Why Most Dog Foods Destroy Nutrients During Cooking — And What Indian Pet Parents Can Do About It

Written by the Venttura Nutrition Team. 
Reviewed by a certified veterinary nutritionist.
Published: July 2026 | Reading time: 10 minutes

Quick Answer

High-temperature dog food processing can reduce certain heat-sensitive nutrients, depending on the nutrient and processing conditions. Cold pressing uses substantially lower temperatures, which can help preserve more of the nutrients naturally present in ingredients. Venttura Cold Pressed Dog Food is processed at approximately 75°C, reducing heat exposure compared with high-temperature extrusion.

There is a question most pet parents never think to ask.

Not "what is in my dog's food?" Most people ask that. They read the labels, compare the protein percentages, and look for real meat as the first ingredient. They are doing the right things.

The question they are not asking is: how much of this actually survives the manufacturing process?

Because here is something the pet food industry does not advertise. Two bags of dog food can have identical ingredient lists and still deliver completely different nutrition to your dog's body. The ingredients that go in before manufacturing and the nutrients that come out the other side are not the same thing. And the gap between them, quietly, is where a lot of Indian dogs are losing out.

Key Takeaways

• High-temperature processing can reduce certain heat-sensitive nutrients, depending on the nutrient and processing conditions.
• Nutrient losses vary depending on the nutrient and processing conditions.
• Cold pressing uses a substantially lower processing temperature than high-temperature extrusion.
• Venttura Cold Pressed Dog Food is processed at approximately 75°C.
• Venttura uses turkey and duck as major protein sources.
• Dogs should be transitioned gradually when switching to a new food to reduce the risk of digestive upset.
• Dogs with persistent health or digestive problems should be evaluated by a veterinarian.

The Ingredient List Tells You What Went In. Not What Survived.

Walk into any pet store and pick up two bags of premium dog food. Read the backs. You will see similar things — named protein sources, omega fatty acids, B vitamins, antioxidants. Both look complete. Both look like someone thought carefully about the formula.

What neither label tells you is what happened to those ingredients during manufacturing.

Most dry dog food is made through a process called extrusion. The ingredients get ground into a dough, mixed with steam and water, and then pushed through a machine at temperatures above 150°C. The whole cooking process takes just a few seconds. What comes out the other end is the familiar, crunchy, uniform pellet that most dogs in India eat every day.

Those few seconds above 150°C do a lot of damage that never makes it onto the packaging.

What Actually Happens at Above 150°C

Think about what happens when you overcook an egg. The proteins change, the texture changes, the colour changes. Something that was nutritionally one thing becomes something else after too much heat. Dog food ingredients go through a version of the same process, just far more extreme.

Heat-sensitive vitamins take a hit. Several vitamins — vitamin A, vitamin E, and many of the B-group vitamins — are sensitive to heat, and studies consistently show that extrusion reduces their levels, with the exact loss varying widely depending on temperature, moisture, and processing conditions. This is precisely why pet food manufacturers routinely over-formulate, adding extra synthetic vitamins to offset what processing destroys so the finished food still meets its guaranteed levels. The nutrition is still there on paper; it is just topped up after the fact rather than delivered by the original ingredients.

Protein quality can drop. At high temperatures, a reaction occurs between proteins and sugars in the food — the same Maillard reaction that browns toast. In dog food it can reduce the digestibility of certain amino acids, especially lysine, which matters for muscle maintenance and immune function. Lysine is the amino acid most affected by extrusion, with losses of up to 80% reported in some conditions. The protein percentage on the label does not change; the amount your dog can actually use can.

Fats oxidise. Omega fatty acids are very important for your dog's skin, coat, joints and immune system. They are also sensitive to heat. When dog food is processed above 150°C, natural fats begin to oxidise. Oxidised fats do not deliver the same benefits as intact ones. 

So what are you actually paying for when you buy a premium dog food? Ingredients that were good before manufacturing, some of which made it through, some of which did not, and a label that cannot tell you which is which.

Why Indian Dogs Are Particularly Affected by This

Indian dogs have it harder than most people realise.

The climate alone is a significant factor. When it is 38 degrees in May, your dog's body is already under physiological stress just from regulating temperature. Digestion is a demanding process that requires real energy and resources from the body. A food that is difficult to digest or nutritionally depleted after processing adds to that burden in ways that show up as low energy, loose stools, and skin that never quite settles.

Most premium dog food sold in India was also never designed for Indian dogs. The formulas were built for dogs in cooler European or North American climates, with different activity levels, different common health challenges, and different environments. Those formulas then get shipped here and fed to Labs living in Chennai and Beagles in Delhi and Golden Retrievers in Bengaluru. The nutrient standards they were designed to meet were not developed with the Indian context in mind.

And then there is the specific issue of what Indian dogs commonly struggle with. Dull coat. Chronic itching. Recurring ear infections. Loose stools that have been going on for so long they seem normal. Low energy after meals. These are exactly the symptoms that poor nutrient absorption produces. They are not diseases. They are the body's way of showing you that the gap between what is going in and what is being absorbed has gotten wide enough to notice.

What Cold Pressing Does Differently

Cold pressing is not a new idea. It has been used in European pet food for years. The concept is straightforward: instead of cooking ingredients at above 150°C, you use mechanical pressure to form the pellets at 75°C, which is roughly the temperature of a warm cup of tea.

That difference in temperature is everything.

The lower processing temperature helps reduce heat damage to nutrients compared with high-temperature extrusion. Heat-sensitive vitamins are generally better preserved than during high-temperature extrusion. The Maillard reaction that reduces lysine digestibility is far less pronounced at lower temperatures. Fats are less prone to heat oxidation. 

In short, more of what the original ingredients contained is retained in the finished food. 

Cold pressed pellets also behave differently in the stomach compared to extruded food. Standard dry food pellets are puffed with air during extrusion. When they reach the stomach, they absorb moisture and swell, much like a dry sponge expanding in water. Cold pressed pellets are dense and compact. They do not swell. They break down gradually and gently as they move through the digestive tract, releasing nutrients steadily rather than all at once. For a dog whose gut is already sensitive or stressed, this steady, gentle breakdown makes a real difference.

Why Venttura Was Built Around This Idea

Venttura was not built by adapting a European formula for the Indian market. It was built specifically for Indian dogs, with everything the formula contains earning its place based on what Indian dogs actually need.

The processing temperature of 75°C is non-negotiable. It is why more of the heat-sensitive nutrition in the ingredients is preserved, and why the turkey and duck protein reaches the bowl in a form the body can use efficiently. 

Over 40% of the Adult formula is turkey and duck. Both are novel proteins for most Indian dogs, meaning the likelihood of a pre-existing sensitivity is low. Both are also among the most digestible protein sources available. It is worth being transparent here: the formula also contains chicken liver as a secondary ingredient for nutritional benefits, so it is not intended as a hypoallergenic or chicken-free diet.

The omega blend includes Ahiflower, a plant that naturally produces the complete spectrum of omega fatty acids, including the rare omega SDA. Venttura is the only dog food brand in the world currently using Ahiflower in dog food. Because the omegas are not subjected to high-heat processing, they reach your dog's bowl intact, delivering real benefits to skin, coat, and joint health rather than a degraded version of what was once there.

The formula is free of wheat, soy and corn, and is low-grain rather than grain-free, with oats as the digestible grain source. A complete three-layer gut health system with prebiotics, probiotics, and postbiotics supports the microbiome that absorbs all of this nutrition. And everything is manufactured in a FEDIAF-certified plant in Europe, with every batch tested before it ships to India.

The Simplest Way to Think About It

Imagine buying the best ingredients you can find. Fresh turkey. Cold-pressed oil. Vegetables at their peak. You spend real money on them because you care about what goes into your dog's food.

Now imagine cooking everything at over 150°C for several minutes, throwing away a significant portion of what made those ingredients valuable, and then adding synthetic replacements for what was lost before serving.

That is broadly what high-heat extrusion does to the ingredients in most commercial dog food. The label reflects what went in. Not what came out the other side.

Cold pressing at 75°C changes that equation. It is not a perfect process and no manufacturing method is. But the difference in what survives, and therefore in what your dog actually absorbs meal after meal, year after year, is real and meaningful.

What Pet Parents Notice After Making the Switch

The changes most pet parents describe after switching to Venttura Cold Pressed follow a pattern that is consistent enough to be worth sharing.

The first thing that tends to settle is digestion. Within the first week or two, stools become firmer and more consistent. Gas reduces. Dogs that seemed restless or uncomfortable after meals start to settle more easily. It is not dramatic, but it is noticeable.

Energy tends to follow. Between weeks two and four, dogs that seemed flat or sluggish after eating start to seem more like themselves. Appetite often increases because cold pressed food retains its natural flavours, and dogs respond to that in a way they often do not with heat-processed alternatives.

The coat takes a little longer. By weeks four to eight, most pet parents start to see a visible difference. Less shedding, a shinier coat, skin that is calmer and less persistently irritated. The Ahiflower omega profile gets credit for a lot of this.

Beyond two months, the improvements tend to stabilise. For dogs that have been dealing with recurring skin issues or digestive complaints for a long time, this is often when the most significant changes become clear.

Every dog is different, and results will vary. For dogs with serious or persistent health conditions, always work with your vet alongside any dietary changes.

Switching to Cold Pressed — How to Do It Without Disrupting Your Dog's Gut

The gut microbiome adjusts to new food over time. Switching too quickly, even to a better food, can cause temporary digestive upset as the microbiome adapts. A gradual transition avoids this.

Keep fresh water available throughout. Slightly softer stools in the first few days are completely normal. If loose stools persist beyond day five, slow the transition down by one step and hold there for a few more days before moving forward. For dogs with very sensitive stomachs, a slower 14-day transition sometimes works better.

One practical note: do not use a measuring cup designed for regular dry food to measure Venttura. Cold pressed food is significantly denser and heavier than extruded food, so the same cup volume gives you a different weight. Use the Venttura measuring cup that comes with the pack, or weigh on a kitchen scale.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. If the label says the food is nutritionally complete, why does processing temperature matter?

Nutritional completeness on a label refers to whether a food meets minimum standards for listed nutrients at the point of manufacture. It does not account for how much of that nutrition survives the manufacturing process in an absorbable form, or how efficiently your dog's digestive system can extract it. A food can meet label standards while delivering significantly less usable nutrition than the numbers suggest, depending on how it was made.

Q2. Why do most dog food brands still use high-heat extrusion if it affects nutrients this way?

Extrusion is fast, cheap and produces consistent, shelf-stable food at scale. Those are significant commercial advantages. The nutritional trade-offs are real but they tend to show up gradually in the dog rather than immediately, which means there has historically been limited consumer pressure to change. Cold pressing is more expensive and slower to produce, which is part of why it has taken longer to arrive in markets like India.

Q3. Does cold pressing at 75°C preserve all nutrients perfectly?

No manufacturing process is perfect. Some nutrient loss occurs even at 75°C. What cold pressing achieves is a significantly smaller loss compared to extrusion at above 150°C, particularly for heat-sensitive nutrients like vitamins, amino acids like lysine and fatty acid integrity. 

Q4. My dog looks healthy on their current food. Does this still apply?

It might. Nutrient degradation tends to show up gradually rather than obviously. A dog that appears healthy may still be experiencing suboptimal absorption that shows up subtly in coat quality, energy after meals, or how quickly they recover from minor illness. Many pet parents who switch to cold pressed food describe improvements they did not expect because they had not realised there was room for improvement.

Q5. Is Venttura suitable for puppies?

Yes. Venttura Junior Turkey and Duck is specifically formulated for puppies and developing dogs with over 45% turkey and duck protein to support healthy growth and immune development. It carries the same cold pressed process, low-grain formulation, and gut health system as the adult range.

Q6. How does cold pressed food compare to raw in terms of nutrients?

Raw food retains the highest level of natural nutrients since it involves no processing at all. The practical challenges of raw feeding, including bacterial contamination risk, storage requirements, and handling, make it difficult for most Indian pet parents to manage consistently. Cold pressed food at 75°C sits between raw and extruded food in terms of nutrient retention, delivering significantly more than extruded alternatives while being safe, shelf-stable, and practical for everyday feeding.

Q7. Where can I buy Venttura Cold Pressed Dog Food?

Venttura Cold Pressed Dog Food is available at venttura.com and on Amazon India. Both Adult and Junior formulas come in 1kg and 3kg pack sizes. Free delivery across India with orders dispatched within 24 to 48 hours.

Q8. How do I know if my dog's current food is causing nutrient-related issues?

The signs to look for are a dull or dry coat that does not respond to topical treatments, consistently low energy, particularly after meals, loose or irregular stools that have become a long-term pattern, and recurring skin issues like itching, hot spots or ear infections. None of these are definitive proof that the food is at fault, but they are worth examining in the context of what your dog is eating. Always consult your vet if symptoms are severe or persistent.

Conclusion

The label on a bag of dog food tells you what went in. It does not tell you what survived the manufacturing process, and it does not tell you how much of what survived your dog can actually absorb.

For most Indian dogs, that gap matters. It shows up in their coat, their energy, their digestion, and their skin over months and years of eating food that looked good on paper but delivered less than it promised in practice.

Cold pressing at 75°C does not close that gap completely. No food does. But it closes it significantly, and for dogs already dealing with the additional demands of Indian heat, humidity, and diets never designed for them, significantly is enough to make a real, visible difference.

That is what Venttura was built to do. Not just meet the label. Actually deliver it.

👉 Venttura Cold Pressed Dog Food is available at venttura.com and Amazon India. Free delivery across India.

Also read:

• What is Cold Pressed Dog Food? Everything Indian Pet Parents Need to Know
• Why Cold Pressed Dog Food is the Smarter Choice for Indian Dogs
• 7 Signs Your Dog's Food is Hurting Their Gut Health
• Best Dog Food for Sensitive Stomach in India
• Best Dog Food for Labrador Retrievers in India