Why “Human Food” Is the Wrong Phrase

People often say you should never give “human food” to dogs. The phrase sounds authoritative, but it collapses when you examine it. There is no category of food biologically reserved for humans. There is only food. Fresh meat is food. Vegetables are food. Eggs, fish, fruit, rice, oats, and dairy are food. They are food because they contain nutrients in their natural state. Dogs can digest and use many of them perfectly well.

So why do so many people believe that real food becomes dangerous or inappropriate the moment it is served to a dog? The answer has almost nothing to do with health and everything to do with history and marketing.

Before the twentieth century, dogs were fed what we would today call real food. Scraps from the kitchen, raw or cooked meats, fish heads, grains, leftover vegetables, eggs, and bones. Working dogs, farm dogs, and companion dogs were fed from the same food sources as the household.

Commercial dog food emerged as an industrial convenience product. It began as a clever way to turn human food manufacturing by-products into something marketable. Leftover cereals, rendered animal parts, waste fats, and trimmings could be dried, pressed, and sold. This solved two problems for manufacturers. It reduced food waste and it opened a profitable new market. As production scaled, companies needed a narrative that positioned their processed product as essential.

This is when the idea took shape that dogs require “dog food”, a product designed specifically for them, and that everything else is “human food”, a risky alternative. The goal was simple. If you can frame a product as the only responsible option, people buy it without question.

The pet food industry’s marketing focused heavily on convenience, safety, and scientific authority. Bags were labelled with charts, numbers, and nutritional claims, giving the impression that pet food was the only way to meet a dog’s needs. Real food was framed as messy, unsafe, or amateurish.

Commercial diets are formulated to meet nutritional criteria. These criteria are minimums and maximums based on laboratory measurements. Meeting criteria means the product contains a certain amount of protein, fat, vitamins, and minerals on paper. It does not mean those nutrients come from high quality ingredients. It does not guarantee digestibility, bioavailability, freshness, or the absence of ultra processing. There is a difference between containing vitamins and being nutritious..

When people tell you not to give “human food” to dogs, what they usually mean is that dogs should not eat chocolate, alcohol, heavily spiced dishes, sweets, onions, or ultra processed fast food. That advice is common sense. It does not justify banning fresh nutritious foods entirely.

Here is the straightforward, sensible way to think about it.

• Safe fresh foods are good for dogs.
• Toxic foods or heavily processed human junk foods are not.
• Modern dog food is a convenience product.

Real food is the same food that living organisms have been eating forever. It is not “human food”. It is food