The food industry currently faces a lot of challenges, and the pet food industry faces even more. The information I am sharing here is not meant to be taken as scientific fact, but general observations about the industry and the positions the manufacturers have taken.

People are rightfully concerned about the security of our food sources. The combination of an apparent increase in incidences of H5N1 variants (bird flu, or highly infectious avian Influenza) and a reduction in monitoring and reporting by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Food and Drug Administration, these concerns are justified.

In Canada, all poultry entering the human-consumption pathway comes from inspected flocks, and the monitoring and reporting of potentially infected flocks is both robust and secure. Any outbreaks are reported and the flocks destroyed immediately. The meat from these animals does not get used for human consumption, or even for feed production (including pet food).

The same goes for eggs. The reason egg costs have skyrocketed south of us is that they farm eggs differently, on a much larger scale. When a farm is hit with the H5N1virus, a huge amount of production is lost while that flock is destroyed, the facility is sterilized, and a new flock of layers is grown to replace those lost. In Canada, our laying flocks are much smaller and should one farm go down, dealing with the production loss is more manageable. Again, these flocks are well-monitored, so the eggs are safe.

Some pet food companies have, in the past, rendered condemned meats in the production of their products, but bird flu flocks cannot be used in any way, and must be destroyed.

Raw cow’s milk has also been shown to be a contagion vector for the virus. Pasteurized milk and raw goat’s milk do not seem to be affected.

Commercial poultry and milk must meet very strict inspection guidelines, and are safe, even raw. The biggest concern are uninspected birds and wild game. Backyard flocks can easily be infected by wild birds, and their keepers may not have the sophistication or equipment of commercial producers. So, eating meat or eggs from uninspected flocks runs a risk. Likewise with game birds.

The virus has been shown to be especially dangerous to cats, with a few fatalities having been reported. There has been one report of a dog being affected after chewing on a dead goose carcass – which emphasizes the need to be wary around wild birds or infected flocks.

Almost all raw pet food manufacturers have made statements about the measures they are taking to ensure food safety, and you can read them on their websites or social media feeds. You can also contact the store you buy from for more information.

Avian flu is here, and it is a concern, but if you are careful, you should be able to avoid the problem