
We, at Rad Cat, all take the greatest pride in providing felines and their human counterparts with the highest quality products. We are committed to ensuring our products are safe, healthy. Even as a small manufacturer, we have always gone above and beyond regulatory standards of safety and quality.
How do we ensure Rad Cat is safe? Below are brief, yet detailed descriptions of the steps we take to make sure our products do not contain pathogens.
Our commitment to quality:
Rad Cat has always sought to produce products made from animals that have been humanely-raised and that are raised eating foods that are as natural as possible.
Chicken: contains free-range chicken and is sourced from the US. We use thigh and leg meat – never mechanically separated poultry, that is typically labelled as ‘chicken’. That is why we list the actual parts we use in our products. We also use whole hearts and livers to provide natural taurine, as well as other vitamins, minerals and amino acids.
Turkey: contains free-range turkey, sourced from the mid-western US. Like our chicken, we use thigh and leg meat – never mechanically separated “turkey”. We use whole hearts and livers for taurine, vitamins, minerals and amino acids.
Lamb: is sourced locally, in Oregon. The lambs are pasture-raised and never fed grain. We use boneless lamb shoulder and trim, which are true culinary quality. We also use whole heart and liver as a natural source of taurine, vitamins, minerals and amino acids.
Beef: is grass-fed and is sourced locally, from Oregon, and the cattle are raised without hormones or antibiotics. We use whole chuck and 85% lean trim. Our beef variety is higher quality than most ground beef found in stores. We also use whole heart and liver as natural sources of taurine, vitamins and minerals.
Venison: is from New Zealand and, like our lamb, is never fed grain. The deer are raised without antibiotics or hormones and raised on pasture their entire lives. We use the trim that is from culinary cuts. As venison is so lean, the trim is the same quality as the other cuts.
Pork: is natural and sourced from the midwest. The pigs are raised under humane conditions and are raised without the use of antibiotics or hormones. The cut we use is the shoulder, or 'picnic' cut that is known for its use in 'pulled pork'. This is a mild protein and is highly digestible. We also use the heart and liver as natural sources of vitamins, minerals and amino acids.
Quality Assurance and Quality Control:
We operate our plant under the same guidelines used for human food facilities. Our programs include (but aren’t limited to):
Food Safety: High Pressure Processing (Also see “About HPP” under the “Education” link)
Rad Cat applies of High Pressure Processing (HPP) on its poultry and venison ingredients.
HPP is a very simple process that uses water pressure, at pressures up to 87,000 psi, to destroy bacteria, such as salmonella, listeria and E. coli. It is often referred to as “cold pasteurization” and destroys pathogens without the application of heat. Pressure is applied throughout the poultry, where it essentially “cracks” the protective outer covering of some bacteria, leaving them to “succumb” to their environment.
It is recognized by the USDA and FDA as an anti-pathogen treatment or “kill step” for many food products – it is NOT sterilization (see “About HPP” under the “Education” tab on this site) HPP is a 100% natural process that is also approved for organically labelled products.
It is the only FDA-recognized process that does not involve heat or irradiation to kill harmful bacteria.
Food Safety: Ozone
What is ozone technology?
Ozone technology should not be confused with the ozone gas that is a pollutant!
Ozone is a very powerful, natural sanitizer that has a very broad array of applications. It is incredibly safe, environmentally friendly and does not leave any residue on surfaces. It's recognized by the USDA and EPA and is an approved antimicrobial in Certified Organic programs.
Ozone allows manufacturers to use fewer chemicals, minimizes waste and reduces environmental impact that is unavoidable with other chemical sanitizers, such as bleach (chlorine). It has been in use for over 100 years for air purification and water treatment.
Here's the technical part: What IS ozone, exactly? Ozone is a highly reactive form of oxygen, O3. It contains three atoms of oxygen rather than the two atoms of oxygen that we normally breathe. It is produced naturally, in the upper atmosphere (the ozone layer) through UV radiation. The process of creating the ozone molecule for sanitation, happens when an electrical current forces an extra oxygen molecule onto a natural, very stable, O2 oxygen molecule. This happens through a cold plasma generator. As this new molecule has a very weak bond, it is unstable and ozone decomposes very rapidly into oxygen ,O2.This process works quickly to destroy bacterial cells by "breaking" their protective outer wall (called "lysis"). When bacteria, viruses, molds, fungi or other contaminants or odors come into contact with the ozone molecule, they are destroyed by oxidation. The extra atom of oxygen is consumed and destroys the "pollutant" it comes into contact with. If there is nothing for ozone to 'act' on, it leaves a fresh smell in the air, like after a rainstorm. This is because ozone is actually produced by lightning during rainstorms, which contributes to the beautiful, fresh smell after it's rained! Waterfalls and ocean surf also create ozone, which produces the fresh smells associated with these places.
How does Rad Cat avoid recontamination after the poultry has been HPP processed?
All poultry arrives at our plant sealed in plastic bags. These bags are rinsed with ozonated water, which will kill any pathogens on the outside of the bags. We use ozonated water throughout our manufacturing process on our equipment and all food contact surfaces. Ozone is a very reliable intervention step for pathogen reduction/elimination and is a completely natural process.
After production, our entire processing area is cleaned and sanitized twice to ensure the equipment is free from bacteria. We also clean all of our processing equipment and food contact surfaces before production every day, so we have assurance there will be no contamination of our ingredients or our products from any equipment in our plant.
We also operate under HACCP guidelines and have a robust environmental sampling plan. Sampling equipment and food contact surfaces and testing these samples for pathogens is the best way to monitor the effectiveness of our sanitation program.
Inspections:
Test and Hold and Lot Segregation:
All of our products are sampled and tested before they are released for sale. No products are released until we have clear (negative) lab results for each lot. Each lot is tested for E. coli O157:H7 (plus STEC for ruminant species), Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes and Aerobic Plate Count.
We use a third-party lab to test for pathogens. When the results are confirmed negative, we then take the lot off of “hold” for release to our distribution partners. This method is call 'positive release'.