Parasites & Raw Feeding: What You Need to Know

At Raw Essentials, we understand that many pet owners have questions about food safety, including how parasites and other naturally occurring organisms are managed in raw feeding. Here, we explain some of the main parasites people ask about, how they are transmitted, and the steps we take to minimise risk.

Our key approach includes:

• Freezing: All products are frozen to at least –20 °C for a minimum of 10 days.

• Sourcing: We avoid known higher-risk sources, such as wild pork.

• Hygiene: We provide detailed guidance for safe handling at home. See our Food Safety Tips

• Monitoring: We retail over 30 tonnes of food weekly and maintain a detailed adverse event log.

Toxoplasma gondii is a microscopic parasite found worldwide.

How infection occurs

• Eating raw or undercooked meat containing tissue cysts

• Ingestion of oocysts from soil, water, or surfaces contaminated by cat droppings

• Hunting or scavenging prey such as rodents or birds, and occasionally insects like cockroaches

Cats are the definitive host, and most are exposed early in life. Once exposed, cats typically gain immunity and no longer shed oocysts. Dogs and people do not shed infective oocysts.

Freezing and food safety

Freezing meat is an important risk-reduction step for Toxoplasma in raw meat products, and MPI’s risk profiles are the best local references for this point. Freezing at –18 °C to –20 °C for several days inactivates the tissue cysts that may be present in raw meat.

Environmental oocysts (the form shed in cat droppings) are more resistant to freezing, but this stage does not occur in raw meat

Putting risk into perspective

Toxoplasma is widespread in the environment, and pets are more likely to encounter it through environmental exposure such as hunting prey, drinking from puddles, or contact with contaminated soil.

Our freezing process, combined with good hygiene practices and ongoing monitoring, keeps the risk from Raw Essentials food extremely low.

👉 You can read our full article here: Toxoplasmosis and Raw Feeding: What You Need to Know

Giardia is a protozoan parasite that can cause digestive upset.

How infection occurs

Giardia is primarily spread through contaminated water, soil, or faeces. Pets commonly become infected through puddles, streams, contaminated environments, or contact with infected animals or people.

The CDC guidance does not position raw meat as a primary transmission route, so this section is best framed around environmental exposure rather than meat-borne risk.

Putting risk into perspective

Giardia is endemic in the environment and the source of infection is far more commonly associated with contaminated water, soil, or faecal exposure than properly handled raw meat.

Neospora is a protozoan parasite that can occasionally cause disease in dogs, particularly puppies.

How infection can occur

Dogs may be exposed to Neospora through:

• Ingestion of infected animal tissues, especially tissues from intermediate hosts such as cattle or deer
• Ingestion of placental or fetal material from infected livestock
• Vertical transmission from mother to puppies
• Ingestion of sporulated oocysts from contaminated environments, water, food or other material contaminated by canid faeces

In an individual case, it can be difficult to confirm the exact source of the exposure.

Our freezing and sourcing practices are designed to reduce risk from raw meat exposure. Our products are frozen to at least –20 °C for a minimum of 10 days, which is an important part of our parasite risk-management processes. This provides an additional margin of safety compared with the freezing periods evaluated in published studies. Properly frozen meat is considered lower risk than fresh, unfrozen meat. However, as with all raw feeding, no risk-management step can guarantee zero risk.

Putting risk into perspective

Clinical neosporosis in dogs is uncommon. Puppies are more likely to develop severe disease, while disease in adult dogs may occur following new exposure or reactivation of latent infection, particularly where immune function is compromised.

Most recognised concerns around raw feeding relate to fresh or inadequately frozen infected tissues, especially higher-risk tissues such as placental or fetal material. Our processes are designed to reduce this risk, and we continue to review our sourcing, freezing and handling protocols as part of our food-safety systems.

Trichinella is a parasitic worm primarily associated with wild pork and game meat overseas rather than New Zealand’s managed commercial pork supply.

Trichinella has not been present in New Zealand’s commercial pork supply for decades.

At Raw Essentials, we only stock farmed pork products and do not use wild pork.

Hydatids is a tapeworm parasite historically associated with the dog–livestock cycle in New Zealand.

MPI states New Zealand is provisionally free from hydatids and also confirms that treating offal by freezing to minus 10 °C or colder for at least 10 days is an accepted control step.

Putting risk into perspective

New Zealand has been provisionally free of hydatids since 2002 due to successful eradication programmes.

All Raw Essentials products are frozen to at least –20 °C for a minimum of 10 days, and we follow strict MPI sourcing and processing standards. This exceeds many international recommendations.

• Many parasites are widespread in the environment and are not unique to raw feeding.

• Freezing is an important risk-reduction step for some parasites of concern, but it is not the only control measure.

• Environmental exposure (such as puddles, soil, prey hunting, and contaminated water) is often a greater source of risk than properly frozen raw food.

• With good hygiene, careful sourcing, strict freezing protocols, and ongoing monitoring, the risk from Raw Essentials products is extremely low.

• We are committed to transparency and safety, and we regularly review the latest science to keep our practices up to date.

What is Raw Essentials’ freezing practice?

All of our products are frozen to at least –20 °C for a minimum of 10 days. This exceeds international guidelines and provides a very high level of safety against parasites such as Toxoplasma, Giardia, Neospora, and Hydatids.

Can my dog give me toxoplasmosis?

No. Dogs and people cannot shed Toxoplasma oocysts. Only cats can, and usually only once in their lives when first exposed.

How else might pets be exposed to parasites?

Through everyday environmental exposure such as contaminated water, soil, hunting prey, scavenging, or contact with infected faeces.

What can I do at home?

Follow good hygiene practices:

• Wash your hands after handling raw food

• Clean bowls and preparation surfaces thoroughly

• Store raw food appropriately

• Prevent pets from scavenging or hunting where possible

Further Reading

• Raw Essentials Food Safety Tips

• Raw Essentials Toxoplasmosis & Raw Feeding: Safety at Raw Essentials

• MPI toxoplasma update: Risk Profile Update: Toxoplasma gondii in red meat and meat products

• MPI Feeding offal to dogs and preventing hydatids

• CDC Giardia Infection: Causes and How It Spreads