Why Homemade Food Is Best
Plus food safety & surprising sources of contamination
We think homemade whole foods are by far the best for people and pups. Today we share the difference between “fresh food” brands and real fresh, whole foods. Also we share about our obsession with food safety for dogs (and people) and some practical tips! We end with some insight into our product testing practices and why we find third party testing so important. Before that here are some recipes you may have missed:
Fresh whole foods for health
We’ve discussed in depth how the nutrients in fresh food are better than highly processed kibble. Not only are many natural vitamins and minerals more bioavailable, the ratio of fats, protein and carbohydrates are better too. The quality of the macronutrients are also better because kibble must be about 40% carbohydrate and made with processed powders to run through the extrusion machine.
“Fresh food,” air-dried, and other providers are better in macronutrient ratios, but most are still made nutritionally complete with added vitamins and minerals. Some “fresh” brands even use preservatives and additives to improve shelf life and appearance. Any food additive is a source of contamination and risk. For example, vitamin D has been the subject of many recalls over the last decade. So in many ways these current fresh food providers are still similar to processed kibble.
Beyond the ingredients and additives, there are many other sources of contamination. Recently Trader Joe’s and Walmart were subject to a wide recall of frozen foods due to listeria poisoning leading to several deaths. Even though the odds are lower in America, food contamination still happens routinely. When you cook at home, you reduce the risk of food borne illness by a lot. But there are other benefits.
Why homemade?
When you’re in control of the food you can focus on the issues that matter most for you and your pups health. Whether your goal is weight loss, fitness or taste, the best and safest food comes from your kitchen. Other than safety and quality here are some of the key benefits of cooking at home:
Cost: If you shop smart, cooking your own dog food is much cheaper than buying from fresh food providers. Chicken is available at large retailers for $0.99 a pound in most cities. Add it to some Pup Packets and you have a weeks worth of food for a small dog for less than a dollar a day.
Flexibility: If you’re helping your dog to shed a few pounds, you can simply dial back the carbs and portion sizes. Or maybe your pup has some food sensitivities; you can customize and change up your food for any dietary need.
Environment: Companies that ship frozen food to your door are some of the most ecologically unfriendly options. Frozen food is over 70% water. When shipped with ice, up to 90% of the weight being shipped to you is water and packaging. Homemade is the most ecologically sound fresh food option.
Get an A+ in food safety!
So we have a little confession to make. Food safety isn’t just important to us, we (especially Joelle) are a little over-obsessed with it. It’s hard not to be when some of your family has sensitive stomachs and you learn about all the ways that food can get contaminated. Though dogs have more robust digestive tracts than we do, they can still get sick, so we advise the same set of food practices for both your human and canine family members. Here are a few practices that improve our health and peace of mind.
Cool cooked food quickly - If you’ve ever worked in the restaurant industry, you know that food cooling is extremely important to ensure safety and shelf life. Bacteria reproduce rapidly between 40°F - 140°F (also known as the “danger zone”). Leaving food out for several hours puts it in the danger zone. It’s bad practice for human food and dog food, too. Even if it looks and smells ok, the bacteria will be silently multiplying. So what is best practice? Immediately after cooking up a big batch of dog food, we either freeze immediately, or transfer it to a large, thin bowl and place that into an ice bath. This cools it much more quickly than letting it sit at room temperature or directly placing it in the fridge. We keep quickly cooled food for up to 4 days in the refrigerator or up to 6 months in the freezer.
Check temperatures!!! - Meat thermometers are a common cooking tool that are under utilized at home. Checking that meat has reached the proper temperature is not just for safety, it also helps you achieve the perfect cook. No more dry, overcooked meat because you weren’t sure if it was done or not. Also, CHECK YOUR FRIDGE TEMP! Few talk about this, expecting fridges to just run at the right temp. In our old apartment, we stuck a thermometer in the fridge and realized it was running warm. Optimal temperature for a refrigerator is between 35°F-38°F. As mentioned above, bacteria reproduce exponentially, so if your fridge is just a few degrees off, it can speed spoilage fast. A 1.8°F increase in refrigerator temperature increases spoilage by about 7% and a 9°F increase speeds spoilage by 41%. Our new fridge has a built in temperature monitor, but we still keep an extra one in there as backup to ensure accuracy.
Use pure water - Most municipal water sources in America are good, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that the water coming from your sink is as good. The variance between homes and even from the same tap can be huge, especially for heavy metals used in pipes. The reason is that cities test water at designated testing sites, not at your house. The water that gets to you must travel through multiple pipe systems, through your house plumbing before it gets to you. Every additional inch of pipe is additional surface area to contaminate water, especially when it’s stagnant. What do we do? We have an RO (reverse osmosis) machine that filters all the contaminants out of our water, but the problem is it also filters out all the minerals. To fix this, we add in minerals back in in through concentrated mineral drops before drinking and using it for drinking or cooking.
Gloves - Thoroughly washing your hands with soap and water is best practice for hygiene in the kitchen, but the constant handwashing wrecks our skin. Especially in the wintertime. Wearing disposable gloves when prepping food helps prevent destroying our hands. Thick, reusable dish gloves are a life saver for washing dishes and cleaning!
Clean and sanitize (but protect your lungs) - We avoid harsh and overly scented cleanings sprays, but sanitization is good practice for a clean kitchen. We use gentle all purpose sprays for general wipe downs, and 70% isopropyl alcohol spray to disinfect surfaces that need it. Protect your lungs: To avoid inhaling the solutions as we clean, we try not to flood the air while spraying. Instead, pour the cleaner onto rags first or spray as close to the counter as possible. Hypochlorous acid spray (make sure it’s one made for skin) is a great gentle sanitizer that is safe for the skin. We even use this to clean the dogs ears.
Testing and quality
Like our commitment to scientific rigor, our commitment to quality for our products is our number one priority. We source our ingredients from the highest-quality human food vendors and audit their analysis reports with our own third-party lab testing. It’s time consuming and expensive, but our pups eat every one of our products. We want to make sure that they are safe and effective.
That’s it for this week.
All the best,
Joelle and R.A.