Gently Baked  

As you’ve likely heard, the longer the food we eat is exposed to heat, particularly at high temperatures, the greater the nutrient loss. The same holds true for pet food.

With this in mind, we bake Carna4 once at moderate temperatures but ensure it reaches 195° F/90°C to eliminate the illness-causing pathogens (e.g. salmonella) that may be present in raw meats. At the same time, our gentle baking temperature is kept low enough to preserve the naturally-occurring probiotics, enzymes and nutrients your pet needs, along with authentically scrumptious aromas.

Our family-run bakery is audited by the AIB, ASI and NSF Cook & Thurber, consistently scoring a superior rating.

Why Oven Baking?

We deliberately chose oven baking to avoid the high nutrient and flavor loss that comes with extrusion (see sidebar) – the extreme heat and pressure-laden process used to make most dry pet foods.

Baking also spares our food from another extrusion consequence: the creation of very high quantities of free radicals, byproducts of heat, pressure and abrasion. These charged particles can damage the food’s molecular structure and cause early rancidity. Once ingested, these free radicals can attack your pet’s body cells and if they reach unnaturally high levels, can hasten damage, leading to serious conditions like arthritis and contributing to cancer cell growth. When there is a high concentration of free radicals, antioxidants like vitamins C and E, will be reallocated to neutralize them. However, this leaves a nutrient shortfall for preserving the food and meeting other health needs.

We’ve found that by gently baking our sprouted seed recipe, we can safeguard our boosted supply of nutrients. Our flavor retention and palatability is also so strong that there’s no need to spray on the flavor, fat or digest, which extruded products rely on.

We handcraft Carna4 in small batches so it moves swiftly from our bakery to your local pet specialty store’s shelf still smelling of freshly baked goodness and with a wealth of nutrients intact.