Nebraska Lab Advances High Pressure Pet Food Safety
University of Nebraska-Lincoln researchers are expanding high pressure processing work with private industry to make pet food safer.
Updated on Nov. 4, 2026 in Nutrition
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Food Processing Center is advancing research on high pressure processing, a pasteurization technique that removes pathogens while extending shelf life, in partnership with private industry. The work includes collaboration on avian influenza containment in pet food.
Why it matters
Raw pet food is the fastest-growing segment of the pet food industry, and Nebraska's multibillion-dollar pet food sector includes more than two dozen manufacturing plants across the state. Research on pathogen removal supports the state's position in that market while consumer demand for minimally processed foods drives increased use of the technique.
High pressure processing chambers reach six times the pressure found at the Pacific Ocean's farthest depths, according to the lab's research description. The source does not report outcomes from the avian influenza containment work or a timeline for commercial use.
The players
University of Nebraska-Lincoln Food Processing Center
The food research unit of the state's flagship public university, which operates the high-tech HPP laboratory on the Nebraska Innovation Campus.
Danao
The lab leader whose group conducts HPP research and outreach to Nebraska Extension educators, veterinary students, and undergraduates.
The details
Researchers at the Food Processing Center inoculate food items with a virus or bacteria and then identify the HPP specifications needed to eliminate the pathogen. Packaged pet food is placed into a plastic tub and submitted to high pressure in a chamber at the lab on the Nebraska Innovation Campus in Lincoln.
Big Picture
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Food Processing Center's high pressure processing program is extending its established food-safety research into the raw pet food market. The move follows growing industry interest in pathogen-removal methods that preserve minimally processed products.
Pet owners buying raw or minimally processed food may see HPP-treated products as the technique spreads through the industry. Nebraska residents working in the state's pet food plants or studying food safety may find new training and collaboration opportunities through Nebraska Extension outreach.
The takeaway
High pressure processing offers a way to remove pathogens from food without heat, which may matter for pet owners choosing minimally processed products. Watch for how the technique is applied in commercial pet food as industry adoption grows.
Further reading
Explore more on Nutrition to see how processing methods affect food safety.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Thefencepost.
