Back to the future with botanicals

Defining botanicals

Visit a supermarket and you might think that botanicals are both trendy and novel. However, their use for health promoting purposes dates back to the ancient societies of China, India, Greece and Egypt. 

The many definitions for botanicals illustrate their wide diversity. The European Consumer Organisation, BEUC, defines botanicals as ‘plant parts, concentrated sources of plants or their extracts or derivatives with a physiological effect’. 
In a supermarket we see them in products like:

• herbal teas, for example: camomile
• herbs and spices used in cooking, like garlic and rosemary
• nutraceuticals for health support properties, including biologically active naturally coloured pigments such as carotenoids, flavonoids and procyanadins, found in fruits, vegetables and berries, and consumed in their natural form, as food ingredients or nutritional supplements

Botanicals also play a growing role in pet food, driven by two main factors: the humanisation of pet food and by greater scientific understanding of how the bioactive compounds work in nutrition. Both are important for different reasons. Firstly, pets play an important role in society and ‘healthy longevity’ is an important concept for pets and owners. The second factor is equally important as this helps pet owners make informed decisions based on science rather than folklore about whether to use botanicals for their pets.  

Botanicals in pet food 

Pet food labels, especially in the ‘super premium’ category, indicate extensive use of a wide variety of these ingredients, from plant extracts, like rosemary and marigold, to herbs such as milk thistle and camomile, and all sorts of berries, including blueberries, bilberries and cranberries.

It is important that we recognise both technological and physiological benefits of their use. 

Technological benefits include, for example, minimising the risk of oxidative rancidity in kibble and, with increased scrutiny of synthetic antioxidants food safety by regulatory authorities, pet food producers and pet owners, it is highly likely that this use of natural, botanical antioxidants will continue to expand, while use of synthetics like BHA and BHT is reduced. 

Physiological benefits are increasingly being recognised and include the antioxidant benefits of lycopene from tomato and lutein from marigold flowers and cranberries for urinary tract health.

Recognising the risks

As use of botanicals expands, so the need to ensure integrity and trust also becomes more critical. Consumer expectations of ‘natural’ ingredients like botanicals tends to run high, but so do the potential risks associated with using them, a potent combination that increases the risk of disappointment and a loss of consumer trust.  

A quick internet search indicates that consumer trust in both human and pet food is already not as good as it should be, and is neutral or worse in key areas like how information is communicated, transparency and food safety. 

The potential risks associated with botanicals have been recognised for a long time. Back in the 15th Century, the Swiss physician and alchemist Paracelsus said “poison is in everything and nothing is without poison”, making the point that ingredients can be both beneficial or poisonous depending on level consumed. 

The crime of food fraud dates back even further to ancient times – when the adulteration of olive oil and wine was not unknown – and remains a problem today, seen in every food commodity (‘from salt to saffron’) in the 21st Century. It is a fact of life that, with humanisation of pet food, we are more vulnerable to this crime.  

One risk area, for example, is ingredients containing biologically active naturally coloured pigments. Berries like bilberry, blueberry and cranberry are now found in around 30% of dry products on the market and a recent conference on food fraud (Food Fraud – A Global Insight, London 1st March 2018) highlighted the fact that ‘any anthocyanin-rich fruit can be a potential source of an adulterant to bilberry or a lower-cost substitute for it’. 

If we are using berries or berry extracts like bilberry, cranberry and blueberry and fail to understand and control the risks, we are exposed to fraud and potential food safety issues, including potential adulteration with toxic materials.

Integrity is key

Whether you are selling botanicals or are an end user in pet food, minimising the risks and maximising trust requires excellence in two key areas:

• food safety and quality management systems – to ensure the integrity of food and ingredients, including safety, quality and authenticity; and 
• consumer communication – how and what we communicate on food safety and food fraud 

In short: food integrity. Food integrity includes food safety, quality and authenticity, and is defined in the EU as: ‘the state of being whole, entire, or undiminished or in perfect condition’. 

Are your food integrity management systems up to date and based on best practice? If not, your business is at greater of risk failing to deliver safe, authentic products that meet product claims. Potential outcomes include increased customer complaints, damage to brands, loss of sales and profit and less trust in your products.

To sustain global growth and innovation, the concept of food integrity is critical. We must now consider an integrated approach to food integrity, that includes safety, quality and authenticity to ensure we can satisfactorily answer the question: Can pet owners trust us to deliver products that are safe, of the quality expected and meet expectations on the claims we make for them and their pets?