Reviewing the articles in this issue it became apparent that the petfood industry is really on one of those up turns in exponential development and growth periods. Development of so many new and unique ingredients, additives, processing equipment diversity and the ranges of products for pets. Formulas developed to assist in all life stages with health natural and well- balanced formulas. It is an exciting time to be in this expanding and developing growth industry.
In this issue there are topics of interest and reviewing these articles remind me of my collection of pets, mostly dogs, over the years. It is amazing how this industry has developed and advanced with new and revolutionary ideas and approaches. Access to information via the internet allows amazing search possibilities in today’s times. Googled ‘best petfood for dogs’ and you see sponsors and adds but a few clicks down you see ‘People also ask’ and these are interesting. Best brand, worst brands, No1 brand, why rice, brown or white, what dog food do vets give their dogs and on and on. The point being people ask and are concerned about their pets and they want knowledge and information on these topics and companies are responding, a few examples.
How great is it that a company, Myos Corp, has received a patent on improving mobility in aging pets. All my dogs lived good long lives and yes when they achieved their senior year’s they did have reduced mobility, congrats on this development, one I am sure many pet owners will enjoy.
Lorena Sanchez of Ynsect France has reported the benefits of mealworm proteins for obesity in pets. I never had this problem with my dogs due to fact their goal was to run and run hard chasing wild birds, pheasants and quail to be exact. Absolutely have seen many cats and dogs which are obese and developments like these are definitely going to be of interest to pet owners of less active dogs.
Ok, years ago when pet foods started to change from basic products to more advanced nutritional formulas, we changed our pet’s diets. It was not an easy decision having been conditioned to feeding them the low cost traditional brown and round products. Being involved in the industry and seeing what was happening an assessment or review on my approach for this decision was in order. Big 40 kilo bags of brown and round was a huge volume, fed the dogs about four cups each based on the guidelines. Looking at the more premium diets and understanding feeding in a volumetric fashion it was noted the higher nutritional products were just as heavy bag wise but the volume was less. When you add fat and meat into a petfood the density can increase but the nutrient and ingredient sources and content changed and on a per volume went way up. Only need to feed 2 cups instead of four with the advanced formulas. My study was to see if we could justify the additional cost of the improved diets. Basically, it proved the cost of the feed was nearly the same since the nutrient density in two cups of higher quality product was the same or similar as seen in a four-cup serving of brown and round. We changed and an additional benefit was less work to keep the yard in order! I believe many pet owners changed products but didn’t reduce the feeding volume. Lorena reports the huge increase in pet obesity and it is a pleasure to see their work in assisting pet owners to improve the quality of life for their pets with mealworm protein. Who would have guessed? When you are on the leading edge in the ingredient field you need to do testing to see what the results yield and in many cases the results are amazing.
The review continues with an article on alternate proteins for pets by Jennifer Adolphe of ADM. Nice article and one that is spot on how the protein ingredients used has and is changing in pet food production.
Prof. Simon Davies continues to keep us informed of details necessary even on the micro nutrients and this month riboflavin is the topic. In continuation of the discussion on micro ingredients, Dr. Cinzia Boggino Scavone and Dr. Allison Millican of Zinprop Corp. prepared an in- depth article on inflammation in pets and the important of attention to trace minerals.
An article on Petiva petfood production in Turkey points out the combination of ingredient selection and equipment yielding the desired innovation with scientific data and advanced techniques to achieve the quality final products. Another confirmation the advancements in processing and in ingredient development where their use is advancing the science and art of pet food production.
The interview with Thomas Runde of Tietjen, Germany is most interesting based on the fact that grinding is an important step in pet food production. Their innovative approach to problem and situation solving to advance developing is based on actually testing products to be ground individually or a mixed formula with in-depth discussion on what is expected and what is the range possibilities of what is to be ground to specific finesses. If you do the work up front in defining what is to be achieved then this or other devices do not become bottlenecks. I always felt a percentage of production over the need is not a bad idea in some cases.
This well-rounded issue does show just a few examples of how and why this industry is so dynamic. Attendance to the conferences around the world supporting this industry are promoting and sharing developments in all sectors. The list is endless and too long to list so let’s hope that we cross paths at some shows in the near future and share our developments and experiences to all friends and clients for the growth of the industry and benefits to our beloved pets. We would be glad to assist and hear as it is all interesting. Countless times discussions have shown that these new unique approaches are useful and worthy of review to see if it assists petfood production and development.
This editorial was published for the February edition of International Petfood Magazine.
