If you’ve ever accidentally (or on purpose - we won’t judge you) eaten a dog biscuit or your dog’s chocolate treats in the fridge and thought “hmmm, tastes pretty good”, then this story might not gross you out.

But for the rest of us…

It turns out there are people - actual humans - who taste pet food for a living!

Yes, they put cat or dog food in their mouth and review it for taste, texture and smell.

Which is fascinating, because if you’ve got a dog, you know they will eat anything if given half a chance. Not just yummy human food like cheese and roast chicken snatched from your plate when you're not looking, but disgusting stuff like another animal’s poop, slimy worms and even their own vomit.

So it would be fair to say they’re not fussy right?

According to website Career Match, pet food tasters make sure that dogs will like the foods being made for them and that humans won't gag at the smell as they dish it out. They don’t just sit around eating pet food all day either; tasters are also looking for ways to come up with new recipe ideas that taste great and are nutritionally sound.

Because even if dogs are prepared to eat crap, they really shouldn’t live off a junk food diet.

Do you think you could work as a pet food taster?

First thing to know is that pet tasters usually spit out the food rather than swallowing it. So if you're used to gargling wine to taste it, this might not be very different. 

Actually, you probably need a slug of wine at the end to wash the taste away.

But if you think you've got a stomach for it, and you want to know more, check out this clip from a documentary at a pet food factory in the UK. Quality Manager Joe does some taste testing of cat food - with humans and cats both eating from bowls!

It does seem that dog food brands are getting fancier and starting to include ingredients like quinoa, kale, veggies and duck eggs, so chowing down on some dog food might not seem too horrid actually.

There’s a whole host of videos on TikTok with chef-prepared pet meals that look like they belong in a restaurant! Dumplings anyone?

@chefsanddogs Reply to @xxrobloxforlifexx57 yes chef 🥟. #asmr #dogdad #dumplings #friendshipgoals #masterbowie ♬ original sound - Chefs and Dogs

Time to come back next lifetime as a pampered pooch with a chef as a human we think. These dogs eat better than us!

@chefsanddogs Reply to @puckfeepisoffical time for another dinner 👨🏼‍🍳🐶🥩 #takeaway #dogs #dogdad #asmr #asmrmukbang #feedfreshchallenge #rawfeddog #rawfeeding ♬ Soothing Sounds - ASMR

Main image (composite): Roman Samborskyi/Annette Shaff/Africa Studio/Shutterstock.com