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When will they Spoil? A Pet Food Experiment

We’ve taken on a little pet food experiment. With the use of preservatives and fabricated meats rampant in pet food, I wondered…would a meat from a pet food mold/spoil in the same way real meat would? Would a pet grade/feed grade meat mold/spoil in the same way human grade meat would?

We’ve taken on a little pet food experiment. With the use of preservatives and fabricated meats rampant in pet food, I wondered…would a meat from a pet food mold/spoil in the same way real meat would? Would a pet grade/feed grade meat mold/spoil in the same way human grade meat would?

Here’s our experiment…

Eight different pet foods were purchased from Petsmart and Publix grocery on 11/16/15; seven wet pet foods and one semi-moist refrigerated pet food – four cat foods, four dog foods. All of the pet foods chosen are manufactured in ‘pet food facilities’ thus all pet foods are considered pet grade or feed grade. Each brand, best by date, and lot number was documented (listed below).

IMG_2285Each wet pet food was opened, and the contents poured into a stainless steel colander. Individually, the pet foods were thoroughly rinsed with tap water to rinse off any preservative and to separate meat chunks from other ingredients. The colander was washed with soap and water between each pet food. After rinsing, the sample section removed was blotted dry with a paper towel to remove excess moisture.

The semi-moist refrigerated pet food included small pieces of cooked chicken. With this pet food there was no need to rinse. Pieces of chicken were removed from the bag and placed directly into the sample container.

Also included in our experiment is a sample of human grade Non-GMO Project Verified chicken. This meat was purchased raw (whole chicken) and roasted in my oven on 11/15/15. Meat was removed from the bone same day and immediately refrigerated. On the same day the pet food samples were placed into test containers, so was the non-GMO human grade meat; slightly shredded to be similar to the pet food samples.

IMG_2293All pet food meat samples and the human grade meat sample were placed in food storage containers – plastic base with glass covers (they are upside down as we wanted the space to spread the meat across each container – minimal bunching of samples). These containers are not air-tight. All samples are being stored at room temperature.

Foods included in this experiment…

Cat Foods

Nutro
Perfect Portions Soft Loaf Chicken Recipe Cat Food
Best By 8/14/17
Lot 534A1ARKF1 17:32E

Wellness
Divine Duos Savory Pate Topped with Cuts in Gravy with Chicken Pate & Diced Turkey Cat Food
Best By July 2016
Lot 09:28 NP2150

Blue Buffalo
Healthy Gourmet Flaked Chicken Entrée Cat Food
Best By June 2, 2018
Lot 1852 U 61XCM4

Fancy Feast
Purely Fancy Feast Natural White Meat Chicken Entrée in a Delicate Broth
Best By June 2017
51530665 L2SD31257

Dog Foods

Natural Balance
Delectable Delights for Dogs Chow Down Chowder with Chicken, Peas & Carrots in a Tasty Gravy Dog Food
Best By 6/18/16
Lot DDD434757 RP54

Freshpet
Vital Grain Free Chicken, Beef, Salmon & Egg Recipe Dog Food
Best By 2/24/16
Lot 18-11-FBP

Beneful
Chopped Blends with Chicken, Liver, Peas, Brown Rice & Sweet Potatoes Dog Food
Best By March 2017
Lot 52521162 L2KH30212

Pedigree
Choice Cuts in Gravy with Chicken & Rice Dog Food
Best By 8/15/17
Lot 534BKKKCE 2332MG

Human Grade Meat

Murray’s Whole Chicken raw, Non-GMO Project Verified

Some Notes: It was interesting to me that the meat from the Fancy Feast cat food and the Natural Balance dog food felt…stiff…cardboard-ish. In touching the meats in all of these pet foods, these two foods felt significantly different. Most of the rest of the meats felt soft, some almost spongy.

The Wellness cat food did not separate well with rinsing, especially the bottom third of the can.

How this experiment came to be…

About a year and a half ago, I purchased a loaf of bread from the deli at a local grocery. After consuming about half of the loaf, somehow the remaining half loaf of bread got lost in the pantry. We found it a month later. But…the bread was still reasonable soft and had no mold on it. Zero mold. So we decided to keep it around just to see if it ever would mold. A year and a half later, the bread is hard but never molded. I was stunned. My thoughts went to…what chemicals are in this bread to prevent it from molding? And then my thoughts went to pet food and this experiment was born.

So…what is your guess will happen in this experiment? Will the human grade meat show signs of spoilage first or will the pet food meats? Will the pet food meats ever show visible signs of spoilage (think pet food preservatives)?

My prediction…the human grade meat will be the first to show visible signs of spoilage. I also am guessing that some of the pet food meats will be exactly like the loaf of bread…they will look picture perfect for a long, long time. We’ll see.

As spoilage occurs…I will post updates.

 

Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,

Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author Buyer Beware, Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
TruthaboutPetFood.com
Association for Truth in Pet Food

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18 Comments

18 Comments

  1. Nancy

    November 17, 2015 at 1:04 pm

    I did this same experiment with a jar of applesauce. I have problems with preservatives, chemicals, etc. in
    my food. Opened a jar of applesauce (store brand) and ate some. Forgot about it for awhile. No mold, no
    nothing…..Contacted the company and they insisted that in this jar of applesauce there was nothing but
    apples and water. I let it sit in the fridge up until September. It went from April 2015 until September 2015 and it was just as great as the day it was opened. Truly a miracle of what?? It was thrown away. Needless to say I no longer trust this or many of the companies anymore.

    • Sherrie Ashenbremer

      November 19, 2015 at 7:50 am

      Our food along with our pets food is not healthy. I just don’t know what to eat anymore, I thought chicken was good but it’s not. I thought veggies (produce) was good but not sure where that is really coming from . I worry about my dogs all the time. I have five dogs, I try to feed them good foods. I don’t want to make my own because I don’t believe I can give them all the nutrition they need. So scary to eat these days, why does the USA allow GMO and bad stuff that the Europeans do not!

  2. Laura

    November 17, 2015 at 1:29 pm

    I agree, I think the human grade meat will go bad first, and much more quickly than the others do, IF they ever do.

  3. Nina Wolf

    November 17, 2015 at 2:24 pm

    I got $20 here that says that commercial food will still be around when we get old. Oh, wait…

    • Debi Cohen

      November 18, 2015 at 5:37 pm

      Good Wolfie always around for the funny lines!

  4. Teresa Johnson

    November 17, 2015 at 2:41 pm

    Wow, flashbacks! More years than I care to remember my next youngest sister did a science project where she took various bread types – white, whole wheat, rye – spritz each slice with water to moisten, wrapped in clear plastic wrap, and hid them away in a desk drawer to see which molded first/most. Highly processed white bread was last. No wonder folks suffer gut issues when consuming large quantities of white breads!
    While most every pet food label says safe to store at room temp, I’ve never trusted that idea – too many variables with weather, humidity, etc. Add to it that I’m feeding hedgehogs who consume 1 – 3 tablespoons of kibble daily compared to the cups daily per cat/dog my bags are around a good while. I’ve always stored just a bit in an air-tight jar for day-to-day use with the remainder being kept in fridge or freezer, usually double bagged freezer grade bags.
    My money is on the human grade chicken going south first. Blue Buffalo probably next but not too quickly.

  5. james gearhart

    November 17, 2015 at 2:44 pm

    hi Susan, 1st Thank Yoy for the great work that you have done. I have bought 4 “Buyer Beware” books & given them to friends & family. 2nd I am also willing to bet that meat in the pet foods will take a VERY long time to spoil. I have been trying (for 10 wks.) to eliminate both kibble & free-feeding for my cats.They are now consuming more wet food but the pace has been slow. I have 7 kitties & finding wet foods that they will all consume (& not break the bank) has been very challenging. I still have 1 or 2 that lap up the gravy or sauce , then walk away & wait until I give them kibble. i recently joined ATPF & was wondering if you could review Purina’s Beyond cat dry food. The ingredient list looks pretty good to a novice like me except for menadione sodium bisulfite complex. I e-mailed Purina 12 days ago & have heard nothing. PLEASE ADVISE Jim G

    • Susan Thixton

      November 17, 2015 at 2:55 pm

      Hi James – with reviews in Petsumer Report, we are rebuilding the entire website right now updating each review and adding all new foods (we have about 3,000 products reviewed so far). I’m guessing that by the end of the year the new site will be up (fingers crossed) – so that review is coming.

      • Sherrie Ashenbremer

        November 19, 2015 at 7:57 am

        Susan you are an angel. There is a place in heaven for you, all you do to help out pets and all you do for our pet families. My Mom always told me to remember to say “thank you” and that would be enough. So, THANK YOU a thousand times THANK YOU! Looking forward to your 2016 Best Foods list, I purchase that every year.

    • Laura

      November 17, 2015 at 4:07 pm

      I don’t know what’s in that food, but a simple keyword search on this site will show that Purina’s track record is deplorable. They’re basically one of the worst of the worst. Good food is expensive, but you make up for it in less vet bills and more quality time with your kitties. Cooking your own food might be cheaper, I’m not sure.

  6. Mandy B

    November 17, 2015 at 2:52 pm

    I order cases of Hound & Gatos cat food online, and one of the packages I received was damaged. One of the corner cans was dented and leaked out over the box. As soon as I opened the shipping box, the smell was horrible and putrid just like rotten meat. I literally gagged. It only took 2 days to arrive to me after being shipped, so I guess that’s a good sign that there aren’t a lot of preservatives in the food.

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  8. barbara m.

    November 17, 2015 at 8:24 pm

    Just read an article about deli meats – how they’re made and all the various preservatives added. Deli meats are blended, mixed, emulsified, tumbled and massaged, (Egads) and are what pet food meats often look and feel like… not Real.

    So, certain pet food meats could have the preservatives blended in and then formed into meat shapes, making it harder to rinse off.

    I guess Susan will soon know. How fun. Please take lots of photos.

  9. Johanna

    November 17, 2015 at 11:07 pm

    So excited to see how this experiment turns out! A brilliant idea, and hopefully will give pet owners a more tangible idea of why these foods are so awful. (Scary bit about the bread as well!) I’m going with your prediction, Susan, and I agree with the other comments, please post lots of pics! @ Barbara, that’s a good point! And if I recall correctly, they’re tumbled in something similar to a washing machine with ammonia (!?) to kill any bacteria. It’s insane. FDA is useless. No processed foods in my house anymore. *smh*

  10. andi

    November 18, 2015 at 12:23 pm

    Great Job SHERLOCK!:)
    You are always thinking out of the box. Thanks for keeping us informed. Look forward to knowing your results.

  11. Debi Cohen

    November 18, 2015 at 5:36 pm

    What a great experiment, wish I had thought of it myself, so good of you and of course……….innovative, love this, much cheaper and time efficient then waiting on a lab, good goin miss Susan, you are so one of my favorite people!!!!! Cannot wait for the results. Thank you so much for being so un-selfish and so caring, no brown-nosing here just the simple truth.

  12. Amee Rech

    November 19, 2015 at 5:10 pm

    Outstanding experiment! I will await updates with tented fingers.

  13. Jo Singer

    November 20, 2015 at 6:10 pm

    I too await eagerly to see these results. Thanks for setting up this experiment. I also wonder how long canned cat food (high quality) that is refrigerated will take to spoil. I keep any open can with an air tight cover for only one day tops in the fridge. That’s why I like the 3 oz cans.

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