Potential Downsides of Freeze-Dried Pet Food Formulas
Roberts has two main concerns about freeze-dried dog food. First, when you take food out of its natural state—in this case, by drying it out and rehydrating it later—it is “never quite as easy to digest as it is in its original form,” she says. Second, it’s “hideously expensive,” she adds, “so the convenience comes at a cost.”
According to Nielsen data, freeze-dried pet food clocks in, on average, at $33 per pound, compared to $10 or $11 for air-dried or dehydrated pet foods (4).
Many veterinarians also worry about illness-causing bacteria. “Freeze-drying alone, without a prior heating/cooking step, is not an effective way to eliminate microbial pathogens” like Salmonella, E. coli and Listeria, says veterinary nutritionist Dr. Megan Shepherd, who is also a clinical assistant professor of nutrition at Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech. “Therefore, I recommend avoiding raw and freeze-dried animal tissue-based products, unless the manufacturer can confirm that the finished product is pathogen-free.”
AAFCO, which sets standards for pet foods in the U.S., offers a similar warning on its website, noting that most nutritionally complete pet foods have been heat-treated during manufacturing to prevent microbial contamination. AAFCO further warns that any raw foods you’re feeding your pup could put humans in the house at risk for illness—especially children, elderly people, or anyone with a compromised immune system. And the same bacteria can make your dog sick, too.
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With all that in mind, the best freeze-dried dog food depends on what your pet likes, what you feel safe feeding her, and what areas of her diet you’re planning to use it for.
A variety of prominent dog-food brands now offer freeze-dried formulas. Companies offering freeze-dried dog food include:
If you’re seeking food that’s explicitly been high-pressure processed in the pasteurization process outlined earlier, Primal uses the process for their raw poultry products, including the grain- and gluten-free freeze-dried nuggets that it also markets as complete and balanced. Stella & Chewy’s uses HPP for its freeze-dried products, too, as do Vital Essentials Raw, Northwest Naturals, and a growing list of others.
How Is Freeze-Dried Dog Food Made?
There are several steps to the freeze-drying process—a technique so old it’s been traced all the way back to 1200 A.D, when Incas freeze-dried their potatoes.
In the modern version, fresh food is first frozen solid. Then it goes into a vacuum chamber that evaporates nearly all of the solid water (ice). A second drying phase zaps away any lingering water molecules. By the end, roughly 97 percent of the food’s moisture has been sucked out, but many of its nutrients remain.
What About Human Grade Fresh Cooked Foods?
Fresh, home-prepared or commercially prepared foods may well be CLOSE to the gold-standard for feeding your small dog. And for a while, we tried this route, including sampling The Farmer’s Dog, Fresh Pet, and NomNom. Phoebe and Scout weren’t overly enthused with any of them. However, given all the new research confirming the benefits of human grade ingredients on our pups’ microbiome, we plan to revisit these foods.
In the future, we plan to keep learning from Hannah at dailydogfoodrecipes.com. We think that with her help, our small dogs will eventually love the commercial fresh food dishes as we’ll be supplementing with our own tasty ingredients like salmon, turkey, steak, cheese, veggies and fruits. Eventually, we’d love to be following Hannah’s fresh feeding regimen altogether. Then, we’d reach what we believe is the actual gold standard: fresh, home-cooked meals that we know are nutritionally complete.
PROS AND CONS OF FREEZE DRIED DOG FOOD I RAW DOG FOOD I ROTATIONAL MONO FEEDING
In January, we wrote Why I Don’t Feed My Havanese An All Raw Diet, and we promised a follow-up article reviewing the foods we DO use. So now, we’re finally back to discuss our experience with freeze dried raw food for small dogs. Without further delay, here’s a run-down of the why and what we feed our two Havanese, Phoebe and Scout.