Raw Dog Food Safety in 2026: How to Do It Right — and What the 2025 Recalls Should Teach Us

The two 2025 recalls affecting raw dog food deserve specific attention because they illustrate different failure points in the raw food supply chain. The first recall (a mid-size direct-to-consumer brand) resulted from inadequate incoming ingredient testing — contaminated tripe from a supplier passed through without pathogen screening. The second (a major HPP-processed brand) was more surprising: a processing facility cross-contamination event involving listeria biofilm in equipment not properly sanitized between production runs.

The lessons: HPP processing significantly reduces risk but is not zero-risk. Facility hygiene and incoming ingredient testing both matter. Brand size is not a reliable proxy for safety — some small producers have excellent safety programs while some larger brands have had repeated recalls.

The FDA maintains a database of all pet food recalls at fda.gov/animal-veterinary/safety-health/recalls-withdrawals. Raw feeders should subscribe to FDA recall alerts as a basic safety practice.

Level 1 — Lowest Risk: HPP-Processed Commercial Raw. High-pressure processing applies 87,000 psi of water pressure to packaged raw food, reducing Salmonella and Listeria to undetectable levels while preserving raw food nutritional profile. Primal Pet Foods, Steve's Real Food, and Vital Essentials all use HPP processing with rigorous testing programs. This is the safest commercially available raw food option.

Level 2 — Moderate Risk: Properly Handled Freeze-Dried/Frozen Raw from Major Brands. Freeze-drying reduces (but doesn't eliminate) bacterial burden. Frozen storage slows bacterial growth but doesn't kill pathogens. Safety depends heavily on your handling practices.

Level 3 — Higher Risk: Home-Prepared Raw Diets. Without pathogen testing infrastructure, home preparation creates meaningful exposure risk for pets and household members. If you home-prepare, handle raw meat with the same hygiene you'd use for human food preparation: separate cutting boards, thorough handwashing, sanitize surfaces with dilute bleach solution.

Whether using commercial or home-prepared raw: Thaw raw food in the refrigerator, never at room temperature. Feed in a designated area and wash bowls with hot soapy water after every meal. Don't leave raw food out for more than 30 minutes. Wash hands thoroughly after handling raw pet food. Keep raw food separate from human food preparation surfaces. Avoid raw feeding if you have young children under 5, elderly household members, pregnant individuals, or immunocompromised household members — the zoonotic transmission risk is real.

For dogs: the risk to the dog itself is lower than the risk to household humans (dogs have shorter intestinal transit times and more acidic stomachs that reduce pathogen survival), but dogs can be asymptomatic shedders of Salmonella, creating household transmission risk without being visibly ill.