Why Frozen Doesn’t Mean “Less Fresh” — The Science Pet Parents Need to Know

A lot of pet parents hear the word frozen and immediately imagine something old, preserved, or lower in quality. But in reality, properly prepared frozen food is often fresher, safer, and more nutritionally stable than meals that sit in the fridge for days, or foods that have gone through high-heat processing like extrusion or retort.

Freezing is simply a preservation method that protects nutrients, prevents bacterial growth, and keeps the food exactly the way it was on the day it was cooked. To understand why frozen meals behave better inside your dog’s body than most “fresh but stored” meals or shelf-stable foods, you need to understand what “freshness” actually means in nutrition.

What does “fresh” actually mean?

Freshness has nothing to do with temperature. It has everything to do with how intact the nutrients are, whether fats are oxidised, and how much bacteria has had time to multiply.

A meal cooked today and frozen immediately is fresher nutritionally than a meal cooked today and kept in the fridge for 3–4 days. This is because:

• fats oxidise in the fridge

• water-soluble vitamins degrade

• bacteria continue to multiply slowly

• moisture evaporates over time

Freezing slows all of this almost to zero.

So from a scientific standpoint, fresh = minimal nutrient damage + minimal oxidation + minimal bacterial activity. Freezing protects all three.

What freezing does at a molecular level

When a meal is frozen at –18°C or below, three major things happen:

1. Enzyme activity drops to almost zero

The enzymes that break down vitamins, fats, and proteins become nearly inactive. This dramatically slows nutrient degradation compared to refrigeration.

2. Oxidation is almost completely halted

Fats oxidise (turn rancid) in the presence of oxygen, heat, and light. Freezing removes heat from the equation, so oxidative reactions stop.

This is why:

• omega-3s stay intact

• animal fats retain their structure

• the meal maintains its natural smell and taste

3. Bacteria stop multiplying

Cold does not kill most bacteria, but it puts them in a dormant state.

Bacteria grow fastest between 5°C and 60°C.

Even in a fridge, they continue multiplying slowly.

At freezer temperatures:

• bacteria stop multiplying

• spoilage stops

• fats and proteins remain stable

• the bacterial load does not increase over time

This is exactly why frozen food stays “fresh” far longer than refrigerated food.

What freezing does not do

This part is extremely important.

Freezing does NOT:

• sterilise food

• kill all pathogens

• make unsafe food safe

• eliminate Salmonella or E. coli

Freezing halts growth, it does not kill everything.

Once the food thaws, bacteria “wake up” and behave normally again.

This is why raw diets must be sourced safely, handled with hygiene, and ideally tested for pathogens. For gently cooked meals (like what we make at Whisk-a-Woof), the cooking process already reduces bacterial load significantly, so freezing keeps the food microbiologically stable.

Humans freeze meat, bread, milk, fish, vegetables — not because they are “less fresh,” but because freezing is the most reliable way to preserve freshness. The same science applies to dog food.

Nutrient retention: why frozen beats every other preservation method

Most nutrient loss in pet food happens because of heat:

• extrusion (kibble)

• retort (canned/packaged)

• prolonged boiling

• dehydration at high heat

• long storage with exposure to air

Freezing uses no heat.

Studies in human and animal nutrition consistently show:

• proteins maintain structure

• fats resist oxidation

• vitamins degrade slowly

• minerals remain unchanged

This is why frozen fish retains its omega-3 quality far better than fish stored on ice for several days.

The same logic applies to frozen dog and cat meals.

“But doesn’t freezing reduce vitamins?” — The nuance

Yes, freezing can reduce some vitamins, but only specific ones:

• vitamin C

• some B vitamins (B1, B6)

Here’s the important part:

1. These vitamins are already sensitive to cooking, so freezing does not add extra damage.

2. The loss is small and easy to correct in fresh feeding — for example, adding a B-complex post-cooking.

3. Fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K) remain stable in freezing.

4. Minerals like calcium, zinc, selenium and iodine are completely unaffected.

So nutritionally, freezing is not a compromise — it’s the least damaging method of preservation.

Fresh cooked daily vs frozen — the real comparison

Cooking every day is wonderful for the first few hours, but practically:

• food stored in the fridge begins oxidising

• moisture evaporates

• fats soften and degrade

• bacteria multiply slowly

• the nutrient profile shifts every single day

• you cannot guarantee consistency

Freezing a meal the same day it’s cooked stops all of this. It keeps the meal stable and consistent throughout the week.

Consistency matters, especially for sensitive dogs.

How we freeze fresh meals at Whisk-a-Woof -

At Whisk-a-Woof:

1. We cook each batch gently.

2. Cool it rapidly.

3. Portion accurately.

4. Freeze immediately.

Rapid freezing forms very small ice crystals, which protects:

• texture

• moisture

• nutrients

• natural fats

• taste

• microbiological stability

The result is a meal that is:

• safe

• consistent

• balanced

• free from preservatives

• protected from oxidation

• nutritionally identical to the day it was made

This is why frozen meals survive travel without spoiling and why dogs with sensitive stomachs often eat frozen-fresh meals better than refrigerated ones.

Fresh vs frozen vs refrigerated at a glance

Refrigerated meals

• safe for only 2–3 days

• nutrients slowly degrade

• fats oxidise

• bacteria grow gradually

• moisture evaporates over time

Frozen meals

• stable for months

• nutrients stay intact

• bacteria stop multiplying

• fats do not oxidise

• moisture stays locked in

So nutritionally, frozen meals are closer to “fresh-cooked today” than anything stored in the fridge.

TL;DR

Frozen food is not less fresh.

Frozen food is fresh preserved at peak freshness — with:

• better nutrient stability

• less oxidation

• safer bacterial behaviour

• consistent digestibility

• more reliable formulation

• zero preservatives

When done correctly, frozen meals offer a level of safety, stability, and nutritional accuracy that no refrigerated, retorted, extruded, or chemically preserved dog food can match.

If you thought frozen = less nutritious, now you know the science says the opposite.