What’s the environmental impact of pet food?
System Overload
Human-grade pet foods, which use prime meat cuts and other ingredients preferred by many people, add extra pressure to a global food system that will have to feed an estimated 9 billion people by 2050.
quality control
It’s critical that our pets’ food is produced legally and sustainably. Ask your pet food company of choice if it sources its ingredients responsibly—such as seafood certified by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council or Marine Stewardship Council.
Waste not
Pet foods made with byproducts are more sustainable than those made purely from human-grade ingredients; they use animal parts that might otherwise be dumped in landfills, where they could emit tons of carbon dioxide and methane.
Sales of eco-friendly pet food soar as owners become aware of impact
Eco-friendly pet food is on the rise as dog and cat owners become more aware of the impact of their beloved pet’s diet.
New figures released exclusively to the Guardian show that the number of pet food products containing Marine Stewardship Council (MSC)-certified sustainable seafood has grown by 57% in the UK during the last five years, from 49 to 77. In the last year alone consumers bought more than 7m tins, pouches and packs of MSC-certified pet food.
Globally, pets consume about 20% of the world’s meat and fish, a number set to rise with the trend for consumers to feed them human-grade meat. An area double the size of the UK is used to produce dry pet food for cats and dogs each year, while approximately 3m tonnes of fish are used in pet food in the UK every year. Pet food is estimated to be responsible for a quarter of the environmental impacts of meat production, such as the release of greenhouse gases, phosphates and pesticides.
But there are now a growing number of environmentally friendly alternatives available. Dog food containing insects went on sale for the first time in 2019 and can be bought in high street pet food shops, and vegan brands are increasing in popularity. The market continues to grow as people realise the food their pets eat could increase their carbon emissions and contain meat from animals kept in poor welfare conditions.
A recent study found that vegan pet food is just as good for dogs and cats as meat. However, the British Veterinary Association still does not recommend feeding your pet a plant-based diet. The Animal Welfare Act 2006 also penalises pet owners if they fail to feed a “suitable diet” meeting their dog’s nutritional needs – a £20,000 fine or a 51-week jail sentence could ensue.
Andrew Knight, a professor of animal welfare and ethics at the University of Winchester, said at the time that his research showed that cats and dogs had as good or better health outcomes on plant-based diets as they did when fed on meat pet foods, provided these were carefully formulated with additional synthetic nutrients.
In general, fish has a lower carbon footprint than meat, according to research published in the journal Nature Climate Change, which found that for each kilogram of fish caught between one and five kilograms of carbon is produced while red meat production produces between 50 to 750kg of carbon for each kilogram of meat.
However, it is vital that pet owners choose food containing fish that is not overfished, including Cornish sardines. There have also been concerns raised about salmon after investigations that have revealed the environmental impact of salmon farming. And recently the lack of oversight in the UK’s fish farms was revealed by Animal Equality.
Salmon is the most popular species for MSC-certified sustainable pet food containing fish, followed by cod, tuna, sardines and saithe. Newly launched pet food ranges include a prawn pet food product by McAdams, Cornish sardines by Aldi and a golden red fish product by Woofs.
George Clark, the MSC’s programme director for the UK and Ireland, said: “UK pet owners increasingly understand that caring for their furry friends also means looking after the wider environment. Fish species and marine wildlife around the globe are being put at risk as overfishing threaten our oceans. We also know that seafood often has a significantly lower carbon footprint than meat, so buying sustainable seafood products is one of the most positive choices that pet owners can make to help reverse this worrying trend.
“The Marine Stewardship Council recently introduced a Pet Food Brand of the Year award for the very first time at its annual awards this year, a response to the growing importance of sustainability for consumers of sustainable pet food products.”
Quibble with Kibbles: ‘Forever chemicals’ in pet food packaging add to perils at home
The toxic “forever chemicals” known as PFAS create health hazards at home, since they’re used in everyday items like cookware and cosmetics – and new EWG research finds some popular pet food packaging can be yet another way we’re exposed to the perils of PFAS.
Seven pet food brands found at Walmart and other retailers were found to contain some PFAS. Exposure to these forever chemicals have been linked to serious health concerns for people, including cancer, harm to fetal development and reduced vaccine effectiveness.
The tests uncovered individual PFAS in some of the pet food bags: the chemicals PFBA, PFPeA, PFHxA, PFHpA, x62FTCA, x62diPAP and PFPrA.
Purina Cat Chow Complete Chicken had the highest concentration of total PFAS, at 245 parts per billion, or ppb, followed by Kibbles n’ Bits Bacon and Steak flavor, with almost 15 ppb total PFAS. The other bags tested had less than 15 ppb total PFAS.
PFAS are found in the blood of almost every American, and tests have revealed their presence in our beloved pets, risking their health as well. EWG’s research aimed to find out whether pet food packaging might also be a concern.
It’s almost impossible to avoid PFAS, because they’re so prevalent in almost all aspects of our daily lives. Not only do we come into contact with these chemicals through the products in which they’re used, but these items shed PFAS-laced dust that further contaminates households and can pollute air and water once disposed in the trash.
Just as children ingest pollutants with tap water, play on lawns with pesticide residues and breathe in an array of indoor air contaminants, so do our pets. But with compressed life spans – many animals mature and age seven or more times faster than children – pets also develop health problems from exposure much more rapidly, EWG has previously found.
To uncover the PFAS that may hide in pet food bags, EWG commissioned an independent, certified laboratory to conduct tests for total fluorine on 11 bags of pet food from seven popular brands. Tests for total fluorine, usually stated in parts per million, or ppm, indicate the likely presence of PFAS, but they don’t show which PFAS are present.
Further tests from our new research show that the packaging of some well-known pet food brands also hava detectable levels of specific PFAS, which are typically reported in ppb. The lab tested for specific PFAS on four bags with the highest concentrations of fluorine.
For cats, one of the highest results for total fluorine came from Meow Mix Tender Centers Salmon & Chicken Flavors Dry Cat Food, notching more than 600 ppm.
Of the samples, Purina Cat Chow Complete Chicken was next highest at just over 310 ppm of total fluorine. Three other cat food products – Blue Buffalo, Iams and Rachael Ray Nutrish – all had detections of under 100 ppm of total fluorine.
For dogs, Kibbles n’ Bits Bacon and Steak flavor registered just under 600 ppm of total fluorine, followed by Blue Buffalo’s Life Protection Formula Puppy Chicken and Brown Rice Recipe food, with just over 150 ppm. Other dog foods, two produced by Purina, one by Iams, and one by Pedigree, had much lower amounts of total fluorine detected.
Although our research found the suggestion of PFAS in pet food bags, we haven’t concluded that the chemicals had migrated from the packaging to the food itself.
But other research has established the potential for PFAS in packaging to contaminate the food within, which would put families and their four-legged friends at further risk.
Research shows PFAS are present in fast food packaging, creating a further risk of exposure, given the millions of Americans who eat from these places every day. Some companies have agreed under pressure from consumers to phase out use of these chemicals.
But no top pet food manufacturers appear to have committed publicly to stop using forever chemicals in their packaging. And voluntary action will only go so far to lower the risk of pet food bags exposing people to PFAS at home.
We need strong new state and federal actions to eliminate sources of PFAS pollution. That includes preventing industrial discharges of forever chemicals, which can contaminate drinking water, and ending unnecessary uses of PFAS in pet food packaging and in products found in and around the home, including cosmetics, food and clothing.
The Biden administration has committed to several actions that will help to turn off the tap of PFAS pollution, particularly actions by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Now it’s time for other agencies to step up, in particular the Food and Drug Administration. which could do more to keep forever chemicals out of food.
