Safe Pet Food and Dish Handling: Only Less Than 5% of US Dog Owners are Aware of the FDA Guidelines

A majority of dog owners in the United States are unaware and do not follow the safe pet food and dish handling guidelines provided by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as per a new study.

The guidelines are meant to standardize practices to promote hygiene when feeding dogs and other pets.

Pet Food Handling and Food Dish Hygiene

(Photo : Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

In the new study published in the journal PLOS ONE on Wednesday, April 6, researchers discovered that there are numerous violations amongst most US dog owners in domestic settings when it comes to engagement in home pet food handling and food dish hygiene.

Dr. Emily Luisana at the North Carolina State University (NCSU) in Raleigh and her colleagues conducted the study.

The researchers highlighted that there are certain adverse health risks for both owners and dogs, including bacterial contamination, when the FDA guidelines are not being followed.

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Lack of Knowledge or Neglect?

The research team in the study surveyed 417 dog owners across the US and found that only less than 5% of them were aware of the FDA guidelines, as cited by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

The low percentage of well-informed owners is due to the high number of study participants that are either lacking knowledge of the guidelines or are linked to cases of neglect.

Based on the study, only 33.3% of dog owners reported washing their hands after feeding their canine pets.

The statistical results entail that a majority of the owners' hands are still stained with their dog's saliva for a prolonged period of time after feeding them.

On the other hand, the team discovered that only 66.6% are preparing dog food on "separate surfaces" which are also being used when humans eat, as per the AAAS.

Under this category, the results suggest that the rest of the owners are eating on the same ground or table with their pets' bowls.

FDA Guidelines

Based on the FDA guidelines, the following practices must be done when feeding pets:

Hands must be washed for at least 20 seconds after handling pet food
Using a pet bowl as a scooping utensil is prohibited
Dish must be cleaned with hot water for at least 20 seconds after every use
Hands must be washed again for at least 20 seconds after handling food

Regardless of these specific and clear guidelines, the NCSU researchers claimed that the FDA guidelines are not easily made available to dog owners across the country in spite of the information being available online and in other sources, including printed copies.

What Can be Done?

Due to the latest findings, the researchers suggest that improvement in education and implementation of the guidelines is necessary.

Through this, feeding dogs and other pets at home will pave the way for improved food dish hygiene and pet food handling, leading to reduced contamination and better hygiene.

No known measures are being taken yet by the US government following the recent research.

Still, a follow-up study is likely concerning if the guidelines are still being followed or not.