Raw

Raw describes food based on uncooked ingredients, fed either as a commercial product or a home preparation, and often associated with the [BARF](/glossary/barf) philosophy. Its appeal rests on the idea of an unprocessed, ancestral-style diet, but the defining caution is microbiological: raw food carries a risk of contamination with [Salmonella](/glossary/salmonella), [Listeria](/glossary/listeria) and other pathogens, a risk flagged by several health authorities including the FDA and WSAVA (FDA; WSAVA). This matters for the household as well as the animal, because people can be exposed through handling the food, the bowl or the faeces, with children, older adults and immunocompromised people more vulnerable. Strict hygiene, a maintained cold chain and careful attention to [cross-contamination](/glossary/cross-contamination) reduce but do not eliminate the hazard, and freezing or [freeze-drying](/glossary/freeze-dried) preserves food without reliably killing pathogens. Home-prepared raw rations also share the balancing challenges of any [home-cooked diet](/glossary/home-cooked-diet) and need professional formulation. The editorial stance is evidence over alarm: raw feeding is a personal choice that should be made with full awareness of the documented risks and ideally discussed with a vet. The marker: raw food's central issue is pathogen safety for animals and people alike, which shapes every handling decision around it in the [Petipedia glossary](/glossary).

Petipedia · Editorial team

General documentary information. For an individual animal, a veterinarian's advice takes precedence over any online content.