Recipes for pet food
This is a preview of a paper to be presented at PETSConnect Asia 2017. The full paper will explore the question ‘Why are recipes for pet food important?’. It not only considers the nutritional requirements of pets, but also other important factors regarding the formulation of pet recipes.
Knowledge of raw material
Traditionally pet food formulations start with balancing the nutritional properties of the product. However, formulators today have to consider many more factors in order to balance nutritional requirements and so produce the right product that is palatable and meets customers’ expectations regarding quality. Knowledge of raw material is therefore as important as the animals’ nutritional requirements.
Functionality of raw material
Formulation begins with the raw materials, and involves the consideration of many factors. These include proximate analyses and nutrient balance of raw materials, anti-nutrients, price levels, processing characteristics, effect on physical product quality, safety and risk factors around it. Understanding raw materials’ functionality and characteristics is key to controlling the quality of the formulation.
Right choice and compatibility
Nutritional requirements are defined and regulated by regulatory authorities like FEDIAF (in Europe), AAFCO (in the US) and the World Small Animal Veterinary Association Global Nutrition Guidelines (WSAVA). Choosing the right raw materials and their compatibility has to meet these requirements. In addition, the optimization of the selected raw materials and formulation helps ensure the digestibility, health and wellbeing of our pets.
Price also a key factor
Production technology is yet another factor that needs to be taken into account while formulating recipes. The process determines which technological functionality we need to consider. An example is good binders versus poor binders, and their impact on final texture or physical kibble quality. If baking technology is used instead of extrusion technology other factors, like wheat gluten quality, have to be considered. When producing special products, like premium or high protein kitten diets using the extrusion technology, the formulator also needs to look at carbohydrates that allow for more binding, etc. Price is also a key factor of consideration in final formulations and can block many high quality materials from being used in recipes. To learn more about these topics and pet food formulations in general, join us at PETSConnect Asia 2017.