How do I know if it is safe for me to re-freeze my dog's meals?
As fellow pet parents, we know the idea of re-freezing thawed meals might raise some eyebrows. With this in mind, we're here to offer some further insight and put your mind at ease.
If your meals have arrived thawed or thawing we recommend also referring to our our article: Defrosted Meals on Arrival for helpful context on our safety period and what to do next.
Freezing and re-freezing chilled or ambient food is a common practice in both the food industry and home kitchens. It’s perfectly safe as long as we follow the strict hygiene guidelines set by Regulation (EC) 852/2004 and, when applicable, Regulation (EC) 853/2004.
The wellbeing of the dogs we feed is of the utmost importance to us, so sticking to these rules helps us keep food cold, ensuring it stays safe for them to eat. Bear in mind, we would never advise anything that could put your dog at risk, and we’d never recommend anything that we wouldn’t do at home with our own dogs too!
Let us break down some of the technical bits for you:
Regulatory Framework (EC) 852/2004: This regulation sets out the general hygiene rules for food, focusing on keeping things clean and safe all the way from production to processing. It requires food businesses (like us) to use procedures based on HACCP principles to make sure food remains safe.
Regulation (EC) 853/2004: This regulation adds to Regulation (EC) 852/2004 by providing specific hygiene rules for food of animal origin. It includes detailed requirements for handling, processing, and storing these products, including freezing and refreezing conditions. To keep food safe during freezing and refreezing, we follow these key practices:
Controlled Environment: Freeze food in a controlled environment where temperatures and hygiene conditions are constantly monitored. This prevents harmful bacteria from growing.
Time and Temperature Management: The right combination of time and temperature is essential during freezing.
Hygienic Conditions: we keep everything clean during the freezing process. We ensure all equipment is cleaned down and we follow excellent hygiene practices to avoid contamination.
Practical Safety Tips
In addition to the above, practical tips from Foodsafety.gov give some really handy advice on when it’s safe to freeze food and when to throw it out.
It’s safe to refreeze cooked meals that have been frozen before if you still see ice crystals and the food feels cold like it’s been refrigerated. This helps ensure the food stays safe for your dog to eat even after being frozen, slightly thawed, and then refrozen again.
Can I re-freeze meals multiple times?
We do not advise or recommend refreezing meals multiple times. Please utilise the link above for more advice and if you would like to, we recommend reading our article on How to Store Butternut for additional information.