rice food may have more chicken than a chicken and rice food.

No matter what ingredients are used, all the dog foods are formulated to contain minimum amounts of the nutrients dogs are known to need. They are spelled out at AAFCO http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/.../ucm047120.htm That doesn't mean
they don't contain a lot more of some or that the same balance is maintained. The over all percentage is 17% protein. 28% protein dog foods are common and some foods are even higher. Excess protein is burned for energy or excreted. I have no idea how the list of nutrients compares for people and dogs. I doubt you can count on dog food being the complete and balanced diet you need. Cat food should be higher in protein.

There are other occasional discussions of people eating dog foods. I doubt it is wide spread. My reasoning is that a few years ago when the Chinese spiked their wheat gluten with melamine and killed a bunch of dogs, I don't remember any human victims. Of course both man and beast were safe if they stuck to dry kibble. The problems were nearly all with canned.

Iams thread? I can't find it, could somebody give me a link? I have little luck with the search fuunction here.

[Blake]

Can zombies eat dog-food without ill effects?

[Becky2844]

One time? At band camp? All of us were really hungry but nobody had any money. So one dude stirred up a stew...made of Veg-All, peaches and dog food. It looked like it had a pretty decent gravy. But I wouldn't touch it. So I don't know.
I've been hungry, but I've never been THAT hongry.

[VOW]

People trying dry dog food, or dog biscuits, and shrugging their shoulders and saying, "What?"

People trying canned dog food, and pronouncing it "not as bad as I thought it would be."

People saying that canned cat food is the WORST.

WHY are these animals so picky? A dog is used to find explosives, dead people, locate escaped prisoners and patients. These dog activities are possible because of the extremely sensitive sense of smell that dogs possess.

These same animals eat disgusting food, they dig up decaying "things" and chew on them and roll in them, they lick their butts, they sniff each others' butts, and some of them are so gross, they eat either their own excrement or their vomit.

Does anyone else see a MAJOR disconnect here?

I mean, listen to the dog handlers. You'd think the dogs would be ordering Chateaubriand, beurre rouge, truffles, and a top of the line Merlot.


~VOW

[Crazyhorse]

Originally Posted by VOW

Does anyone else see a MAJOR disconnect here?

Yes. You're using your opinions about what is disgusting as a basis for how a dog should behave, based on the dog having a better sense of smell than you, in a thread about whether or not humans can safely eat dog food.

Did I get it?

[Gymnopithys]

Haven't you read those stories about old or destitute people eating canned dog-food ?

[Palo Verde]

When my daughter was around 1, she just LOVED to eat the guinea pig's food. At first I was a bit alarmed, but when I checked the ingredients, it's mostly ground vegetables and a bit of molasses. I figured it was probably a lot healthier than a lot of things she was eating, so I let her nibble away on it as she pleased. Like most things, it was a phase she outgrew, but I tasted it too out of curiosity. Crunchy and a little sweet, pretty good actually.

[thelabdude]

Originally Posted by Gymnopithys

Haven't you read those stories about old or destitute people eating canned dog-food ?

As I already pointed out I doubt it is common since I didn't see any reports of people being affected from the great melamine problem a few years ago.

[BigT]

I remember there once being a special on "What's My Line" or one of those other panel shows where the secret guest took dog food and made it into palatable dishes The panelists were blindfolded and given the food to eat while they asked the guy questions.

I've always wondered if they were just trying to imply the food was dogfood when it wasn't.