For those concerned about "food cooties", it's interesting to note that
Nature's Variety started using a cold pasteurization process (putting
food under intense levels of pressure) to kill bacteria/food cooties.
As Sukie has pointed out in the past, risk from raw comes in two
general forms: 1. food cooties 2. the toxins created by the food
cooties (bacteria, parasites, etc), While you can kill the food
cooties, the toxins are there to stay.

Please mote that kibble can contain salmonella and other cooties and
toxins. Moreover, I've been aware of more illness and deaths from
kibbles, fruits/veggies/grains, and water and than from raw meat. But
that may be a strict "awareness thing" because more people feed kibble.
For example, some of you may remember the aflatoxin poisonings that
occurred from fungus in the grain used in kibble. Aflatoxin poisoning
can be acute or chronic. As a chronic issue, aflatoxin exposure can
cause many problems as both a carcinogen and a poison in general. We
all remember the melamine issue. It's also interesting to note that
Oma's Pride, a company that produces raw pet food, parboils the veggies
before adding them to the food because they feel the veggies are a
greater risk for salmonella than the meats.

Bottom line? Pick your poison and be careful of that air you're
breathing!

-jennifer (aka mustelidmusk)

[Posted in FML 6776]