THE DANGER OF RAW FROZEN PET FOODS

As you know, any raw meat left exposed to the open air will putrefy and decompose. It can also become dangerous due to the proliferation of bacteria and the toxins they produce.

To get around this problem, food producers can do several different things. They can cook it to kill all the microbes. They can dry it so the bacteria have no moisture to grow in. They can refrigerate it, which only slows bacterial growth, or they can freeze it to stop the growth.

If that be the case, why should a raw frozen pet food be a problem? For one, there is no knowhow required in mixing ingredients together and freezing them. Anybody in their kitchen can become a frozen pet food manufacturer. You can have no idea of their skills, or the conditions under which these raw foods are produced.

Also, you cannot know whether the food has gone through several thaws, maybe at the producer, on trucks, in warehouses, and in pet supermarkets. Each time it thaws, even a little just on the surface, bacteria proliferate. Refreezing does not kill the new population, it just suspends its growth. With a new thaw the larger population grows even larger, with another thaw there is more growth, and so on.

When the food is purchased it may be frozen and appear safe...but could be loaded with pathogenic bacteria and their toxins which only proliferate further as the food is thawed at home.

A far better alternative, if a raw food is desired, is fresh raw food at the grocer. Alternatively, dried raw foods using freeze dry technology to impede pathogens, parasites, and oxidation. The low water activity of these products inhibits the growth of pathogens. Also, since the water is removed (which comprises about 70% of fresh foods) they are much more cost efficient to ship and do not require frozen trucking or storage.

Although costly, since they are difficult to produce, such freeze dried products along with fresh foods from the grocer, even as just an alternate meal or portion of the meal, is the best and safest way to the best pet food.

Thought for the day: "In the beginning, God created man, but seeing him so feeble, he gave him the cat." – Warren Eckstein

Word for the day: holistic - adjective: With regard to health, this is a philosophy that addresses the body as a whole, complex, and interconnected system; not merely an assemblage of parts that can be addressed without regard to the rest of the system.