Raw Pet Food and Bacteria: What the Numbers Really Mean

Bacteria is one of the first concerns many pet parents have when they begin thinking about raw feeding.

That is completely understandable. We are taught to handle raw meat carefully, wash our hands and clean anything it touches. Those same precautions matter when handling raw pet food.

What surprises many people is that the raw chicken sold for your family (AKA human grade) and the raw food made for your pet are not judged by the same standards.

In some ways, commercially prepared raw pet food is held to the stricter standard. For this blog I am using chicken as an example, but these rules and regulations apply to all raw meat in your grocery store.

Raw chicken does not have to test completely bacteria-free

The U.S. Department of Agriculture regulates most meat and poultry sold for people. Because raw chicken is expected to be cooked before it is eaten, USDA does not require every sample of raw poultry to test negative for Salmonella.

Instead, USDA uses performance standards to measure how well poultry-processing plants control Salmonella over time.

Under the current standards, the maximum acceptable positive rates are:

• Whole young chicken carcasses: 5 positive samples out of 51, or 9.8%

• Chicken parts: 8 positive samples out of 52, or 15.4%

• Ground or comminuted chicken: 13 positive samples out of 52, or 25%

• Whole turkey carcasses: 4 positive samples out of 56, or 7.1%

• Ground or comminuted turkey: 7 positive samples out of 52, or 13.5% (Food Safety and Inspection Service)

Put simply, a poultry plant may still meet USDA’s Salmonella performance standard even when some of its samples test positive.

For ground chicken, that can mean as many as one out of every four samples in the testing set.

That does not mean one out of every four packages at the grocery store contains Salmonella. These numbers are used to evaluate a plant’s overall processing controls, not to approve or reject each individual package.

The system is built around the expectation that people will safely handle and thoroughly cook the chicken before eating it.

Raw pet food does not have a cooking step

Commercial raw pet food is different because it is intended to be served directly from the package.

The FDA regulates pet food and requires animal food to be safe, produced under sanitary conditions and free of harmful substances. (U.S. Food and Drug Administration)

FDA guidance says that pet food containing any Salmonella serotype may be considered adulterated, meaning legally unsafe or unsuitable for sale, when the food will not go through a commercial process, such as cooking, that would eliminate the bacteria. (U.S. Food and Drug Administration)

For raw dog and cat food, the FDA has also identified the presence of the following pathogens as a reason a product may be considered adulterated:

• Salmonella

• Listeria monocytogenes

• E. coli O157:H7 (U.S. Food and Drug Administration)

In everyday language, this is often described as a zero-tolerance standard.

That does not mean contamination can never happen. No food-production system can promise that. It means that unlike USDA’s poultry performance standards, there is not an acceptable percentage of Salmonella-positive raw pet food samples built into the FDA standard.

Here is the simplest way to understand the difference

Raw chicken for people (AKA human grade)

USDA expects it to be cooked. Poultry plants are evaluated using performance standards that allow a limited number of positive Salmonella samples within a larger testing set.

Commercial raw pet food

FDA knows it will usually be served without cooking. When Salmonella or certain other harmful pathogens are detected, the food may be considered adulterated.

That is the part of the raw-feeding conversation that is often left out.

People sometimes talk as though raw pet food is made under no safety standards at all. In reality, reputable raw pet food companies must develop their sourcing, sanitation, processing and testing practices around a product that will not be cooked before it reaches the bowl.

Safe handling still matters

Stricter standards do not mean we should stop treating raw food like raw food, but we raw feeders know this.

Use the same common-sense habits you would use when preparing meat for your family:

• Keep raw pet food frozen or refrigerated according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

• Wash your hands with soap and water after handling it.

• Clean bowls, utensils, counters and feeding surfaces after every meal.

• Do not leave uneaten food sitting at room temperature.

• Keep raw food away from foods that are ready to eat.

The FDA recommends washing your hands for at least 20 seconds and thoroughly cleaning anything that comes into contact with raw pet food. (U.S. Food and Drug Administration)

Some people recommend households with young children, older adults, pregnant people or anyone with a weakened immune system might want to reconsider feeding raw. If that's the case those households might want to consider not bringing in the "human grade" raw meat into their homes as well. Maybe only veggies. Well...ummm...be sure to be prepared for parasites on those veggies. Nothing is 100% safe even if you grow it yourself. Just don't listen to the scare tactics and use common sense. If it still concerns you, contact us and we'll help guide you through it!

The bottom line

Raw chicken from the grocery store is not required to be completely free from Salmonella because the food-safety system assumes you will cook it.

Commercial raw pet food does not have that final cooking step. Because of that, the FDA treats the detection of Salmonella and certain other pathogens more strictly.

That does not make safe handling optional, and it does not mean every raw product is made the same way. It does mean that the regulations are more complicated than the common claim that raw pet food is automatically riskier simply because it is raw.

At Unifour Natural Pet Foods, we believe pet parents deserve clear information without scare tactics. We are always happy to answer questions about the products we carry, how to store them and how to serve them safely.

Ready to see what is available? Visit our Currently In Stock page and reach out with any questions before placing your order.