The Truth About Kibble and the Pet Food Industry
It’s the years-long debate that’s taken over the dog community: What exactly is wrong with kibble? And if not that, then what? Unlike every other major food industry, traditional dog food companies have historically gotten away with a lot — right under our noses.
And the 2016 U.S. documentary “Pet Fooled” investigated it all. From sub-standard regulation procedure to marketing half-truths and harmful misinformation around the health of kibble, we broke down every messy truth that you need to know for the good of your dog.
1. Contrary to popular assumption, kibble was a very recent invention with a very calculated reason.
During World War II, consumer product companies were no longer allowed to use cans to package food as those materials were directed toward artillery production. Pet food companies had to find ways to get dog food out of cans and into paper bags to stabilize their business. That’s why kibble — man made, dehydrated pellets that can sustain long shelf lives without refrigeration — was born.
Noooot a great start.
2. Every species is biologically designed to digest a diet that meets their unique needs.
For example, a hummingbird needs merely honey and nectar to survive, while snakes are carnivores that require pure meat. If you give nectar to a snake, it would rather starve to death because it’s not biologically wired to accept nectar.
So how does that relate to dogs? Our dogs are more resilient than other species and therefore can eat a wider variety of food, which encourages the industry to sacrifice their priority needs for higher profit margins.
We can push dogs to eat non-biologically appropriate foods and technically they will survive, but their overall vitality, longevity, and standard of life will suffer. In other words, you can feed them kibble, but it will slowly ruin their systems, whole bodies, and long-term wellbeing because it’s simply not what they’re designed to eat.
3. What is a dog’s biologically appropriate diet?
You’ve likely heard a million times over that dogs are not wolves and therefore do not require a primitive diet. This is scientifically inaccurate, and is generally spread by big kibble companies to deter people from taking their business elsewhere.
Genetically, dogs and wild wolves share 99.9% of their DNA and have nearly identical genotypes. The differences we see between domestic dogs and wolves are all phenotypical, meaning the visible characteristics a species adopts via interaction with their environment.
So what should your dog be eating? A biologically appropriate raw food diet:
70–80% lean, raw muscle meat (think cuts of beef and chicken)
10% raw edible bone (never cooked, because bones become brittle and choking hazards)
10% organ meat (liver, kidney, or other hormone-secreting organs)
5% vegetables, which provide micronutrients (bonus points for puréed greens that support proper digestion)
4. By that logic, kibble is the opposite of a biologically appropriate diet. Why?
Dogs biologically require a diet that consists of 70–80% lean protein, like the one above. Kibble is made of 30–60% starchy carbs such as ultra-processed corn and wheat.
Because the industry is disproportionately unregulated (compared to any other food sector), any meat found in kibble only has to meet feed grade quality — the absolute lowest quality assurance standard for meat. Until 2019, the kibble industry overwhelmingly sourced its meat from 4D proteins. That’s dead, dying, diseased, and disabled animals. Many kibbles continue to use these sources today.
If you find unspecific ingredients like “chicken byproduct” labeled on your kibble, it’s referring to the leftovers of an animal after it’s been slaughtered and scraped for useful parts. Kibble is also ultra-processed and cooked at temperatures as high as 900ºF, which not only kills any possibly remaining nutrients, but also strips kibble of any moisture. Your dog is left devoid of nutrients and dehydrated.
All of this is done so that kibble can maintain the longest shelf life possible — though most actually go rancid rather quickly.
5. The negative health effects associated with kibble are long and massive and kind of scary.
The list is long and, frankly, scary for any dog parent. And they’re visible inside and out:
Allergic skin reactions caused by leaky gut syndrome
Diabetes from too much starch
Malnutrition from too little protein
Obesity
Immunosuppression
Metabolic issues
Urinary crystals and stones
Some cancers
6. The dog food industry is essentially self-regulated. Which basically reads: unregulated.
Unlike other food sectors, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not directly regulate pet food. Though they’re legally required to hold companies accountable for misinformation, all other jurisdiction around labeling, ingredient, and nutritional requirements are left in the hands of The Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO).
AAFCO is a voluntary regulatory body who sets the standards and requirements for every dog food in the country — they decide and approve a company’s claim for “nutritionally complete” foods. The truth is, AAFCO works tightly with major dog food manufacturers, who in turn have a significant hand in setting regulations for their own products. As you can assume, companies who are legally allowed to play by their own unchecked rules are not working in the interest of their end customers.
7. A biologically appropriate raw food diet is the absolute best thing you can feed your dog. Don’t let anyone try to tell you different.
But at the end of the day, your goal should be to give your dog the absolute best option in your budget and ability — whatever that looks like for you.
The reality is that our lives are constrained. We can’t always afford perfectly organic home-cooked meals — nor might we have the time. So if you’re unable to feed your dog the perfect from-scratch raw diet, let a trusted, vet-approved, science-led source do it for you. Start small and incorporate raw into your current diet, then let the health improvements speak for themselves.
It’s a change that’s worth making — for the both of you.
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