2020 pet magazine

Page 54 2020 PET MAGAZINE LINCOLN DAILY NEWS JANUARY 23, 2020 First study on human-grade dog food says whole, fresh food is highly digestible U RBANA, Ill. – Pet owners are increasingly treating their “fur-babies” like members of the family. In response, some pet food companies are developing diets that more closely resemble human food, incorporating human-grade meat and vegetable ingredients that pass USDA quality inspections. Until now, little research had been done on these foods. A new study from the University of Illinois shows these diets are not only highly palatable, they are more digestible than originally estimated. Kelly Swanson, the Kraft Heinz Company Endowed Professor in Human Nutrition in the Department of Animal Sciences and the Division of Nutritional Sciences at Illinois, is a co-author on the Translational Animal Science study. “Of course, you assume that since human-grade ingredients are high quality, the foods should be highly digestible,” he says. “But until unbiased researchers actually conduct the testing, these companies are getting questioned by consumers and veterinarians. Are the foods safe? Are they complete and balanced? Basically, are they good?” The researchers tested six commercial dog foods from JustFoodForDogs, a company that claims to exclusively use USDA-certified ingredients in its diets. Their products, similar to a handful of other niche companies and subsidiaries, are formulated using minimally processed Continued