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My first husband was a cookie taster for Pepperidge Farm. Tough job, but somebody used to have to do it.
Back when Pepperidge Farm was still privately owned, my ex, who had a degree in organic chemistry, did organoleptic analysis of incoming ingredients to be sure butter and chocolate were not rancid and that items being baked tasted good.
He, like several other tasters then employed at the bakery, has the innate ability to discern the ingredients of foods he eats and to tell if they’re bad. His taste buds are like the ears of a person with perfect pitch. I am not sure whether the bakery still uses human tasters for ingredients these days.
But I do know, because it’s been widely reported, that the Menu Brands tests its food on pets. Not just for taste. They do it to see if the pets drop dead or get sick.
Menu Brands killed several puppies with tainted food that could have been tested chemically, before they issued their first recall. A Lakewood, Florida pet owner who lost her beloved dog to tainted food, asked Consumerist,

“If this industry is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, why are they not testing these products to ensure there’s not something in them that is going to hurt an animal?
“And why did these companies buy something and not test it before they put it in the food?”

To begin with, the FDA has only inspected about 30 percent of all pet food plants since 2004, Stephen Sundlof, director of the agency’s Center for Veterinary Medicine told Consumerist. He said many of those visits occurred after recalls had been put in place or during the Mad Cow scare.
The FDA had never inspected the Menu Foods facility in Emporia, Kan., where many of the recalled products were made, until after the company reported a problem.
The recall nightmare continues to grow, with no end in sight. Benny Bix is eating food I cook for him, and I am trying to get my cat to do the same. Cat food is highly flavored, so it will take some time to get him to eat real food, but that’s my plan.