Antioxidants are vital for maintaining quality and extending shelf life.
Why antioxidants?
Poultry fats, vegetable oils, fish oils and all lipid-rich sources of nutrients for pet food react spontaneously with oxygen and form free radicals. Thereby fats turn rancid and vitamins lose their activity. Protecting feed components with anti-oxidants is thus vital for maintaining food quality.
Synergistic antioxidant blends, such as Loxidan, protect pet food against lipid-o-xidation and ensure high product quality for up to 24 months, also 100% natural. Liquid formulations can also be sprayed on animal by-products or mixed directly into fats.
Issues with estimating efficacy
The determination of antioxidant efficacy and minimum durability is a complicated and tedious process. It strongly depends on the composition of the product, the production conditions, the packaging, the presence or absence of adequate antioxidants and the storage conditions (temperature, light, humidity). There are a number of different methods for estimating antioxidant efficacy and product storage life.
Moderately accelerated storage trials were developed to estimate durability more rapidly, whereby the product is stored at constant temperatures while primary and secondary oxidation products are measured.
Quick tests are based on the oxidation of a sample under high pressure and temperature. They are suitable for a quick and cost-effective, qualitative comparison of antioxidant efficacy in fats and oils. However, it is not possible to obtain a plausible estimation of storage life. Trials at high pressure and temperature do not correspond to real storage conditions and the mode of action of antioxidants can differ.
Only one parameter is measured, and no further information is given about the previous oxidative status of the sample.
A more reliable method
For a more reliable determination of shelf life it is advisable to invest time and money in accelerated storage trials under moderate conditions. The experimental conditions are very close to reality and the regular measurements of oxidation-relevant parameters make them suitable for determining the durability of complex pet food matrices.
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