RawSAFE
The History of RawSAFE™
Our biggest project over the last couple of years has been rather slower to make progress than we had hoped, but we are now up and running!
RawSAFE™ arose from a conversation at our 2019 conference when a few of the RFVS committee were talking to some directors of manufacturers of raw foods about the possible risks when raw food is incorrectly handled, poorly manufactured or made from poor quality ingredients.
As a Society, we are acutely aware of how many of our professional colleagues perceive that these risks outweigh the many benefits of feeding a biologically appropriate diet to cats, dogs and working dogs. This conversation kept popping up in our minds, and so we decided to do something about it, and the idea for RawSAFE™ was born.
What is RawSAFE?
It is an independent audit of a manufacturer (who chooses to make the investment to be audited). A successful audit will result in the right to display a strongly legally protected Certification Mark giving our veterinary colleagues and people who choose to feed their cat or dog a species appropriate diet, reassurance that that brand is manufactured to the highest (and safest) standard possible.
The Directors of RawSAFE™ have appointed a company with many years of experience in the meat and human food production industry. The auditors are highly trained in using objective assessment criteria (written by the RawSAFE™) team, and they will visit manufacturers’ factories to audit their processes step by step.
Independent auditors were chosen to ensure that there is no possibility of any suggestion of bias or relationship with any of the manufacturers. RFVS is lucky to have a number of excellent manufacturers as Affiliate members and we didn’t want anyone to feel that this could influence an audit in any way. It absolutely can’t, although, we obviously hope that our Affiliate members will choose to invest in the accreditation.
The RawSAFE™ company is part owned by the Raw Feeding Veterinary Society and the Society’s share of the profits will be invested in producing research to further reassure our professional colleagues about the benefits of a species appropriate diet, using peer reviewed scientific publications such as they are familiar with relying upon in other areas of their professional work. Such research is extremely costly, and the Society cannot run to such an investment without a much greater income than is received at present from membership.