Bird Flu: What Cat Owners Should Actually Worry About
Is Cat Food a Risk Factor? If you have heard that cats can get bird flu and are now wondering whether raw cat food is dangerous, the answer is this: bird flu in cats is real, but for most household cats the biggest risk is outdoor exposure to infected birds and contaminated environments, not their …
What Is HPP? (High-Pressure Processing)
If you’ve bought a bottle of “cold-pressed” juice, a package of deli meat, or a bag of raw pet food lately, there’s a good chance it’s been through High-Pressure Processing (HPP) — also called High-Pressure Pasteurization. It’s one of the fastest-growing food safety technologies in the U.S., and also one of the most misunderstood. It’s …
Facts About Listeria
What Is Listeria? Listeria is one of the few foodborne threats that behaves in a way most people do not expect. While refrigeration is widely relied on to slow or stop bacterial growth, Listeria Monocytogenes can survive and continue to grow at refrigerator temperatures. That ability alone makes it fundamentally different from many other pathogens …
Why Is Kibble So Popular?
Why Is Kibble So Popular? Cost and convenience are the primary reasons kibble remains so popular, despite increasing knowledge of the health risks associated with a steady diet of ultra-processed ingredients. Kibble is made with the lowest cost ingredients, making it seem more affordable than fresh or whole food products. Kibble can be stored …
Why Is Fresh Food Getting More Popular?
Growing Demand for Fresh Estimates suggest up to 20% of US pet food sales are for fresh food products, with growth far out-pacing dry and canned. As consumers become more aware of the risks associated with steady diets of ultra-processed pet foods and the benefits of fresh whole food diets, more are switching to fresh …
Life Stages: Dogs and Cats
Pets’ nutritional needs change over time as they go through their life stages, from gestation through adulthood. AAFCO has defined two Nutrient Profiles: Growth and Reproduction (from conception through active skeletal growth) Adult Maintenance (adulthood) Products claiming be “complete” diets must meet one or both of these Nutrition Profiles. While there are products claiming to …
Heavy Metals In Dry Pet Food
There is growing awareness and concern about the levels of heavy metals and other contaminants in pet food: CNN has reported “alarming risk of heavy metals and other contaminants” in dry kibble based on independent laboratory testing.1 Clean Label Project reports high levels of heavy metals and other contaminants in 100% of the dry kibble tested.2 Wall Street Journal reports increases in chronic disease in pets that are attributed to heavy metals in ultra processed kibble.3 Two European articles present risks for …
Other Contaminants in Pet Food
While there are certain heavy metals that are widely recognized as contaminants in pet food, there are other less known contaminants that pose equal threat to pet health (link here). CNN, Clean Label Project, Wall Street Journal, and others report alarming levels of multiple contaminants in dry kibble, and significant increases in chronic disease …
Protein, Fat & Carbs-Their Relationship
People often think of protein as being synonymous with energy, without understanding the role that fats and carbohydrates play in the pet’s diet. There is a common misperception that “all carbs are bad” or that “less fat is always better”. But in fact, carbohydrates and fats are the first nutrients to be converted into energy. …
