FAQ's - Safety and Quality

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Where are your products made?

All Nature's Variety foods and treats are manufactured in the United States – including our Raw Frozen Diets, Instinct kibble and cans, Prairie kibble and cans, and all treats.

What is High Pressure Pasteurization (HPP)?

High Pressure Pasteurization is a unique process that kills pathogenic bacteria through high-pressure, water-based technology. High Pressure Pasteurization is a USDA-approved, 100% natural process, and is allowed for use on organic and natural products.

How does High Pressure Pasteurization work?

Essentially, this technology “puts the squeeze” on food pathogens without cooking out vital nutrients or changing the fresh characteristics of food. During High Pressure Pasteurization, pressure is uniformly applied around and throughout the food product.

High Pressure Pasteurization can be conducted at refrigerated temperatures, which means the temperature starts low and stays low – High Pressure Pasteurization does not cause the heat degradation that happens during cooking. Because of this, High Pressure Pasteurization is known for being especially beneficial for heat-sensitive products, like meats, fruits, and vegetables.

Which Nature’s Variety foods use HPP?

As of 2/11/10, all Nature’s Variety Raw Frozen Diets and Freeze Dried Raw foods utilize High Pressure Pasteurization.

Why has Nature’s Variety chosen to use High Pressure Pasteurization?

As always, we’re committed to continual product improvements, and we believe the use of High Pressure Pasteurization is an important step to further enhance our strict quality and food safety standards.

At Nature’s Variety, our purpose is empowering people to transform the lives of pets. We take pride in the quality of our foods “from farm to bowl” so that our ingredients, formulas, manufacturing protocols, and finished products are nothing short of superior – because that’s what our pets deserve. Using High Pressure Pasteurization is just one more step to ensure we’re living to fulfill our purpose.

Is High Pressure Pasteurization appropriate for natural and organic foods?

Yes. High Pressure Pasteurization is recognized by the FDA and USDA as an anti-pathogen treatment in many products. In addition, the USDA’s National Organic Products regulations provide for the use of High Pressure Pasteurization on organically labeled products.

Because High Pressure Pasteurization is the only scientifically recognized pasteurization process that does not use heat or irradiation to kill harmful bacteria, it is a safe treatment option that has little to no nutritional degradation of the products.

How did the High Pressure Pasteurization technology originate?

The origin of the High Pressure Pasteurization concept is as natural as the process itself. Over a century ago, scientists began investigating the fact that harmful bacteria found at sea level were actually not able to survive at deep sea levels (under high water pressures).

Within the last decade or so, advancements in technology have allowed for the duplication of this interesting phenomenon for use on natural and organic foods to kill harmful bacteria while preserving taste, enzymes, and overall nutritional integrity.

How does High Pressure Pasteurization maintain the nutritional integrity of the food?

High Pressure Pasteurization affects only the cell level. Pathogenic bacteria, including Salmonella, E. coli 0157:H7, and Listeria Monocytogenes are single-cell organisms present in small numbers and therefore ARE affected and destroyed by High Pressure Pasteurization by rupturing their cell walls. Beneficial bacteria are also present in very high levels in raw food, so, while some may be lost during High Pressure Pasteurization, there are still plenty remaining at the conclusion of the process.

High Pressure Pasteurization does NOT affect the molecular level. Proteins, enzymes, nutrients, prebiotics, vitamins, and minerals are molecules and, therefore, are NOT affected by High Pressure Pasteurization. Because proteins, enzymes, nutrients, vitamins, and minerals are unaffected by High Pressure Pasteurization, the nutritional value of the food is not sacrificed by High Pressure Pasteurization.

High Pressure Pasteurization causes minimal to no effect on nutritional value, vitamins or minerals, flavor compounds (taste), or pigments (color).

Does High Pressure Pasteurization affect the food’s naturally occurring enzymes?

No, High Pressure Pasteurization causes little to no effect on the food’s naturally occurring enzymes. Food enzymes are very resistant to pressure and require very high pressure for their inactivation. Many enzymes in our foods remain active up to 140 to 176°F, yet our High Pressure Pasteurization processing temperatures will not exceed 90°F and will typically peak in the 78 to 89°F range. For example, the following raw food enzymes remain active far beyond the temperature used in our High Pressure Pasteurization process:

  • Alkaline Phosphatase - active up to 140°F
  • Lipase - active up to 143°F
  • Catalase - active up to 145°F
  • Peroxidase - active up to 165°F
  • Xanthin Oxidase - active up to 186°F
  • Acid Phospatase - active up to 188°F

Where can I go if I want to learn more about High Pressure Pasteurization?

You can learn more about High Pressure Pasteurization through these helpful resources:

Is your food human grade?

All of the materials used in our raw diets and raw frozen bones are obtained from USDA-inspected facilities (or meet USDA requirements in the case of imports) and from animals that have passed ante- and post-mortem inspection. Our quality control and quality assurance programs include but are not limited to: Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures (SSOP’s), Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP’s), a Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Points (HACCP) program, regular lot segregation, and other industry best practices.  That said, our manufacturing facilities are used to produce pet food rather than human food, and since this is not in line with the USDA's definition of human grade, our foods cannot be classified as being human grade. 

Do your fish products contain mercury?

No, we test our fish products and they are consistently mercury-free.

Where do your meat and poultry come from?

Nature's Variety is committed to using high quality, safe ingredients from government-inspected facilities. Our natural ingredients are continuously inspected for quality and tested for analytical compliance before being accepted at our facilities.

Do you source from China?

We are currently sourcing rabbit meat from a supplier in China. In order to insure the quality of these suppliers, members of our management team have personally visited and audited the facilities. Nature's Variety also has a full-time PhD food scientist on staff in China, who visits the facility regularly and monitors meat quality. In addition, samples from shipments received from this supplier are submitted to an independent lab in the United States for testing. All results of testing and auditing have matching our specifications for quality and nutrition.

What is your animal testing policy?

At Nature’s Variety, we are passionate about pets and deeply concerned for the emotional and physical health of all animals, large and small. All animals are treated humanely and compassionately throughout their lives. The test facilities we contract with are under federal inspection; all animals are cared for in accordance with established animal welfare rules and sanitation standards. These facilities have a “no-kill” policy, choosing to adopt-out the animals to loving homes after a few years. Moreover, whenever possible, we use in-home testing protocols, recruiting the voluntary services of our employee’s pets and the pets of our loyal customers.