ST. LOUIS — Jennifer Brickley spent the first 20 years of her career making sure human food was safe for consumers. After she started working for Instinct Pet Food in 2018, she quickly realized that most of the food safety standards in the pet food industry were as rigorous as those she followed on the human food side. 

“The standards we have are the same stringent food safety standards that are required for ready-to-eat human food,” Brickley said.

In her role as director of product safety and quality at Instinct, Brickley is helping ensure the brand’s raw pet food formulations are consistent in quality and safe from pathogens in order to provide dogs and cats with balanced and safe nutrition.

In the following Q&A, Brickley shares how her passion for food safety on the human food side has applied directly to her work at Instinct Pet Food.

PFP: How did you get your start in the pet industry, and how did that experience lead you to where you are now?

Brickley: My career from 1998 until 2018 was entirely in human food; most of it working in ready-to-eat human food facilities. I honestly never saw myself in pet food or ever really considered going into pet food until I was contacted by Instinct, whose focus was premium frozen and freeze-dried raw pet food. Until this point I had no idea there was a raw pet food category.

I have since learned the many benefits of feeding raw pet food. I also know how vital it is to make sure we are implementing effective food safety and quality programs when making raw pet food. The standards we have are the same stringent food safety standards that are required for ready-to-eat human food.

PFP: What has been your biggest challenge — personal or professional — related to your work in the pet industry?

Brickley: For the raw pet food category, the biggest challenge has been educating pet parents and veterinarians alike that raw pet food is safe to feed to pets, as well as the many health benefits of feeding raw. The main food safety concern is the possibility of pathogen contamination being in the raw pet food such as Salmonella, Listeria monocytogenes and E. coli O157:H7. Cooking does kill these pathogens but cooking also eliminates many of the health benefits of feeding a raw diet.

Unfortunately, there are some raw pet food companies that have not and do not take additional steps to address possible pathogen contamination. This gives all raw pet food the negative perception that it is not safe to feed your pets.

For raw pet food, it is important to take steps other than cooking to kill pathogenic bacteria. The predominant method used is high pressure processing (HPP). Another method is probiotic inhibition, where “good bacteria” are used to complete with and suppress pathogenic bacteria. These methods can be used singly or in combination.

“I took many of the food safety programs I used in human food ready-to-eat processing and have applied them into our raw pet food safety programs,” said Jennifer Brickley.

We also incorporate a strict supplier approval process, sanitation and good manufacturing practices to support making safe, quality products. Many of these programs mimic programs you would find at a human food processing ready-to-eat facility. I took many of the food safety programs I used in human food ready-to-eat processing and have applied them into our raw pet food safety programs.

PFP: Tell me about a professional accomplishment in the pet industry that you are proud of.

Brickley: Prior to my arrival at Instinct, there were food safety programs in place, especially from a food safety perspective and meeting US Food & Drug Administration – Food Safety Modernization Act (FDA – FSMA) regulatory compliance. However, taking food safety and quality to the next level meant meeting a GFSI (Global Food Safety Initiative) standard. The standard we chose was SQF (Safe Quality Food). In 2019, Instinct passed its first SQF Food Safety audit and SQF Quality audits with an excellent rating and hasn’t looked back. We are working on continuing to improve our programs, facilities and food safety culture at Instinct.

PFP: What is top of mind for you and/or your business in the industry right now?

Brickley: The first issue that’s top of mind at Instinct is Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) for the raw pet food industry. This virus is ever-evolving and very easily spread by migratory birds to domestic poultry flocks. There was a recent voluntary recall with a raw food competitor after one of their products tested positive for HPAI.

Unfortunately, with raw pet food we sometimes we find ourselves in a situation where it is guilt by association. Some attitudes have been since HPAI was found in this raw competitor’s food then it might be in all raw poultry pet food. For Instinct, this is not the case. Our qualified poultry suppliers follow strict biosecurity protocols to prevent and test for HPAI. These include regular flock health monitoring, routine HPAI testing, controlled environments to limit exposure to potential vectors, and compliance with USDA guidelines. Our suppliers also participate in the National Poultry Improvement Plan (NPIP) and collaborate with industry experts to ensure early detection and swift action in case of outbreaks.

We take extra care with all our ingredients, inspecting them as they arrive at our facility and again once they’re made into finished products. We adhere to strict independent, third-party SQF certified food safety standards encompassing rigorous employee training, careful raw material sourcing, HPP in all our diets to eliminate pathogens, thorough pathogen testing and stringent daily sanitation.  

PFP: If you could pick three trends influencing the industry today, which are the most important and why?

Brickley: Pet parents’ quest for the best nutrition and ingredients — Pet parents are looking for pet food that matches their own dietary preferences (GMO free, grain free, cage-free chicken, grass-fed beef) and minimally processed food. Pet parents of today are treating their pets as family members, and they are becoming more discerning about the food they feed their pets and if it is healthy and safe for their pets to eat.

Sustainability — The younger generations of pet parents are much more aware of taking care of our planet and they want to be good stewards of the planet. We are much more educated about the effects of global warming. There are more opportunities every year for things that we can do in pet food manufacturing to help with this. Instinct recognizes the importance of trying to be more sustainable and we are now a member of the Pet Sustainability Coalition. Consumers are looking at pet food companies to see if they are sustainably sourcing ingredients or using packaging that can be recycled. Our parent company Agrolimen gave Instinct funding to build a new facility that is LEED Certified.

Innovation — Pet parents are looking for new formulations, sizes, and ways to feed their pets. Their pets experience the food they are eating. One recent trend is supplements. Pet parents take supplements for their overall wellness, why not the same idea for their pets? Pet parents can find formulas that are more specific for skin, mobility, gut health and more.

PFP: What is something about the pet industry that people outside of the industry may not realize?

Brickley: For humans, we eat a variety of different foods to meet all or most of our essential nutritional requirements. For pets, all their essential nutritional requirements must come from their primary pet food. We not only have to make sure the pet food meets the food safety standards from a pathogen perspective, but we also must make sure we do not cause any nutrient deficiencies for the pets eating our food. Insufficient levels of essential nutrients can lead to deficiency syndromes.

PFP: What advice would you give to other women in this industry?

Brickley: I have been in food manufacturing since 1998. At that time, there were hardly any women on the manufacturing side of the business. Representation has gotten better during the 25 years I have been doing this, but there is still a lot of room for improvement. There still are times when I find myself being talked over or interrupted — almost always by a man. If this happens to you, don’t get frustrated, be patient and make sure your voice is heard. However, getting your voice heard doesn’t mean you have to get louder. It simply means you might need to look for an additional opportunity to make sure what you want to say is being heard and considered. Don’t back down because someone is being louder than you.

PFP Just for fun, do you consider yourself a dog person or a cat person? Or, if you have pets of your own, tell us a little bit about them.

Brickley: This is a hard question. I am probably more of a dog person. As a former 4-H kid who trained my dogs in obedience training, I’ve always appreciated the playfulness and interactions with dogs. However, I have had my fair share of cats with attitudes through the years, which can also be fun.

Once my daughter left for college, the last of our pets passed away. Since I do a fair bit of traveling, I do not currently have any pets. However, one big advantage of working at a pet food company is that my co-workers can bring their fur babies to the office, and I can visit with them and enjoy them while I’m at work.

Jennifer Brickley is the director of product safety and quality for Instinct Pet Food, where she oversees all aspects of quality assurance, sanitation and the microbiology lab. Brickley spent 20 years of her career working in ready-to-eat human food plants that co-packed products for some of the largest food companies in the world before joining Instinct Pet Food in 2018. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Animal Science from Pennsylvania State University.

Continue reading about other female leaders featured in our Women in the Pet Industry series.