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OUR FOOD
Raw Food Safety
Key information about 'phages:
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It does not change the food in any way with NO impact on flavour, texture, smell, or taste
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Only targets Salmonella
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FDA approved as a natural, organic product
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Uses naturally occurring bacteriophages which are the most common form of organism on the earth and have been around for billions of years
Raw Dog Food should be treated exactly as you would treat any raw meat. this section introduces how we strive to minimize any risk to humans of raw meat and also the steps you should take when preparing any meat.
Bacteriophages
Recently, Scientists have discovered that naturally occurring viruses, called bacteriophages, can greatly reduce the risk of the presence of salmonella in raw food. Salmonella is not normally a risk to our dogs and cats. Some people, however, are concerned about the risks of salmonella infection to themselves and their families.
The question is how to maximize the nutritional value of our raw pet food to promote the health of the animal while minimizing the risk to the owners.
We do not want to destroy the nutritional value in the food so do not use aggressive "kill" techniques like HPP (High Pressure Pasteurization). As a result, we have recently introduced a salmonella specific bacteriophage into our food. These have been shown to significantly reduce the bacterial load but only destroy salmonella.
For more information see:
How to handle Raw Meat safely
CLEAN
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Wash hands and surfaces after use
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Wash your hands with warm water and soap for at least 20 seconds before and after handling food
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Wash your cutting boards, dishes, utensils, and counter tops with hot soapy water after use
SEPARATE
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Separate raw meats from other foods
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Separate raw meat from other foods in your refrigerator
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Serve the food in a dedicated bowl and wash it after use in hot soapy water or dishwasher
STORAGE
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Keep the food in the freezer until the night before you need it
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Thaw overnight in a dedicated container
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Return any leftover food to the refrigerator in a sealed container separate from cooked meat or other foods
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Use remains within 3 days
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Discard unused food after 3 days
Raw Food and AAFCO Guidelines
Aafco stands for the American Association of Feed Control Officers. As the name suggests, it is a body set up by the Kibble industry to set minimum standards for grain based animal feeds. Kibble is cooked to a very high temperature during manufacture which tends to destroy any nutritional value in the ingredients used. These standards are intended to ensure that when the manufacturer adds in the various powders designed to replace the lost nutrients, that they put in a minimum amount. These standards make no sense when applied to raw food.
There is considerable information available about the many problems with this approach. As raw food makers we believe in only using whole meats, whole organs and bones to provide the nutrition, along with a small quantity of whole fruit and vegetables and spirulina, diatomaceous earth and kelp (all naturally occurring). Meat, organ and bone make up around 90% of each of our dinners and provide nutrition in the most natural form possible for a dog or cat. We feed our pets the way we eat, achieving nutritional balance over the course of a few meals rather than forcing each meal to be fully nutritionally balanced.
This article is an excellent introduction to the subject and helps to explain why we do not use additives to attempt to align ourselves to these standards. We urge you to read it!
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