A comprehensive approach to food safety.

At Bravo, we are committed to delivering the healthiest, safest dinners and treats for your pet – we make “the diet that nature intended.” We work continuously with food safety experts from across the country to improve and refine our pathogen control programs while delivering pure unadulterated nutrition for your dog and cat. You can be assured that our multi-step process described below meets strict food safety standards for pathogen control while keeping our foods as close to natural as possible. 

 

The Bravo 10-step food safety process.

1. We have been in the meat business since 1942 processing human-grade meats and poultry under USDA regulations for restaurants and institutions throughout the northeast. The same knowledge, experience, and concern for quality and safety go into every Bravo product.
2. We only buy from reliable long-term suppliers of minimally processed ingredients that have been USDA inspected and approved. Our facility and those of our suppliers follow strict federal and state food handling and processing guidelines.
3. We operate our own plant where we control every step of the manufacturing process. While we do use selected outside suppliers for certain Bravo products, we monitor their food safety systems to assure compliance with our protocols. We inspect finished products daily to ensure they meet the Bravo standard for quality, appearance, freshness and safety.
4. We employ a Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Points (HACCP) food safety system. HACCP is a system designed to identify and prevent microbial (pathogenic) and other hazards in food production. It includes steps designed to prevent problems before they occur and to correct them as they are detected. Such preventative control systems are widely recognized by scientific authorities and international organizations as the most effective approach available for producing safe food.
5. All of our products are continually monitored for freshness, cleanliness and temperature throughout the manufacturing process. 

• All incoming materials are checked for proper temperature before receiving – anything over 40 degrees is rejected.
• Temperatures are monitored constantly before, during and after production.
• All raw materials are screened for sight, smell, and texture to ensure quality and freshness.

6. Bravo uses a wide variety of safety steps and processes for pathogen control including:

   High Pressure Processing (HPP). HPP is a cold pasteurization process that inactivates bacteria such as Salmonella, E-coli, and Listeria. HPP is a 100% natural process without the addition of any heat, chemicals, preservatives or other non-natural additives. HPP is a safety step being used by other leading brands of raw pet diets, and is used for a wide variety of commonly purchased human products such as raw juices, guacamole, salsas/sauces/dressings, hummus, fresh soups, preservative-free lunchmeats, shellfish, and more.

7. A beneficial side effect of our freeze drying process is the reduction of any pathogens in our foods and treats using this method of manufacture.

8. All of our equipment is human food-grade stainless steel NSF (National Science Foundation) approved commercial grade.
9. Finished products must pass through metal detectors on all our lines before being boxed and flash frozen.
10. As a final step, all finished products are tested at a USDA/FDA accredited third-party independent lab. This procedure is called “hold/test/release” in which every batch is held until all tests for E. coli 0157:H7, listeria monocytogenes and salmonella come back negative and are properly recorded.

Our 10-step process protects pets for our customers who wish to feed a minimally processed raw diet. While nothing is 100%, we are continually evaluating and improving our methods and trying new technologies to provide the safest products possible.

 

The benefits.

• Our 10-step process protects pet health while preserving the vital nutrients that exist in pure, raw diets.
• Our innovative use of new, cutting-edge technologies allows us to avoid processes that can destroy the full nutritional benefits of our food, treats chews, and bones. With our process, the healthy microbes that naturally exist in raw foods are largely protected and remain bioavailable.
• Our exclusive process maintains the natural texture, and we believe, taste of raw meats, vegetables and fruits.

 

That’s just the beginning.

At Bravo, we seek to continuously improve our pathogen control methods to further enhance the safety of our products, while keeping them as close as possible to their natural state. If you have any questions about our food safety program, please email us.