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Technically dehydration refers to the process of removing moisture from dog food in order for it to be shelf-stable. Although freeze-drying takes moisture out of pet food, when we talk about dehydrated dog food, we are referring to the process that includes air-drying/ dehydrator / oven drying.
As such, we are talking about processes that use low humidity, a source of low heat/temperature and air circulation. Ziwi Peak, Honest Kitchen and Canisource Grand Cru all use some form of low temperature/ heat to cook the food. There will be variations in the techniques used by all these dog food companies but the basics of low temperature/heat, air circulation and low humidity will be applied. In some of the cases, some of the pet food manufacturers increase the temperature at the end state for a short time.
We've seen the industry use the term "raw dehydrated dog food," which is technically not right as heat is applied but not anywhere near the high temperatures used in extrusion of dog kibble.
No. Dehydrated dog food is not the same as raw as we explained earlier. There is low heat applied in addition to air circulation to technically cook the food or else it will rot if the moisture is not taken out. You could consider these dehydrated dog food as lightly cooked as the moisture is removed. As such, from a nutrition perspective, even light cooking changes the enzyme, vitamin and amino acids of the dog food meaning the nutrition is changed.
Dehydrated dog food typically lasts around 1-2 years depending on the brand of the product. Each product will have an expiry date on the back of the food. Please make sure to store the food in a dry location in order to ensure that it stays fresh and does not go bad.