Feeding your pets can make you sick.

Food safety habits like washing your hands before you prepare a meal or rinsing it before placing it in the dishwasher are second nature to most people. It may surprise you that these same rules should be followed when caring for your pet.

A new study published in the journal found that most dog owners do  Food and Drug Administration guidelines for safe pet food and dish handling. What you don’t know could cause you harm. According to the authors, multiple bacterial disease outbreaks among humans and dogs have been caused by contaminated pet food.

According to the pet, food and treats can contaminate harmful bacteria. This can cause foodborne illnesses such as salmonellosis or 

Many Veterinary professionals aren’t aware of safety recommendations.

says the idea for the study was born from “watercooler-type conversations” among veterinarian nutritionists. She said, “We all realized that we had different pet food storage practices and hygiene practices when it came down to our pets.” She added that even veterinary professionals were not aware of the safety recommendations for pet food storage and preservation.

stated that after examining what to do, the FDA’s recommendations about these habits were not as extensive as the human ones. Also, the outcomes of these recommendations hadn’t been studied.

Less than 5 percent of dog owners are aware of the FDA Guidelines.

Investigators interviewed 417 pet owners to find out their knowledge about pet food safety. The guidelines were not well known by less than 5 percent of dog owners. Many owners didn’t follow the recommendations.

Before handling, wash your hands at least 20 times

Use a bowl only as a scooping tool.

After each use, wash the dish in hot water and then scoop it with hot water for 20 seconds.

Wash hands for 20 seconds after handling food.

The FDA guidelines were tested on 68 domestic dog food recipes to determine their effectiveness. After conducting initial testing, the researchers divided the owners into three groups and gave them different instructions on how to implement food handling guidelines.

One group followed FDA guidelines on pet food and dishes; one followed them in conjunction with FDA’s human feed handling protocol. A third group was used as a control group. They were informed of the guidelines but could decide whether to change their behavior.

After one week, investigators tested the dishes again and found significant reductions in contamination. This was compared to dishes prepared by owners who did not follow the FDA’s guidelines for pet food handling.

Many dog owners refuse to follow safety guidelines.

 said, “I was surprised that the control group didn’t show a decrease in bacterial counts despite being made aware of FDA guidelines and that the bowl would be retested.” She added that this shows that simply educating people about the current recommendations does not result in a shift in behavior.

The dog owners in the “guideline-following” groups also showed a lack of willingness to continue to follow FDA guidelines after the week-long intervention — a mere 20 percent reported that they were likely to follow the instructions long-term, and only 8 percent said they were likely to follow all the given instructions. The authors highlight the importance of guidelines that are both practical and effective.

says pet owners must know that pet food bowls could harbor bacteria. She also suggests that they follow recommendations for minimizing this risk. She says, “We still need to do more research to determine the impact of our findings on the lives of pets, but I hope that veterinarians will be able to consider the possible implications of feeding hygiene in cases of zoonotic diseases or patients with immunocompromised.”