High-Pressure Processing (HPP) is a food safety technology that uses pressurized cold water chambers to inactivate harmful microorganisms. It is a well-established method used throughout the human and pet foods industries to reduce pathogens while preserving the food’s original / raw characteristics. Foods that are commonly HPP-ed and are probably in your fridge include fruit juices (often labeled as cold-pressed), dips & spreads (guacamole, hummus), deli meat (turkey, ham, roast beef), and other ready-to-eat meals (soups or other packaged foods). 

During HPP, sealed food is placed into a large barrel-like basket and loaded into a pressure chamber. The chamber then fills with water and pressure is applied for a few minutes to inactivate bacterial cells. We process our recipes at 600 MPa (87,000 PSI) for 3-4 minutes. Afterwards, packages are dried off and sent to the freezer.

This video demonstrates what the process looks like!

Here at Viva, we believe in making each batch of our food better than the last. This means we’re always taking a data-driven approach to evolve our food safety practices and provide higher-quality products for your pets. Based on our testing and research, we’ve found that HPP offers greater pathogen reduction and improved application consistency in our manufacturing processes. We’re excited to add this process to further strengthen our food safety systems, and our decision to adopt HPP is just the latest, but not the last, improvement in our programs.

You can check the Best Buy date printed to the left of the label on the package. Any product with a Best Buy date of March 15, 2027 (3-15-27) or later has been HPP-ed.

Packages with a Best Buy date before this were produced prior to our transition to HPP and include our probiotics blend.

If you’re unsure or have trouble locating the date, feel free to take a photo of the package and reach out to our team—we’re happy to help confirm!

Our validation studies in Viva recipes showed that HPP achieved more than a 99.999% (over 5 log) reduction in major foodborne pathogens. For reference, cooking meat and poultry typically results in a 99.999% reduction, while spraying a surface with Lysol results in about a 99.9% reduction in microbes.

We test each lot for Salmonella spp., Listeria monocytogenes, and E. coli O157:H7, the primary pathogens of concern in raw pet food.

We perform standard test & hold protocols—all lots are held until test results are returned.

Any technology we consider for our products undergoes an extensive review process, and HPP is no different. During the evaluation process, we compared it to other food safety technologies, including probiotics, bacteriophages, irradiation, antimicrobial sprays, and more. It was important to us to consider not only the efficacy against pathogens but also the impact on the food's quality afterward (e.g. nutrient retention, appearance, texture).

First, we conducted validation studies in partnership with the Institute for Food Safety & Health (IFSH) at the Illinois Institute of Technology, using our own recipes and challenging them with high levels of pathogens to understand the efficacy of HPP.

Beyond pathogen reduction, we also evaluated HPP’s impact on overall food quality, including whether it affected nutrient levels, fat oxidation, and beneficial bacteria.

No. Following our transition to HPP, probiotics are no longer included in our recipes. 

Packages with a Best Buy date of March 14, 2027 (3-14-27) or earlier were produced prior to the HPP transition and include our probiotic blend. Packages with a Best Buy date of March 15, 2027 or later are HPP-ed and do not contain probiotics.

If you’re unsure which version you have or need help locating the date on your package, you’re always welcome to send us a photo—we’re happy to help confirm!

Our food safety program is built as a comprehensive & layered system. In addition to HPP, it includes a strict supplier approval program, manufacturing under HACCP protocols in a USDA facility, routine environmental monitoring for pathogens, and a test & hold program prior to releasing any products for distribution. 

For a deeper look at how these layers fit together, you can explore our full approach in our blog article: Our Food Safety Practices.

No. High pressure is extremely effective at breaking weaker chemical bonds (hydrogen bonds, hydrophobic interactions) important to overall cell function but it does not affect nutrients such as amino acids, vitamins, minerals, and fatty acids since they are held together by stronger covalent bonds unaffected at pressure ranges achieved by HPP machines.

This is corroborated by our own testing, which showed small, insignificant shifts in nutrient values from HPP that all fall within normal sampling variability. There was no pattern of nutrient loss or degradation, and moisture levels remained stable before and after HPP.

We found that HPP does reduce overall bacterial levels, including both harmful and non-harmful microbes. However, our testing showed that naturally occurring “good” bacteria found in raw food are not present at high enough levels to impact the gut microbiome.

The gut health benefits associated with raw food actually come from the overall structure of the diet itself: high-quality animal protein, high moisture content, intact fats, low carbohydrates and the right balance of fiber and nutrients, all of which remain unchanged by HPP.

No, HPP did not increase fat oxidation in our products. We evaluated lipid stability using peroxide value (PV) testing, which measures the earliest stage of fat oxidation and is a standard indicator of rancidity. PV levels showed no significant change after HPP and remained well within ranges associated with fresh, stable fats.

HPP may affect some naturally occurring enzymes in raw meat, but this does not have a meaningful impact on how dogs and cats digest or benefit from the food. Enzymes present in meat are not the same as the ones that are relied on for digestion by pets. Dogs and cats depend on stomach acid, gastric enzymes, pancreatic enzymes, and bile to break down food.

No, HPP does not increase plastic leaching between food and its packaging.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) identified temperature—not pressure—as the primary factor influencing transfer in packaging. Because HPP is a non-thermal process performed at low temperatures, it does not increase transfer. Scientific evaluations reviewed by the EFSA found that packaging materials exposed to High Pressure Processing remained well below established safety limits.

When food is stored in any type of packaging—plastic, glass with coatings, metal cans with linings, or composite materials—there can be a very small amount of transfer simply because the food and the packaging are touching. This is not unique to plastic, and it does not mean the packaging is unsafe. All of our packaging is food-grade, meaning the materials are tested to meet regulatory safety standards, and the packaging quality is unaffected by HPP. 

Most pets don’t notice any difference at all and continue to enjoy their meals as usual. That said, as the owner, you might notice a few subtle, purely cosmetic changes:

• A slightly stiffer & more compact texture: pressure can cause the food to become slightly more compact by gently altering how proteins and muscle fibers are arranged.
• A lighter color: pressure can cause changes in myoglobin, the protein that gives meat its color, making it appear lighter than what you may be used to seeing.

Both of these changes are purely cosmetic and do not affect the nutritional value, safety, or palatability of the food!

This video shows what our recipes look like before and after HPP.