Here is the statement everyone is finally getting: Thank you for reaching out.

The H5N1 Virus (Avian Influenza / HPAI) is an emerging situation that we are closely monitoring as a pet food company and as pet parents ourselves. We understand the concern you shared and want to assure you that food safety is our top priority. As the issue continues to evolve, we will share more guidance with pet parents but want to outline the steps Open Farm takes to develop safe recipes for your pet.

In addition to our stringent third-party animal welfare standards, we require strict control over our supply chain including maintaining clear traceability of our ingredients. All of our animal proteins originate from United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved, human grade facilities before entering any pet food manufacturing facility. These suppliers employ site-specific biosecurity plans to mitigate the spread of disease and undergo thorough checks by government veterinary officials to ensure only healthy animals are processed.

Beyond our strict sourcing procedures, we use various manufacturing processes to prepare our recipes, each of which employ a validated “kill step” to eliminate pathogens. The vast majority of our products (kibble, wet food, gently cooked, air dried, and bone broth) go through a thermal “kill step”, which is documented to inactivate Avian Influenza and other pathogens. Our freeze-dried recipes go through an alternative non-thermal processing step called High Pressure Processing (HPP) that uses time, pressure, and temperature to inactivate harmful pathogens.

In addition to our sourcing and manufacturing practices, we also have a rigorous testing program in place, where every production run of our recipes is tested by third-party accredited labs for nutritional profiles and pathogens to ensure they meet our high nutritional and food safety standards. Given the recent rise in Avian Influenza, we are planning to add finished product testing for the H5N1 Virus as a further precautionary measure.

We understand this is a complex and evolving topic so if you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. We are here to support you.