Freshness Matters

Pet Food is a Perishable Item

Ask any health conscious consumer and they’ll tell you, what makes retail store shelves convenient can also make the food sitting on them nutritionally inferior. Pet food is no different. If you think about it, we’re putting things like chicken and salmon in a bag and shipping it around for 9-12 months. Belch!

The truth is, it’s downright difficult to create natural, nutritious food that can sit on the store shelf or distributor for months on end. While scientific studies have proven that naturally preserved pet food nutrients break down over time, we all know from personal experience that fresh food simply tastes better! And though they can’t tell us, our dogs and cats know it too.

Nulo is dedicated to ensuring the freshest pet food possible throughout the entire supply chain; from the cooking process and storage to transportation and enhanced packaging technologies.

Freshness Tastes Better!

The taste of our food is important to us, and the same goes for our pets. In a recent study, Dr. Jim Corbin, University of Illinois, reported that "of 37 various commercial pet foods from store shelves, 43% had peroxide values in excess of 20 meq/kg of fat". Fresh, non-rancid fats have a low PV - usually less than 5.

For humans, food tastes unpleasant at peroxidated values of 20 meq/kg or greater. And since a dog's sense of smell is 50-100 times more sensitive than a person’s, it’s easy to understand why so many pets pick at some store-bought food!

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Shinier Skin & Coat

As pet food sits in paper-based bags, the food slowly becomes exposed to oxygen. Besides simply going stale, this oxidation decreases the nutritional value of required essential fatty acids such as linoleic acid, critical for maintaining moisturization of the skin. The effect is a dry lusterless hair coat, a common problem in dogs and cats unknowingly fed stale pet food.

Antioxidant Protection

We do all we can to eat well and avoid health problems down the road. Most of us know that antioxidants can protect our cells from damage, which may help prevent cancer. Antioxidants have the same effect on our pets.

Susan E. Orosz, Ph.D., D.V.M noted, “Unfortunately, many pet foods are sitting on the shelf for longer than 100 days and the activity of the natural antioxidants will be reduced”. It’s the fat-soluble vitamins such as A, D and E that are most susceptible to breaking down.

Biological Function (i.e., No Bad Things!)

When you see the enemy, it’s scary; when you don’t, it’s even worse.

Researchers from Purdue University (John J Tureka et al) found in a groundbreaking study that oxidized lipid agents called Keytones and Aldehydes get created from the breakdown of fats in pet food bags over time and can be biologically potent to pets.

Even at moderate levels of oxidation, these deteriorated lipids result in growth impairment, suppression of immune system function, compromised bone development and suppressed levels of vitamin E – an antioxidant that helps counteract the effects of free radicals that can directly lead to cancer in dogs and cats.

Nulo takes its freshness so seriously that our facility is completely climate-controlled, ensuring a constant temperature of 68-degrees and the right amount of humidity for perishable items. Our products are never exposed to direct sunlight and remain elevated at all times to eliminate any exposure to foreign contaminants. Even our packaging has been designed to reduce oxygen transfers rates – far outperforming your typical fast-food paper pet food bags. Now that’s pet insurance!