When it comes to the simple, every day things like storing pet food, follow these basic rules.

Temperature and Humidity Control

Keep the food in the house, out of direct sunlight, and in a temperature controlled room. (Not a place lacking temperature control such as a garage, shed or basement.) Cool and dry is good; warm and moist is bad. I know this seems like basic common sense, but I have a story that led to writing this post. Friends were storing their dry dog and cat foods in a shed in upstate New York all year round. I only heard about this because mice got into the food and my friend mentioned that to me and that’s how the choice of a shed as a storage place came to light.  Freezing temperatures, heat, and fluxation of temperature harm nutrients in pet foods. Extreme heat can cause rancidity, freezing destroys probiotics, and varying temperatures can cause food to “perspire” and could lead to mold. There is also a generalized degradation of nutrient value.

Harmful Containers

If the dry kibble food you purchase comes in a zip-lock bag, use the zip-lock. If there is no zip-lock bag (and also if there is) use an air tight bin. Store the entire bag inside the bin verses pouring the food directly into the bin. Food that’s placed directly in a bin creates a fatty, oily residue that coats the sides of the bin eventually becoming rancid, exposing your pet’s food to on-going rancidity and the potential for bacterial contamination. This practice also increases the risk of storage mites and mold. And harmful chemicals from plastic pet food containers can seep into the pet food.

If on occasion you wash the bin, rinse the soap well and dry, dry, dry, dry. Moisture inside the bin could cause dangerous mold growth on the food.

Always keep the original bag in the unfortunate event that there is recall. You will have a way to know that your food is or is not affected.

My favorite pet food and the food I sell, Life’s Abundance, comes in zip lock pet food bags which are made in Germany and which are free of toxic chemicals called perflorinated compounds, PFC. PFC’s are used in non-stick cookware, carpeting, and many other products. Here’s a fact sheet about PFC. Some pet food companies use PFC in their kibble bags to keep the bags grease proof and stain proof. Over time, PFC may seep into the food.

In addition, paper bags allow air to leak inside and the oxygen can cause early rancidity and some loss of nutrients. And they take about four times more energy to make than the bags for Life’s Abundance. Life’s Abundance bags keep the kibble inside fresh and safe and help the environment too.

There’s another chemical which is sometimes used to line pop-top pet food cans (and canned foods for people as well), bisphenol A-diglycidyl ether, BADGE. An article in the highly reputable Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association associates this endocrine-system-disrupting toxin with hyperthyroidism in cats, an all too common disease which is not fun or inexpensive to treat, and even less fun for the cat. Click here to read the AVMA  article. Bisphenol A-diglycidyl ether reacts with oils in the food and is then ingested when cats eat. BADGE is also used the manufacture of non-food related adhesives and protective coatings.

Life’s Abundance canned dog and cat food cans are NOT lined with bisphenol A-diglycidyl ether.