Kibble and Raw Food: Look Beyond the Format
The complete recipe and food safety tell us more than a label alone.
A dog can be delighted by dinner long before anyone has explained the label. Our job is to understand what the meal supplies and what comes with it.
We’ll start with what makes a food a complete meal, then look at what studies comparing raw food and kibble actually measure. From there, we’ll turn to food safety in the kitchen and the recipe details worth bringing to a veterinary nutrition discussion.
At WatersEdge, the useful distinction was that “raw” and “kibble” describe formats. Neither word alone answers the nutrition or food-safety question.
A NOTE FROM WATERSEDGE
We read the research, we talk to people who do this work, and we try to make complicated animal-health information easier to understand. What you're reading reflects how we've interpreted and organized what we found. It is educational. It is not veterinary advice, a diagnosis, or a treatment plan for your animal.
We're not perfect, and neither is the available research. Evidence changes, new work gets published, and what suits one animal may be wrong for another. Species, breed, age, weight and existing conditions all change the answer.
Use this as a starting point for your own reading and for the conversation with your veterinarian, particularly if your animal is on medication, is under treatment, has an existing condition, is pregnant, very young or very old, or if anything about their condition is changing quickly.
01 / First, let’s ask what the meal is meant to supply
First, let’s ask what the meal is meant to supply
Before comparing formats, we need to know whether the food is intended to supply the whole diet. According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a food labeled “complete and balanced” must meet an Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) nutrient profile or pass the applicable feeding trials. The label also identifies the species and life stage the food is intended for.
A topper, treat or ingredient can have a different nutritional role from a complete food. The finished recipe matters, whether it arrives dry, frozen or in another form.
Start with the exact food’s intended use, rather than expecting a format to supply that answer.
02 / A changed gut is not automatically better health
A changed gut is not automatically better health
Once the food’s intended role is clear, we can look at the research with a more useful question: what changed for the dogs? Research comparing raw-fed and kibble-fed dogs has found differences in gut microbes and other measurements. That is scientifically interesting, but a changed measurement is not proof of a longer or healthier life.
In Hiney and colleagues’ study, dogs already had different feeding histories. The foods also differed in composition. Those conditions matter when interpreting what changed.
The simple questions are:
- What animals and foods were actually compared?
- What changed?
- Did the study measure an everyday health benefit?
- How far can that result apply beyond the study?
These findings show differences between the feeding groups; they do not establish that either diet gives dogs a longer or healthier life.
03 / The kitchen belongs in the story
The kitchen belongs in the story
The next part of the comparison concerns everyone sharing the kitchen. Food-safety researchers look for harmful bacteria and other organisms in food and in animals that eat it.
FDA’s handling guidance includes washing hands and cleaning pet-food bowls and utensils. Keep the food’s storage and thawing instructions where everyone preparing dinner can find them, and use the prescribed routine each time. This is a household job, not something to improvise from whether the food looks or smells ordinary.
Canadian public-health investigators have connected raw pet food and contact with cattle to an outbreak of extensively drug-resistant Salmonella. A later Quebec investigation used bacterial DNA and case information to trace connections among raw food, dogs and human infections. A dog looking well does not show that its food or surroundings are free of harmful organisms.
According to the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA), high-pressure processing (HPP) can reduce bacteria under particular conditions. An HPP label does not mean the food is free of all living microbes. Freezing or freeze-drying also should not be treated as proof against every organism.
The FDA also warns about H5N1, a bird-flu virus, in uncooked or unpasteurized ingredients from infected poultry or cattle. Dogs and cats can become infected after eating contaminated food. Cats are especially vulnerable: the infection can cause severe illness or death.
04 / Give the conversation a real recipe
Give the conversation a real recipe
The research does not support treating every raw or cooked food as nutritionally identical, or turning a microbial change into a broad health promise. Nutrition and infection concerns need their own evidence.
For a veterinary nutrition discussion, gather:
- The exact recipe, label and nutritional-adequacy statement.
- Storage, preparation and handling instructions.
- The manufacturer’s explanation of safety controls.
- The animal’s age, health and full feeding history.
- Other animals and people in the home, especially anyone vulnerable to infection.
Those details turn “natural versus processed” into something more useful: an understandable conversation about the actual meal, animal and household.
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Research details
Hiney’s study compared 55 dogs already eating raw food or kibble, then followed standardized foods of each type for 28 days. Previous diet was not randomly assigned, and the groups differed in age and body condition. The Canadian outbreak investigations address transmission and related bacterial strains; they do not compare the lifetime health of raw-fed and kibble-fed dogs.
The Public Health Agency of Canada’s final notice identified raw pet food and contact with cattle as likely sources in the outbreak. Bernaquez and colleagues’ 2025 Quebec investigation added genomic and case evidence. These investigations cannot estimate contamination in every raw-food brand or the probability of illness in a particular household.
The FDA’s H5N1 notice tells manufacturers to consider the virus in their food-safety plans. It does not certify individual products. High-pressure processing can reduce bacteria, but how well it works depends on how it is carried out. The process name alone cannot show that all harmful organisms have been removed.
The Canadian research reports an outbreak investigation rather than a food-prevalence comparison. Bernaquez and colleagues declared no competing interests. Public-health, animal-health and laboratory organizations contributed to the investigation; no separate study-funding statement was located in the inspected article.
Sources
- Bernaquez I and colleagues. “Dogs fed raw meat-based diets are vectors of drug-resistant Salmonella infection in humans.” Communications Medicine, June 4, 2025. Read source.
- Public Health Agency of Canada. “Outbreak of extensively drug-resistant Salmonella infections linked to raw pet food and contact with cattle.” Final notice, March 28, 2024. Read source.
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AAHA. “Raw Protein Diet,” 2021 AAHA Nutrition and Weight Management Guidelines, June 22, 2021. Read guidance.
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Hiney K and colleagues. “Fecal microbiota composition, serum metabolomics, and markers of inflammation in dogs fed a raw meat-based diet compared to those on a kibble diet.” Frontiers in Veterinary Science, April 17, 2024. Read paper.
- FDA. “Cat and Dog Food Manufacturers Required to Consider H5N1 in Food Safety Plans.” Updated September 30, 2025. Read source.
- FDA. “Complete and Balanced Pet Food.” Read source. Page dated February 28, 2020.
Photo credits
- Lead photograph: IDS.photos from Tiverton, UK / Wikimedia Commons. Original photograph · CC BY-SA 2.0. A yellow Labrador Retriever standing in grass with its tail extended. Illustrative photograph.
- Supporting photograph: FriendlyToaster / Wikimedia Commons. Original photograph · CC BY 4.0. A Bernese Mountain Dog standing on grass in a leafy garden. Illustrative photograph. Crop made from original.
- Additional photograph: Oleg Royko / Wikimedia Commons. Original photograph · CC BY-SA 4.0. An Abyssinian cat standing on a wooden platform against a warm background. Illustrative photograph.
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Featured photograph: Niko Herlin. Photo source. CC BY 2.0. Whole source frame proportionally resized.
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