Can humans eat cat food, and if not, why? Can humans eat cat food?

Yulia Chiguzneva, Account Manager, andVictoria Rybakova, Scientific Support Expert, Royal Canin:

“The answer to this question needs to be broken down into two components: the food safety of the product used and the appropriateness of such an act.

As for the first question. Royal Canin factories (there are 12 of them in the world) are among the most modern enterprises for the production of products for pets. Extruding, drying, coating - every step of the production process involves highly professional technologies that are the same for all our production facilities around the world. This also applies to the strict dosage of the raw materials required by the recipe, and extrusion - the raw materials are mixed and passed heat treatment at a temperature of more than 100 ° C, and drying the finished croquettes, and applying the shell (at this stage, the croquettes are sprayed with natural flavors that increase the appetite of the feed, and fatty acids required for metabolism in dogs and cats).

In addition, there are such important factors as:

1) Strict selection of suppliers and the inclusion in the production process of only those raw materials that are suitable for human consumption. For example, the chicken meal used as the main source of protein in Royal Canin's dry rations is made from healthy animals that have passed veterinary control before slaughter and have not been exposed to antibiotics.

2) Use in production of sanitary norms and rules in force at enterprises Food Industry. Firstly, this is the division of the process into a dirty (a place of acceptance and storage of raw materials), a conditionally clean (production of croquettes) and a clean (packaging) zone. The movement of plant employees from a dirty area to a conditionally clean and clean area is prohibited, which eliminates contamination. All workers at the entrance to the production complex put on overalls. Secondly, Royal Canin products are free of salmonella. For animals, these bacteria are not dangerous, however, in order to avoid accidental human infection with salmonellosis, such veterinary control is also carried out. Ingredients containing GMOs and other components prohibited for consumption are not allowed to be produced.

Thus, from the point of view of health, the use of cat food by humans is absolutely safe, but is it necessary? Among Russian nutritionists in the last decade there has been a joke that in our country only athletes, children and dogs with cats eat right. Indeed, our menu often has serious errors, and balanced diets are produced for our pets, but they are designed specifically for their needs and their metabolism. Eating one bag of food for two with our cat will not make us healthier, since many processes in our body go differently. For example, with a lack of intake of vitamin C from food, a person quickly develops vitamin deficiency - scurvy, and cats do not need to receive this substance from the outside.

Summary: when eating cat food, a person will not earn health problems, but he will not receive much benefit either. Because Royal Canin's food is formulated for dogs and cats, we do not recommend human consumption."

Marina Kalashnikova, gastroenterologist, nutritionist, Federal State Budgetary Institution "United Hospital with a Polyclinic" of the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation:

“Although cat food contains the main components of the human diet - proteins, fats, carbohydrates - they are in different proportions, so it can be harmful if consumed for a long time. Except meat, poultry, fish and vegetables cat's food may contain animal products such as ground bones. The amount of iron in your pet's food may exceed human needs for this trace element (this is undesirable for men, but not so terrible for women).

Reported cases of poisoning cat food no. And perhaps sterilized canned cat food is safer than the "delicacies" served at some human eateries.

Well, if someone happens to eat cat food on a dare, it would be advisable to add ascorbic acid to the diet (cats, unlike humans, usually do not experience vitamin C deficiency, since it is in enough produced in the liver of an animal, but in humans, a deficiency of this vitamin can cause serious health problems).

For the selection of a human balanced diet, it is better to consult a human nutritionist.

Many cat owners have long switched to feeding their pets only with special industrial feeds. This is very convenient: you do not need to buy a variety of food for pets, cut it for a long time and subject it to any processing. Moreover, the choice prepared food for smaller brothers, it is replete with a large abundance of different tastes and textures. Seeing how a beloved pet appetizingly crunches dry pads or enjoys food with aromatic sauce, the owners have a question: is it possible for a person to eat cat food?

What attracts people to cat food

What makes people taste pet food? Anyone good host it is important to know whether his pet eats healthy and tasty food. That is why many people decide to taste such food. Both wet treats from bags and jars, and dry ones act as samples.

It is interesting! There is a category of people who just like the smell of cat dinner. It's all about the added flavors. It is these substances that are able to attract the animal to a bowl of food, and for many people this smell is sometimes quite attractive. Some owners like to use cat food as a beer snack instead of saltine crackers and crackers.

There are those who decided to taste this delicacy with someone on a bet. There is nothing wrong with a person trying cat food. Some people even like it. In the days of the USSR, Soviet tourists, traveling abroad, ate only canned dog food in order to save money. People liked the taste of such food and there were no complications with their health!

Also, pregnant women are very fond of trying food for smaller brothers. Expectant mothers have dramatically changed tastes and perception of smells - that's why women in interesting position tend to crunch dry cat food.

Feed making process

Pet food is considered healthy and completely balanced diet that meets all the requirements for maintaining the health of a fluffy pet. All feeds are divided into three categories:

Dry.
Wet food in sealed bags.
Canned in cans.

Manufacturers various kinds a lot of food. Present on the market great amount cat food companies. But does everyone know how the process of making treats for fluffy pets takes place?

How dry food is made

Often the owners feed their cats with just such food. This is very convenient, because the fluffy beauty will eat exactly as much as she sees fit. The food left in the bowl will not dry out or spoil, and the pet will always be able to finish his meal.

Dry food, depending on the future value, is produced from both better and cheaper raw materials. To create an expensive treat, meat parts, cereals, vitamins and minerals, and fats are used. For a cheaper one - bones, tails, veins, skin, etc. The process of making dry food is divided into 6 stages:

Grinding - with the help of mills, the raw materials are carefully ground almost to the state of flour. The crushed particles are better absorbed in the body of pets.
Mixing of all ingredients - takes place in large kneading blender machines. The raw materials must be thoroughly and evenly mixed, otherwise the fluffy beauties may be poisoned.
The extrusion process is the forcing of mixed raw materials through special forming holes, resulting in compressed granules.
Drying - the extruded feed is dried. The procedure is necessary in order to remove the remaining moisture from the granules.
Cooling - dried granules are cold treated to prevent the appearance of various molds on them.
Glazing - final stage in cooking. Various flavors and fats are sprayed onto the granules, which are highly attractive to felines.

People should not eat cat food even out of simple curiosity. Source: Flickr (Fencpost)

Wet and canned

It is prepared almost exactly the same as dry, but has some differences:

Instead of a drying and cooling process, the pellets are saturated with moisture as well as humectants.
The mixing step uses heat- this is so that the starch contained in the raw material becomes jelly-like. This stage greatly affects the taste of the finished feed.
While the product is hot, it is packed in sealed bags and jars, and then further sterilized. The finished product at the end is cooled and put on sale.

Is it safe to eat cat food?

The diet of humans and animals is completely different. Everything that is suitable for one is completely contraindicated for another. For example, a ready-made diet for home beauties contains a substance such as taurine. In nature, this vitamin is extracted from the meat of rats and mice. For humans, taurine is harmful, and in animal nutrition it is found in large doses.

All feeds are also fortified. great content gland. For human body such a dose of a microelement is considered too high. People for normal life need regular intake of vitamin C, otherwise you can get serious illness. In the body pet Vitamin C can be produced in the liver, so it is not found in prepared foods.

Note! Nutrition for four-legged pets contains many flavors that are not suitable for humans. In addition, their diet is fundamentally different from the human one, since we have a different metabolism.

If a person occasionally tastes food, no severe consequences it will not cause, but you can not eat such food for a long time. There were no cases of poisoning among those who like to eat cat food, since all companies carefully control the production of food for four-legged fluffies and conduct tests for various infections(including salmonella). But a person can easily get stomach problems by regularly eating industrial feed.

Many people want to taste pet food. Is it possible? People should not eat cat food even out of simple curiosity. Given food useful only for smaller brothers, but not for humans. Let this food be eaten by those for whom it is intended.

General information

The acorn is the fruit of the oak. This tree is the personification of strength, longevity and beauty, so it is considered an honor for gardeners to grow such a symbol in their garden. To do this, you just need to plant an acorn. Later, when the seedling grows up, it will bear fruits that will bring great benefit human health and become a favorite delicacy.

Selection of good acorns

Can you eat acorns? The fruits of any oak tree are edible. Depending on the type of tree, they are divided into varieties. But the best acorns are considered from the Emory oak and from the white tree of this type of Oregon. Such nuts are most often eaten, since they contain less tannins.

For example, acorns growing on black oak have a bitter taste and take a long time to cook. Today, few people consider oak fruits to be edible or doubt whether it is possible to eat raw acorns? The fact is that raw nuts contain tannins in a very large quantities which makes them bitter. Most importantly, if you eat a lot of nuts, you can get toxic poisoning. Therefore, they are not eaten raw.

How to prepare acorns before eating?

Can you eat acorns? Properly cooked nuts do not contain tannic acid, as a result of which they do not cause a toxic reaction, so they can be consumed. Indigenous peoples of the Americas rid acorns of harmful substances with the help of water. They peel the nuts, put them in a bag and lower them into a stream of water. Another way is also valid. Acorns are shelled, poured with water and boiled, changing the liquid, until tannic acid leaves no traces of water). Then the fruits are dried and fried like ordinary nuts.

How to properly serve acorns?

After the tannins are removed, the nuts become sweet in taste and acquire a soft texture. Ready-to-eat people consider dried or fried acorns. But you can diversify the menu of them and make sweets by sprinkling the fruits with sugar. Can you eat acorns? Back in the 19th century, acorns were used as coffee, as the prices for real grains were very high. The flavor of the oak fruit drink was not appealing, but it was coffee nonetheless.

Can you eat acorns? Nuts crushed into small crumbs are used for baking bread and muffins. They are used to thicken liquid products. In Korea, starch is produced from acorns, which is used to make noodles or jelly.

Oak fruit oil

One way to prepare acorns is to obtain oil, which is abundant in the fruit: the third part total mass. In the distant past, oil was not used for food. It was used by hunters from North American countries during the hunt. The tart scent attracted animals and also masked people's own scent. Later, soft varieties of acorns from Europe and Africa were used to produce oil similar to appearance on a product made from the fruit of the olive.

Planting an acorn at home

For oak breeding, you need to choose high-quality fruit specimens. To determine suitability, nuts are placed in water. The specimens that float to the surface are thrown away, and those remaining at the bottom are used for landing. Selected nuts are placed in the refrigerator for a period of two months to create winter conditions. Seeds are pre-packed hermetically with the addition of a moisture-containing substance.

After the roots appear, the acorns are placed in horizontal position in a box with prepared soil. For two weeks of planting, it is necessary to water abundantly. After the appearance of several leaves, the sprouted plant is planted in a permanent place of growth in the soil of the garden with the following signs:

The length of the sprouts should reach 15 cm.
The main root is developed.
The seedling is two weeks old.
Root system - no signs of disease.

The place in the garden should be lit, sunny. A pipeline should not pass near the site and other crops should not grow, which can limit the freedom of a young tree. A landing site two meters in diameter needs to be cleared and dug up. It is better to plant two plants side by side and fence them off. mechanical damage animals or people. Until the plant takes root, it needs to be watered periodically. When the first fruits appear on the tree,is it possible to eat oak acorns, see for yourself.

Benefits of oak fruit

Acorns, like all nuts, - solid food. They have less fat, but more complex carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins. Oak fruits have been used since ancient times traditional healers for the treatment and prevention of many diseases.

According to scientists, acorns help regulate sugar levels in the human body.
Treat gastrointestinal disorders. Can you eat acorns? They are not only eaten as part of cooked or independent dishes, but also treated. Coffee is prepared from oak fruits and consumed for three months without interruption three times throughout the day.
They treat bronchi, asthma, heart, genitourinary system. To do this, prepare a drink with the addition of honey, sugar.
Acorns have antitumor, enveloping and bactericidal action.
Fruits help with enuresis, increase potency.
Treat thrombosis and varicose veins.
When eating acorns, the intellectual abilities of a person increase, the work of the brain is activated, and attention is concentrated.

Acorn coffee

To prepare a drink, the fruits do not have to be soaked. After harvesting from the forest, they are baked in the oven with their skins on until they turn pink. Then the skin is peeled off, and the fruits are finely chopped. One small spoon of the mixture is enough for a glass of water.

Who, besides man, eats acorns?

Oak fruits are a favorite delicacy of all rodents: squirrels, mice, chipmunks. These animals make large stocks of acorns in autumn, which allows them to have food in winter, despite the fact that there are no nuts and berries in the forest at this time. Can birds eat acorns? Of course, oak fruits are very nutritious, so the birds are quickly saturated with them and do not feel hungry in snowy winters. Acorn nuts are a favorite delicacy for the larger inhabitants of the forest: bears, deer, wild boars.

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Can humans eat animal food?

V: I am old man and I'm having a hard time making ends meet. Is it ok to eat dog and cat food sometimes? This would help me save money.

O: Of course not. Pet food is manufactured to a different standard than food intended for humans. It contains a different balance nutrients. Many, very good food for animals are much more expensive than regular products for people. I cannot advise you to eat animal food.

If you are retired and on a budget, I would advise you to buy products that you can afford. Some people buy unnecessary products that are expensive because they are specially packaged or otherwise convenient (for example, home-delivered products), or finished products(e.g. frozen pizza).

Buying cheap meat (for example, minced meat), fresh vegetables or processed foods, cereals, breads and dairy products, you can eat well without going over your budget.

If you find it difficult to distribute funds yourself, contact the social service. Social worker the nearest public health center or hospital can help you budget and manage your lifestyle.

P.S. All animals get sick from time to time, just like people. Do not treat animals on your own, for this there is a veterinary clinic in every city, where your pet will be provided with qualified assistance.

Many of us have seen with what pleasure a cat absorbs its food in a bowl. And surely some people are wondering what is so delicious in these balls and is it possible to try them? You can try, but use on permanent basis not recommended, regardless of whether you buy a cat food - dry or liquid. Remember, what is good for an animal can be bad for humans. Today we’ll talk about whether people can eat cat food and why it is harmful to humans.

What is cat food

By itself, cat food is in many ways similar to the food that is eaten. ordinary people. In order to understand how edible it is, you need to understand what it is. So, the basis of the balls is two or three types of flour:

cereal;
meat and bone from meat;
meat and bone from fish.

All ingredients are thoroughly mixed, after which they are sent for granulation. For this, a special unit, the so-called extruder, has been developed. Extrusion is carried out at elevated temperatures, at about 100 degrees Celsius. This completes the development of the base and it is time to make this beauty attractive to the animal. In order for the cat to become interested in food, special substances are used, such as animal fat and natural flavors. This attracts cats and hints to them that the proposed delicacy is quite tasty. Ultimately, all this is packaged and sent to the final consumer.

Immediately, we note that manufacturers carry out the strictest quality control of products. Any famous brand conducts a huge number of tests of its products, this is done at each stage of production:

Cereals intended for the production of flour are checked for the presence of fungal diseases;
Animal products are studied to identify harmful microorganisms that can harm the animal and can survive temperatures of 100 degrees during extrusion.

Interestingly, almost from the very beginning of the production of dry and liquid cat food, many manufacturers began to test for the presence of salmonella. What for? They took care of us only, since pets can only be carriers of salmonella, they cannot get sick with salmonellosis. And by the way, this is the first danger that should be mentioned. No one is immune from mistakes, so there is always a risk of finding a "surprise" granule. But this surprise will definitely be unpleasant and may well send a curious gourmet to the hospital. Salmonella is not the only nasty microorganism, so pet food is not worth eating just because of the bacterial threat.