Blog-Wa, the Dog-Wa Blog

According to a report released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, chicken (poultry) is the number one cause of food poisoning in the United States.

Fruits, nuts and leafy vegetables followed poultry on the list.

Food processing and handling is the most critical component in food safety

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that two-thirds of all food-related illnesses traced to a lone ingredient were caused by viruses, which are often added to food by restaurant workers who fail to wash their hands. Another potential source of contamination would be the handling process for foods that are sold in non-restaurant locations like grocery stores and farmers markets.

What about food poisoning that isn’t caused by viruses spread in the handling of food? The second leading cause of food poisoning is Salmonella.

What does this mean for the health of your dog?

You need to be aware of leading causes of food-borne illness, and develop a strategy for providing necessary nutrients that takes the dangers of food-borne illness into account.  This is particularly true if you have committed to a raw diet for your pet.

At Dog-Wa, we are committed to providing the nutritional and digestive benefits of fresh, raw leafy greens to dogs.  So we watch all of these studies very closely. Our own health and safety is important to us.  But the health and safety of our dog customers is our top priority.

Since our mission is to provide the nutritional and digestive benefits of fresh, leafy greens to dogs, we have to be extremely careful.

So how do we, as food manufacturers, deal with food safety?

In the first place, we test every batch of Dog-Wa in bulk for 4 days. This testing happens before the product is bottled, so that the tests come from the entire batch of product. We test for Salmonella, E. coli, microorganisms, safety, stability, and purity. After bottling, we randomly select samples and test again for 4 days, running the same tests to ensure that no contamination has occurred during the bottling process.

Second, we manufacture in facilities that are GMP compliant. GMP means “Good Manufacturing Practice.” Good Manufacturing Practice or GMP is a term that is recognized worldwide for the control and management of manufacturing and quality control testing of foods, pharmaceutical products, and medical devices.

Since sampling product will statistically only ensure that the samples themselves (and perhaps the areas adjacent to where the samples were taken) are suitable for use, and end-point testing relies on sampling, GMP takes the holistic approach of regulating the manufacturing and laboratory testing environment itself.

Third, we manufacture in facilities that are FDA registered and pharmaceutically licensed to make products for human consumption. This means all of our ingredients must meet the highest standards for pure, human-food-grade products. Pharmaceutical licensing adds another layer of obligations to us as manufacturers. It means that our facilities must meet the highest standards established by the laws and regulations of the FDA.

That is how we have found a way to provide safe and effective fresh, raw greens for dogs everywhere.  By limiting our product’s ingredients and manufacturing with unsurpassed quality standards, we have created a way for our customers to integrate indispensable fresh vegetable nutrients into their dogs’ diets.  That’s why Dog-Wa is the perfect mix-in for all raw, dehydrated, canned, dry, and homemade diets.

Food safety is not impossible

It’s just more difficult and expensive. But we believe that the difficulty and expense are justified by providing a product that we and our customers know is safe and effective.