minimal processing

Freshpet uses fresh ingredients, ingredients that are in their natural state until the moment we add them to our recipes. These ingredients have never been frozen, cooked or modified in any way.

All ingredients start out fresh, but the ingredients in most conventional dry and wet pet foods go through considerable processing before they even arrive at the pet food factory. Many dry pet food use meals, claiming they are a source of concentrated protein. To concentrate fresh meat into a meal it is subjected to extremely high temperatures that cook and then dehydrate the meat, significantly deteriorating the naturally occurring amino acids.

Not only do we use unprocessed ingredients, but we also take great care in gently cooking our foods. Our cooking method ensures our products are safe, but with the least amount of processing. The key is to heat the ingredients to the minimum temperature required to control spoilage and then quickly cool them.

Most dry pet foods begin with grains or meat meals, which have already been dehydrated. These ingredients are extruded at high temperatures with high pressure and finally heated again to dry the food out. Similarly, canned food is sterilized, by enclosing the food in a can and placing it under extreme heat and pressure.

Gently cooking is particularly important in meat based foods, because many amino acids break down quickly when overheated. Our recipes are subject to one third less processing than conventional pet foods. This maintains the nutritional integrity of the ingredients, so the essential vitamins and minerals are retained in the food.