CLEVELAND, Ohio – During Sunday night's episode of "The Walking Dead" Season 7, titled "The Cell," Daryl Dixon got a full taste of what the Saviors are capable of.
While being held prisoner at the Sanctuary, Daryl was subjected to physical abuse, loud music so he can't sleep and eating dog food sandwiches.
Let's keep things in perspective. None of those things are as bad as getting your head bashed in. But dog food sandwiches are a new torture technique we have yet to see on "TWD."
Daryl takes it all in stride. But we have to wonder just how healthy can eating dog food be for the human stomach?
According to several studies, the best comparison to commercial dog food is with common fast foods. Think burgers, tacos and fries. That might be a bit alarming to to owners (or people who eat fast food regularly). But humans and dogs do have a similar genetic makeup and DNA similarities that are (depending on the study) anywhere from 75 to 85 percent alike.
Of course that's not really good news for Daryl, as most many processed dog foods are made from low-level meats of dead or diseased animals. Not that you can afford to be picky during the zombie apocalypse.
I suppose if you get your hands on a quality brand of dog food, it's not all that bad. At least, that's what a pet-store owner set out to prove in 2014.
She ate dog food for 30 days in an effort to prove it's healthier than most human foods. According to experts, that's not a healthy practice.
"The ingredients listed in some pet foods may be wholesome and akin to real foods humans eat on a daily basis," a dietician from Mount Sinai Hospital told Women's Health in 2014. "But someone eating pet foods also runs a significant risk of contracting foodborne illness from eating foods not intended for the human gut."
Then there's this woman, who spent a year on The Paleo Diet before switching to dog food for a week. She seemed to be okay with it and appears to still be alive.
The bigger risk seems to come if you stay on dog food for too long, as it is not subject to the same safety regulations as human food.
"Humans can eat dog food; however, doing so is potentially harmful," according to the FDA. "Some dog foods are made with human-grade ingredients, while others contain animal-grade products that are not beneficial or safe for humans."
Then, of course, there's the taste, which might be the true measure of just what kind of torture Daryl Dixon is going through.
We haven't tasted dog food. But one of the best athletes in the world, Serena Williams, did and got sick several times afterwards.
