For centuries, dogs have co-evolved with humans as friends, protectors, co-workers and companions. The proverbial man’s best friend has an ancient history of working, lounging, and dining, alongside humans. They only began eating commercial pet foods around the beginning of the 20^th century.

Before the pet food industry developed, canines ate meats, organs, bones, blood and plant matter from their prey. They scavenged for local food sources. These long-time human companions ate items local humans consumed, including different varieties of meats, vegetables and more.

Now, many kinds of commercial pet foods are artificial. Nutrients are often stripped off, and sprayed back on in artificial versions. Artificial colors and flavors are added to increase palatability, and often questionable ingredients are combined into a fully processed product. With this new industry comes a new set of risks.

Ideally, recalls occur before any illnesses arise. However, in many cases pets fall ill before problems are caught, and their illnesses and pet owners’ reports are the cause of subsequent recalls. The Food and Drug Administration has an entire webpage devoted to current and past recalls. Problems can occur in human-grade foods as well, however pet foods are currently not held to the same standards as human-grade foods.  Potential problems include chemicals, by-products, cross-contamination, mislabeling and more.