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What is Human Grade Dog Food?

What is Human Grade Dog Food?

Updated on April 25, 2025
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Reviewed by Petco’s Animal Care, Education and Compliance (ACE) Team
Education and Compliance (ACE) Team
dog eating from bowl

Pet parents want the best for their dogs. But with so many dog food options available, choosing the right diet can feel overwhelming. You’ve probably heard of grain-free, natural, and fresh dog foods. Now, another category is gaining traction: human-grade dog food.

What is human-grade dog food?

Human-grade dog food is a loosely defined term meaning “human-edible,” but to earn that label, all ingredients must be human-edible and the product must be manufactured, packaged, and stored according to specific federal regulations.

It's important to keep in mind that when it comes to human-grade dog food products, there’s more to this term than the connotation. While that can sound like a human-grade label could mean a food is nutritious for your pup, researching the options available to you is still an important part of choosing a diet.

How AAFCO defines human-grade dog food:

Human-grade food meets human nutritional needs:

For a product to be truly human-edible, all of the ingredients within the product must be human-edible, and the product also must be manufactured, packaged and held in accordance with certain federal regulations. When all of those conditions are met together in one item, then a product can be labeled as “human-grade.”

Food regulations are different for dogs and humans:

It's very possible that human-grade dog food could be worth the extra expense that is sometimes associated with these products. Unfortunately, however, that claim can be misleading. A claim that dog food is “human-grade” or “human-quality” implies that the food being referred to is edible for people, and since the the terms “human-grade” or “human-quality” have no real legal definition, they don’t necessarily always correlate to “healthy” food items for your pet.

According to The Association of American Feed Control Officials, (AAFCO), the term “human grade” has no standardized definition in the pet food space. However, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has defined a standard for the term “edible.”

Other labels to check for dog nutrition:

Other dog food diets also have terms that are important to understand. For example, dog food products that state they are “USDA organic,” typically have stricter standards that require a product to be made without synthetic pesticides and genetic engineering may not be used during production. On the flip side, dog food and products labeled as “natural” can occasionally be misleading by how they are represented on packaging. While AAFCO has defined what “natural” pet food means, there are often cases of pet food manufacturers stretching the intention of the definition.

How to buy human-grade dog food and treats:

Judge each product individually:

Since there is still some haziness and controversy around the terms “human-grade” and “human-quality” as they apply to dog food, it is important to assess each human-grade food brand individually.

Check your dog's nutrition requirements:

While a dog food that is called “human-grade” could mean that it has passed all the necessary requirements to be edible to humans, it doesn’t always imply that it will also be a nutritious meal option for your pet as it may still lack a complete nutritional profile for dogs, such as the correct levels of specific vitamins and minerals. It is best to ask your vet if you are not sure.

Start small when changing your dog’s diet:

If feeding your dog a diet of strictly human-grade dog food seems daunting at first, pet parents can also decide from a range of diverse human-grade dog food products that are available, including ready-to-eat, complete prepackaged meals and human-grade canned dog food, to dog treats or frozen daily meals that last for long periods when properly stored.

Take new food slow and steady:

Changing your dog's diet to a new food requires gradual changes over time. By ensuring they do thorough research on human-grade dog food brands, pet parents can find an option that will benefit the nutritional needs of their dog. Just remember to look beyond the packaging and read the ingredient label. Your local Petco partner is here to help!

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