Every Protocol Raw box includes a QR code. Scan it, and you'll see a dedicated page showing the independent lab results for your specific batch.
If you've never looked at a food safety certificate before, the technical language can feel unfamiliar. Here's what you're looking at and why it matters.
What You're Looking At: Independent Verification
The first thing you'll notice on your batch report is the laboratory name and a UKAS accreditation mark.
UKAS (the United Kingdom Accreditation Service) is the sole national body recognised by the UK government to assess testing laboratories. When a lab carries UKAS accreditation, it means the lab's methods, equipment, and personnel have been assessed for competence and consistency by the recognised UK authority.
What this means for you: We don't test our own product. We send samples from every batch to an independent, government-recognised lab. They run the tests. They issue the certificate. We publish the results.
The data you're seeing isn't our word. It's independent measurement, verified by the body the UK government recognises for this job.
The Two Tests That Matter
Your batch report page shows results for two specific safety measures. Each one serves a distinct purpose.
1. Pathogen Test: Salmonella
Salmonella is the pathogen that worries most people about raw food. The standard you'll see on the report is Absent in 25g. This means that in a 25-gram sample of food, no Salmonella bacteria were detected. This is a regulatory requirement for all raw pet food.
2. Hygiene Test: Enterobacteriaceae
This test is different. Enterobacteriaceae isn't a single bacteria. It's a family of microorganisms. Their presence (or absence) tells us something critical: how clean the entire production process is.
Regulations permit up to 5,000 cfu/g (colony-forming units per gram). Our results are published on every batch report, so you can see the actual number yourself.
Nothing Ships Until Testing Is Complete
When we finish producing a batch, it goes straight into our freezer with a "HOLD" status. We send samples to the lab. The batch waits.
Only after the lab confirms all tests have passed does that batch receive a "Verified and Released" status and become available to ship. This process usually takes 2-5 days.
What this means for you: If there is a safety issue with a batch, you will never receive it. It gets caught and held before it ever reaches a customer.
This is a crucial distinction. Industry-standard practice is to test representative samples periodically, which means some batches ship without direct verification. If an issue occurs between test points, it may only be discovered after product has reached customers. Our Hold-and-Release protocol prevents this: every batch is tested, and nothing ships until it's cleared.
How to Verify Your Specific Batch
Your box has a unique Batch ID printed on the packaging, next to a QR code. Scan it with your phone's camera.
You'll land on a dedicated page for your batch showing the Batch ID, test status, and pass/fail indicators for Salmonella and Enterobacteriaceae. You can also download the original lab certificate for complete transparency.
This is your batch. Your proof. You verify it yourself.
Why We Built This
We built this system because we couldn't think of a good reason not to. Testing every batch costs more than testing some. Holding stock costs more than shipping it. But the pathogens we test for are primarily a risk to the people handling the food, not the dog eating it. That matters. You're putting this in your fridge, your kitchen, your hands, your family.
For the full overview of how we approach safety, see our Safety page.
An unverified batch is a batch we wouldn't send to our own homes. So we don't send it to yours.