This topic seems like a no brainer, doesn’t it? You buy your dog food at the store, bring it home and then pour it into a reusable container and toss the bag away.
Believe it or not, you can actually make mistakes when it comes to dog food storage, and here are the top five things you do not want to do.
Don’t toss it
No, we’re not talking about the food itself, we’re talking about the bag. But you use a reusable container for your dog food, right? Yes, that’s a good thing, however, dog food manufacturers have gone to the extent of creating a bag that will keep the food as fresh as possible. Another reason to hang on to the dog food bag is to retain the bar code and expiration date in case there is a recall.
Now, you can cut off the bar code and the important information and just hang onto that instead of keeping the entire bag.
Don’t air it out
Exposing your dog food to air and humidity can cause the food to degrade faster and also build up bacteria that can make your dog sick. Keep his food sealed as much as possible to prevent this from happening.
Don’t expose to light
Dog food does not keep well in direct sunlight. This is especially true for the bag itself. The temperature warms up inside the bag, creates humidity and that humidity can cause bacteria.
Don’t let it expire
We’ve all consumed products that have gone beyond the expiration date without concern. But this is one time when you’re going to want to pay attention to an expiration date and make sure that you don’t feed your dog food that has gone beyond that date. Pet food can spoil a lot faster because it isn’t typically refrigerated.
Don’t mix
It’s tempting to mix the last bit of an old bag of dog food with the new bag you’ve just purchased. Don’t.
The reason you don’t want to do this is because if there’s any bacteria that is built up in the old food, you could be tainting the new bag and creating a health problem for your pet.
Photo Credit: istockphoto.com
Have you made these dog food storage mistakes?
Related: 5 huge mistakes you can make with cat food.
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