Raw meat based diets for dogs and their nutritional and One Health implications

Abstract

Raw meat-based diets (RMBDs) for dogs comprise heterogeneous commercial and home-prepared products that differ in formulation, processing, storage, and quality control. This critical narrative review evaluates RMBDs within a One Health framework, integrating evidence on nutritional adequacy, biological effects, microbiological hazards, antimicrobial resistance (AMR), zoonotic transmission, and environmental sustainability. Literature was identified through PubMed/MEDLINE, Web of Science, Scopus, and CAB Abstracts from January 2000 through August 2026, supplemented by reference-list and regulatory searches; evidence was weighted qualitatively according to study design, directness, sample size, analytical validity, control of alternative explanations, and consistency. Analytical studies show product-specific nutrient deviations in both commercial and home-prepared diets, but these findings should not be generalized to all RMBDs. Short-term studies often report high apparent total-tract digestibility and diet-associated changes in faecal microbiota and metabolites; however, comparisons frequently differ in ingredients, moisture, fibre, starch, fat, and energy density, limiting attribution to raw processing itself, and long-term clinical superiority has not been demonstrated. Contamination of raw pet food with Salmonella, Campylobacter, Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli, Listeria monocytogenes, and antimicrobial-resistant Enterobacterales is repeatedly documented. Raw feeding has also been repeatedly associated with increased faecal carriage of resistant E. coli in observational studies, although residual confounding remains possible. Environmental evidence is less mature and largely derives from pet foods generally: impacts are driven principally by the type and quantity of animal-derived ingredients, whereas additional effects of freezing, freeze-drying, transport, and storage are product- and system-dependent. Overall, RMBDs warrant product-specific and household-specific risk assessment rather than categorical judgement. Veterinary counselling should emphasize nutritionally complete formulation, transparent quality assurance, pathogen-reduction processes that reduce but do not eliminate microbiological risk, and strict hygiene while acknowledging uncertainty in long-term comparative outcomes.