Freezing raw food questions!

[John Popp]

Agreed with making sure you have adequate taurine mixed in, although freezing taurine does not dramatically reduce it's effectiveness.

 

[F/3]

Agreed with making sure you have adequate taurine mixed in, although freezing taurine does not dramatically reduce it's effectiveness.

This is from the website hare today where I order my raw and supliments.


The freezing process itself does not destroy nutrients.
There is almost no change in nutrient values during freezer storage. However, prolonged freezing could affect the quality (odor, taste, water retention) of the diet.
Taurine is water soluble and defrosting meat will release some water, so the actual meat might end up with a little bit less taurine when thawed.
But this loss of taurine is not caused by freezing but water release with some taurine dissolved in it.
In case of homemade cat food, if this released water is mixed back into the diet you should end up with the same amount of taurine you had before freezing.

 

[John Popp]

That sounds pretty accurate and after doing some poking around it appears that taurine will have 90-95% effectiveness if frozen for 60-90 days. Ideal storage temperature when hydrated is 2-8 degrees celsius (roughly 35-45 degrees F) so freezing isn't that far off ideal. Cooking meat will far more reduce natural taurine levels by as much as 50%.

For whatever reason, the tales of freezing taurine are far more rabid in the raw pet food community than anywhere else despite its use in many products designated for human consumption as well as foods that it is naturally part of. It's an essential amino acid and if there were any dramatic effects of freezing it the body building community would be way more vocal about the effects of freezing it.

That said, I do like the idea of adding it when adding water to our raw food mix. It's pretty much odor and tasteless so no harm with how well it gets mixed up as Mr Kitty isn't likely to know.

 

[Lori Greer]

That sounds pretty accurate and after doing some poking around it appears that taurine will have 90-95% effectiveness if frozen for 60-90 days. Ideal storage temperature when hydrated is 2-8 degrees celsius (roughly 35-45 degrees F) so freezing isn't that far off ideal. Cooking meat will far more reduce natural taurine levels by as much as 50%.

For whatever reason, the tales of freezing taurine are far more rabid in the raw pet food community than anywhere else despite its use in many products designated for human consumption as well as foods that it is naturally part of. It's an essential amino acid and if there were any dramatic effects of freezing it the body building community would be way more vocal about the effects of freezing it.

That said, I do like the idea of adding it when adding water to our raw food mix. It's pretty much odor and tasteless so no harm with how well it gets mixed up as Mr Kitty isn't likely to know.

Well that is certainly good to read/know. I, like many other, had always read how taurine was degraded with temp extremes. Eases the minds of some raw feeders to see it is not as significant a loss from the freezing process. Thanks for sharing!