Food things you should know

Generally speaking, if you feed your pet fresh food, some water-soluble nutrients will dissolve into the soup or water after heating or boiling. In this case, your pet may not be able to absorb these nutrients. In addition, the procedures for preparing fresh food are definitely more complicated than preparing feed. Some owners cook fresh food and feed it to their pets in batches for convenience. If it is not stored properly, it may make your pet sick.

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Currently, many pet owners choose to cook for their pets themselves, and there are more and more pet recipes on the market. In addition to being able to select ingredients and reduce the intake of additives, it also allows them to cook for their pets. But is eating fresh food really better than eating dry food or canned food?

It is difficult to control nutrients and calories in fresh food

When designing a menu, the most important thing is to ensure that your pets have a balanced diet. However, if all the ingredients are not calculated by professional scientific instruments, it is difficult to know the exact nutritional composition and calorie content. In this way, there is no way to calculate whether the nutrients your pets have taken in are sufficient or whether they have taken in too many calories. In addition, some fruits and vegetables contain very few nutrients. If you want to achieve the daily nutrient intake required by cats and dogs, you must use a large amount of vegetables. Therefore, in general, if you eat whole fresh food, in order to achieve a balanced diet, you must use a variety of ingredients.

It is difficult to retain nutrients after cooking

When preparing recipes, we also need to consider the characteristics of the ingredients. Some water-soluble nutrients, such as vitamin B, C, and taurine, will dissolve into the soup or water after heating or boiling, so your pet may not be able to absorb these nutrients. In addition to the fact that nutrients may be lost during the cooking process, we also have to worry about whether our pet can really absorb them all.

Safety of raw food is a concern

In addition to nutrition, safety is also important when cooking fresh food. Some owners advocate following the wild nature of pets and letting them eat raw meat, lettuce, etc., but this will cause problems with microbial contamination. Uncooked food may contain E. coli, Salmonella, etc., which will not only harm pets, but also the owners living with them.

Pairing fresh food with staple foods can achieve a more balanced nutrition.

Chen Mingru, a distinguished professor at the Department of Animal Science and Technology at the National Taiwan University, shared her experience that she would cook fresh food for her furry friends on special holidays and mix it with some of the staple food they usually eat to supplement the nutrients they lack. Jiang Zhifan, a small animal nutrition specialist veterinarian in the United States, also explained that in the fresh food recipes prepared by nutrition specialist veterinarians, other nutritional supplements will also be used, because fresh food may lack certain nutrients, and nutritional supplements can fill this gap.

However, Chen Mingru also mentioned that it is not recommended to completely replace feed with fresh food. First, the nutritional composition of feed is fixed, so it can ensure that the daily nutritional intake of your pet is balanced. If some nutrients are omitted when preparing fresh food, it will cause nutritional deficiencies in the long run. Second, the procedures for preparing fresh food are definitely more complicated than feeding. Some owners cook fresh food for convenience and then feed it in batches. If it is not stored properly, it will make your pet sick. Therefore, although fresh food is one of the ways for owners to cultivate feelings with their pets, while giving your pets love, you must also pay attention to the nutritional and food safety issues hidden behind it, so that your pets can eat healthily and happily!

【This article is from Food Power Vol. 31 Quarterly " At least 30 billion pet food business opportunities. Is it safe for furry friends to eat? "】

Review Editor: Lin Yuting