SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Honest Kitchen® today announced that it has successfully renewed its formal Statement of No Objection with the Federal Food & Drug Association (FDA) to use the term “human grade” on all of its pet food labels. The company’s human grade foods are produced in a human food facility, not in a pet food plant, using 100 percent human edible ingredients.
The term “human grade” is not permitted on conventional pet food products, even if they are made with human grade or human quality ingredients, if the finished product itself is not made in a human food production facility.
The Honest Kitchen, which began making human grade pet foods in 2004, first obtained an FDA statement of no objection that same year, and elected to renew with the administration in the fall of 2013. The process involves providing detailed documentation from each of The Honest Kitchen’s suppliers to verify the human edible status of every ingredient used in the company’s recipes.
“We require our vendors to provide us with a signed Human Edible Status Verification document each year, along with a Statement of Integrity, which promises that the ingredient we’re purchasing meets a specific set of criteria,” explained company founder and CEO Lucy Postins. “They verify that every ingredient is non-GMO, not irradiated, not sourced from (or grown or processed in) China, and also document any applicable sustainability traits, such as Organic certification, Fair Trade, Free-range and so on.”
The Honest Kitchen chooses to make 100 percent human grade pet foods as a way of assuring customers about the quality, purity and integrity of the products. Human food production standards are very different from pet food plant standards when it comes to cleanliness, record-keeping, the maintenance of HACCP plans and other food safety measures. The company has also implemented a system of independent and internal vendor audits, as a secondary measure to ensure that their high demands are upheld throughout the ingredient production process.
About The Honest Kitchen
The Honest Kitchen produces a line of dehydrated human-grade whole foods for dogs and cats, which are made with love in a human food facility (not in a pet food plant) for the highest possible quality standards. Dehydration is a gentle technique that removes only the moisture and retains most natural nutrients found in raw, whole foods. The private, family-owned company was founded by British Immigrants Lucy & Charlie Postins in 2002, and is based in San Diego, CA. The company employs thirty-two people and twelve dogs. The Honest Kitchen’s products are developed with uncompromising attention to detail, by a company of pet lovers with a passion for food. For more information, please visit www.thehonestkitchen.com.
