Probably the most helpful companies we offer is our pet food recall alerts. If a pet food firm recollects a product, we’ll let you already know as quickly as we are able to.
Among the most alarming scares come when dangerous micro organism equivalent to salmonella are present in a batch of pet food. That alarm appears to extend disproportionately when uncooked pet food is concerned, maybe on account of a lack of knowledge or a surfeit of disinformation round that sort of pet food and its manufacturing.
To fret is pure, in fact. All of us need our canine to be protected. However the fact is that, with any sort of pet food, there are good manufacturers and not-so-good manufacturers, particularly in the case of security.
One technique good uncooked meals manufacturers use to cut back the possibility of contamination is high-pressure processing (HPP), also called cold-pressure processing. However what’s it and what does it do? Does it stop contamination in uncooked meals? Is it 100% efficient?
We posed these and different inquiries to Amy Zalneraitis, Chief Model Officer at 5-star-rated We Feed Uncooked. She, in flip, spoke to Mario González, PhD, HPP Meals Functions Supervisor at high-pressure know-how firm Hiperbaric.
Right here’s what Amy wrote…
Ought to canine dad and mom fear about salmonella in uncooked meals?
Most pet homeowners who hear this reality are stunned by it: whereas the primary explanation for recollects in pet meals as an entire is pathogenic micro organism, uncooked pet meals solely make up 1.2% of this section. Dry pet meals make up 98% of it. Primarily based on these stats, kibble holds a larger threat for salmonella contamination than uncooked pet meals does.
That’s mentioned, it’s value noting that there are safer uncooked pet meals than others. There are many respected uncooked firms in the ustoday, like We Feed Uncooked, who’re providing a protected and balanced product. At We Feed Uncooked, our meals is sourced from high-quality, USDA, human-grade meats. And we produce our recipes in a USDA-certified facility with strict security laws.
Most significantly, as a part of our meals security program, we use HPP (high-pressure processing). HPP is a non-thermal processing know-how that employs ultra-high water strain (as much as 87,000 psi) to inactivate food-borne pathogens equivalent to Listeria, E. coli, and Salmonella. Whereas not all uncooked firms within the U.S. use HPP, we incur the additional value as a result of it ensures a protected product.
What are the dangers if salmonella or different dangerous micro organism are current in pet food?
With their extremely acidic stomachs and ultra-short digestive tracts, canine are designed to deal with micro organism in ways in which people can not; salmonella just isn’t sometimes a problem for wholesome canine (emphasis on the wholesome), however it definitely might be for individuals, which is why we’re so dedicated to offering a protected, pathogen-free product.
That is particularly related to pet dad and mom feeding uncooked in houses that they share with young children, aged relations, and immunocompromised individuals or canine.
How is uncooked pet food saved protected?
At We Feed Uncooked, the methods we make our uncooked meals protected are:
- High quality Sourcing: we use solely high-quality USDA meats sourced from farms we belief within the USA and New Zealand.
- USDA-certified Services: All of our meals is mixed and packaged in a USDA-certified facility with strict BRC protected high quality meals necessities. (BRC is an internationally acknowledged benchmark for greatest apply in meals security, high quality and accountability.)
- Chilly-pressure Processing: This can be a course of that doesn’t use warmth, chemical substances, or non-natural components, however quite excessive cold-water strain, to cut back/inactivate probably dangerous pathogens.
What’s high-pressure processing?
Excessive-pressure processing (HPP) is a non-thermal meals processing know-how utilized to reduce the danger related to foodborne pathogens. As defined by Mario González, PhD, HPP Meals Functions Supervisor at Hiperbaric, “The know-how makes use of chilly water (4-25 °C; 40-75 °F) to generate strain (as much as 87 kpsi, equal to 6000 bar), which permits meals to retain chemical compounds offering vitamins.”
Not solely is HPP used on uncooked pet meals, however it’s very generally used on individuals meals as nicely: child meals, fish and meat merchandise, cold-pressed juices, smoothies, cold-brew teas and occasional, plant-based milks, contemporary cheese, uncooked milk, different dairy drinks, and the record goes on.
How does it make uncooked meals protected?
HPP does an excellent job of retaining uncooked pet meals protected with out degrading vitamins. Our HPP step appears to be like like this: BPA-free sealed packets are positioned in a chamber with water after which pressurized (5 occasions extra strain than the ocean flooring). Pathogenic micro organism can’t survive this excessive strain. The packets are held underneath this strain for round 3 minutes. They’re then moved to our freezer the place they’re saved earlier than being shipped frozen to prospects’ doorsteps.
Is it 100% efficient?
“There’s no such factor as a zero threat,” says Mario. “Nonetheless, so long as the physicochemical traits of the pet meals are ample, the method does tackle the well being dangers to pets and people related to pathogens. On this regard, a excessive water content material maximizes the deadly impact of HPP on pathogens.
“Uncooked meat and contemporary greens have a water exercise larger than 0.98, so they’re very fitted to the method. Scientific proof helps this. For example, a latest investigation led by the Institute for Meals Security and Well being (IFSH) demonstrates that normal processing circumstances (87k psi for 3 min) can nicely obtain a 5-log discount of Salmonella on varied beef, rooster and lamb pet meals formulation.”
Is high-pressure processed uncooked meals safer than kibble?
It’s much less about what’s safer and extra about what’s most nutritious and protected. With uncooked firms, they’re sometimes beginning with a lot higher-quality substances than kibble producers use. Uncooked diets are extra bioavailable and species-appropriate than carb-heavy, extremely processed kibble. And, finally, cold-pressured uncooked permits for a really protected pet meals product.
Mario provides: “Completely different processes can obtain the identical degree of security, however some processes are extra light than others. Kibble is historically obtained via a course of referred to as extrusion, wherein the substances are blended after which pushed via an extruder. If not cooked previous to mixing, cooking takes place throughout the extruder as a consequence of friction forces contained in the machine.
“Microorganisms are inactivated due to the excessive temperatures reached contained in the extruder, however this over-processing has a adverse impression on the standard and dietary worth of pet meals. Then again, HPP is a nonthermal course of that successfully inactivates microorganisms whereas avoiding the lack of high quality related to warmth processing.”
What proof is there to again any of this up?
“There are quite a few unbiased scientific evidences supporting this,” says Mario. “For example, García-Regueiro et al. (2007) demonstrated that processing beef at 87k psi for 10 min didn’t trigger a major discount within the content material of humidity, carbohydrates, proteins and amino acids.
“Likewise, no vital variations had been noticed within the content material of nutritional vitamins B1, B2, B3, B6 and folic acid. Extra just lately, Kim et al, 2021 reported that HPP didn’t trigger detrimental results on in-vitro protein digestibility of uncooked rooster meat. Then again, thermal processing between 140-194 °F decreased its digestibility.”
Additionally, as talked about earlier, an investigation by the Institute for Meals Security and Well being (IFSH) proved how efficient this course of might be. Collectively, these research present the dietary worth stays constant and the method of HPP is efficient.
What are the downsides to high-pressure processing?
Apart from the misinformation about HPP, which might trigger shopper confusion and doubt, we actually solely see upsides to this all-natural course of. The FDA, which regulates pet meals within the U.S., has a zero-tolerance coverage for pathogenic micro organism in pet meals, so with a view to keep compliant, it’s vitally vital for uncooked firms like us to be utilizing a step like HPP.
Additionally, with a lot fear-mongering round uncooked feeding, this offers pet dad and mom additional peace of thoughts whereas feeding uncooked within the dwelling. For We Feed Uncooked, that is enormous as a result of it permits us to get wholesome, biologically acceptable meals into extra canine’ bowls, which is on the coronary heart of our mission.
