Does HPP eliminate all pathogen risk?

HPP can reduce risk dramatically. But “zero risk” isn’t how food safety works in practice.

HPP can reduce pathogen risk, and it’s widely used in human food for that reason.^[1][2] But it’s important to separate two ideas that are often blended in marketing:

• Risk reduction (very real)
• Risk elimination (not a realistic promise for most real-world food systems)

“Kill step” is not the same as “sterile”

Food safety guidance generally treats interventions as ways to reduce pathogens to safer levels. Even with strong controls, the concept is management of hazards—not “microbes reduced to zero forever.”^[6]

Why some customers still prefer non-HPP raw

• They accept that all feeding choices carry risk and manage it through handling practices.
• They prioritize minimal intervention and “raw identity” over maximum intervention.
• They prefer brands that invest upstream in sourcing and hygiene rather than downstream kill steps.

How to reduce risk if you feed raw (general best practices)

• Keep product frozen until use; thaw in the refrigerator.
• Use dedicated utensils/containers; clean surfaces immediately.
• Wash hands thoroughly after handling.
• Be extra cautious with immunocompromised humans in the home.