Paleo Ridge Officially RawSAFE Certified

22nd August 2022

Paleo Ridge are proud to say we are officially RawSAFE certified. What is RawSAFE and what does this mean for our business?

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What is RawSAFE?

RawSAFE is an independent audit of a manufacturer created by a proactive, new organisation who are focused on provision of the best and safest possible food for pets, including working dogs. RawSAFE is a company partly owned by the Raw Feeding Veterinary Society. The Directors have appointed a company with many years of experience in the meat and human food production industry. The auditors are highly trained in using objective assessment criteria, which has been written by RawSAFE and will visit manufacturers' factories to audit their processes step by step.

Independent auditors have been chosen to ensure their is no possibility of any suggestion of bias or relationship with any manufacturer.

How RawSAFE Came About

Food safety has always been one of the primary concerns of the veterinary profession. This has been therefore, also a high priority within the Raw Feeding Veterinary Society.

In 2019 at the annual conference, an informal meeting between directors of two raw food manufacturers (both of whom have strong previous careers in the human food industry) lead to mulling over the woefully poor regulations around the pet and working dog food manufacturing industry, along with all the objections they were hearing about from vets.

Members of the RFVS committee were intrigued by discussion of the standards and loved how these could overcome so many of the objections and concerns so commonly made by their colleagues.

Having slept on the conversation after the RFVS 2019 conference, the idea of standards was discussed in the cold light of day, and they wondered if they could come up with our own veterinary recommendations. The RFVS President and some key committee members with the expertise of the company directors and input from other invited manufacturers, decided to pursue several avenues.

Consideration was given to nutritional content, environmental sustainability and impact, product safety and public education of product use. All have valid contributions to improving the standard of raw foods for animals.

They had to start with a core principle that production of raw meat based diets needed a more robust standard. The standards are based on those in human food manufacturing and you can see the introduction to them here.

As veterinary professionals and as manufacturers, the team have the safety of our animal companions and their human guardians at the heart of everything they do. Nothing in life is without risk, but with appropriate standards being met and some common-sense precautions in place, they know that animals can safely be fed as close as possible to their intended diet whilst living safely with their human families.

What This Means for Paleo Ridge

For Paleo Ridge, having this well established certification gives our customers the reassurance that our processes and our food standards are of the highest quality. To have another certification to prove our standards, especially by well established veterinarians is incredibly important to us. It is a top priority to ensure the food we provide is of the highest quality and all our dog customers are eating the best.

Our top priority is the health and wellbeing of dogs, we want them to thrive and have as little trips to the vet as possible. With this accreditation, we can reassure everyone that our food is safe, our processes are safe and most importantly, it helps to gain trust. We want to help dogs all over the country (and world one day!) reach optimum health through a natural, species appropriate diet so not only that they can live a long, happy, healthy life but also their humans can enjoy a longer life with their companion.

Further Reading

04th November 2024

Bringing home a new puppy is an unforgettable moment full of excitement, joy, and, let’s face it, a few nerves. You’ve probably got their cosy space ready, a collection of toys waiting, and now one big question looms: what should I feed my puppy?

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