Hygiene

A few words about the importance…

We can’t emphasise enough the importance of good hygiene around food. This is true whether we are talking about our own food or our pets’ food, and whether we are talking about kibble, canned, pouches, raw, freeze dried, cold pressed or any other method of manufacturing food for the animals who share our lives.

There is a common misconception that feeding a highly processed food is safe and hygienic. You only have to look at a few references in the Raw Feeding Veterinary Society’s Position Statement to realise that this is far from the truth. Many of our veterinary colleagues react with horror to the idea of raw feeding, without giving thought to the very real and all too frequent risks arising from feeding processed food.

Food Hygiene Best Practice…

Good hygiene practises should be followed for ALL food preparation.
We list them here for clarity:

WASH HANDS

Wash your hands after handling the food.

Follow the Hand Washing Guide from the World Health Organisation here

WASH UTENSILS

Wash utensils used to serve the food after every meal

WASH AFTER MEALS

Wash the bowl, plate, slow feeder, board, lickimat, feeding toy after every use

WASH SURFACES

Wipe down the surfaces with hot soapy water after preparing each meal or filling toys

WASH CLEANING TOOLS

Wash the cloths used frequently

SAFE FOOD STORAGE

Don’t store any foods or treats for your animal companions next to human foods which may be eaten without being washed or cooked

Care to carry out the above points should especially be applied to the following at risk groups including the very young, very elderly, pregnant or infirm ( often referred to as “YEPI” populations). These will seem to be stating the obvious to most people, but not to everyone and we are about safety. This is important information to share.

World Health Organisation

Effective Hand Washing

As with the preperation of any raw food, it is important to ensure that you wash your hands thoroughly to prevent the spread of any potentially harmful bacteria.
Here is the Guide from the World Health Organisation.