Maxota Raw pet food and treats are frozen to retain freshness.
Your pets new raw diet are frozen when purchased from our open kitchen and retail pet store in San Diego. Here are some tips on how to manage your pets new diet:
Is Raw Pet Food Hard to Store?
You are probably wondering “Is it going to be a drain on my time and energy when compared to regular kibble?” Let’s dig in.
Normal dry kibble often comes in gigantic bags that need to be transferred to air-tight plastic or stainless steel containers. They’re hard to move and carry and take up tons of room.
Practicing Raw Dog Food Safety Measures
So you want to feed your dog raw food. It is important that you follow certain steps when storing, handling, and serving the raw food. Valid health concerns do exist for your dog and your family or other animal household members if a raw food is contaminated by an illness inducing microorganism. But these situations can be mitigated.
First, you should consult your veterinarian and discuss if raw food is right for your dog. Second, it is important to realize that not every raw food contains organisms capable of causing disease. Additionally, a dog’s immunity, especially the defensive cellular and chemical processes that occur in the intestines, is a complex process.
You store raw dog food much in the same way you store your own raw food such as hamburger patties and chicken — place it in secure packaging, such as a covered plastic container, and store it in the freezer. This will help deter bacterial growth and reduce spoiling. Furthermore, keeping raw food frozen at a consistent temperature of 0 °F will prevent the growth of microbes — including mold and yeast — as well as slow down the natural activity of enzymes present in food, including meat, fish, fruit, and vegetables. Portions of store bought raw food, for example, can be placed in individual containers to promote easy serving and to pair each container with the corresponding expiration date as determined by the food’s manufacturer.
If you should choose to refrigerate the raw dog food, it must be maintained at a temperature that is consistently 40 °F or below. According to the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), “bacteria grow most rapidly in the range of temperatures between 40 and 140 °F, the “Danger Zone,” some doubling in number in as little as 20 minutes. A refrigerator set at 40 °F or below will protect most foods.
If the food’s temperature increases to 40° or above for two hours or more, you are advised to discard it because there is a strong likelihood that pathogenic bacteria (Campylobacter, E. coli, Listeria, Salmonella, etc.) will grow. Pathogenic bacteria don’t necessarily affect the smell, flavor, or consistency of food, but they can cause foodborne illness.