For most of us, food safety habits — like washing our hands before preparing a meal and giving our plate a rinse before placing it in the dishwasher — are second nature. But would it surprise you to know that you should be following those same protocols when feeding and cleaning up after your pet?
A new study, published on April 6 in the journal PLoS One, found that most U.S. dog owners don’t know and don’t follow the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidelines on safe pet food and dish handling. In this case, what you don’t know can hurt you. Contaminated pet food has been the source of multiple outbreaks of bacterial illness among dogs and humans, according to the authors.
“Pet owners should know that pet food bowls can harbor bacteria and that recommendations exist for minimizing that risk,” said lead author Emily Luisana, DVM, veterinarian at Friendship Hospital for Animals in Washington, D.C, in a statement.
Pet food and treats, like many other types of food, can be contaminated with harmful bacteria that cause foodborne illnesses, such as salmonellosis and listeriosis, according to the FDA.
Even Many Veterinary Professionals Aren’t Aware of Safety Recommendations
According to Dr. Luisana, the idea for the study came from “watercooler-type” conversations among veterinary nutritionists. “We realized that, when it came to our own pets, we all had different pet food storage and hygiene practices,” she said. The recommendations around safety for pet food and storage were relatively unknown, even among veterinary professionals, she added.
“Once we investigated what we should be doing, we noted the FDA recommendations regarding these habits were relatively sparse in comparison with the human recommendations and the outcome of these recommendations had not been studied,” said Luisana.
Less Than 5 Percent of Dog Owners Are Aware of FDA Guidelines
To find out what the average pet owner knew about pet food safety, investigators surveyed 417 dog owners. They found that less than 5 percent were aware of the guidelines, and many owners did not follow many of the recommendations.