"Human-grade" is one of the most claimed — and most abused — terms in pet food marketing.
Walk down any pet store aisle and you'll find it on dozens of bags. Premium positioning, higher price point, reassuring language. But most of those products aren't human-grade in any meaningful sense. Here's how to tell the difference.
What "Human-Grade" Actually Means (Legally)
According to the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), for a dog food to legitimately claim human-grade status, it must meet two criteria:
- Every ingredient must be human-edible — sourced and handled as food fit for human consumption, not animal feed grade.
- The product must be manufactured in a human-food facility — specifically, a USDA-inspected facility operating under human food production standards (not pet food facility standards, which are far less rigorous).
Both conditions must be met. Not one. Both.
Most pet food brands that claim "human-grade" ingredients fail condition #2. Their ingredients may be sourced to a reasonable standard, but they're processed in pet-food-grade facilities that don't meet USDA human food production requirements. That means the claim is legally dubious at best, misleading at worst.
What "Feed-Grade" Really Means
The alternative to human-grade is feed-grade — and this is what the vast majority of dog food (including most premium brands) actually uses.
Feed-grade ingredients can include:
- 4-D meats: animals that were Dead, Diseased, Dying, or Disabled at slaughter
- Rendered by-products: feathers, hooves, beaks, organs of ambiguous origin
- Protein meals: dried and processed at temperatures that eliminate many nutrients
- Ingredients rejected from the human food supply chain
This is legal in pet food. It's common in pet food. And it's in most of the bags on the shelf, including many that market themselves as "premium."
How to Spot Actual Human-Grade vs. Marketing
Here's a quick test:
- Look for "manufactured in a USDA-inspected human-grade facility" — not just "USDA-inspected" (most facilities are). The words "human-grade" facility are the key distinction.
- Check if ingredients are identifiable whole foods — "beef" vs. "beef meal" vs. "beef by-products" are very different things.
- Ask for a Certificate of Analysis (CoA) — legitimate human-grade brands can provide sourcing documentation. Most can't.
- Look at the full ingredient list — if you see corn, soy, wheat, artificial preservatives (BHA, BHT, ethoxyquin), or "meal" proteins as primary ingredients, the "human-grade" claim should be taken skeptically.
What Loyal Saints Does Differently
Every ingredient in Loyal Saints formulas is:
- Sourced to human-food standards from Midwest farms we have direct relationships with
- Processed in a USDA-inspected facility operating under human-grade production standards
- Listed on the label exactly as it is — no vague "meal" or "by-product" language
No soy. No corn. No GMOs. No artificial preservatives. No additives. No fillers. No by-products.
We say human-grade because it's literally true. And because we wouldn't have it any other way.
See what real human-grade looks like — 40% off your first order.
