Pet Foods

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Pet Foods

• Regulation and Labeling

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Governing Agencies

• A number of agencies and organizations regulate
  the production marketing and sales of
  commercial pet foods in the US

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Governing Agencies

• Association of American Feed Control Officials
  (AAFCO)
• Most instrumental agency in commerical pet food
  regulation
• Acts in an advisory capacity to provide models
  for state legislation
• E.g. Model Feed Bill species labeling procedures
  and ingredient nomenclature for all animal feeds

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Governing Agencies

• Association of American Feed Control Officials
  (AAFCO)
• Ensures that nationally marketed foods are
  uniformly labeled and nutritionally adequate
• Developed 1990 Nutrient Profiles
• Practical standards for formulation of dog/cat
  food
• Nutrient recommendations based upon ingredients
  commonly included in pet foods
• Nutrient levels expressed for processed foods at
  time of feeding

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Governing Agencies

• National Research Council (NRC)
• Private nonprofit organization that collects and
  evaluates research that has been conducted by
  others
• Working arm of National Academy of Science
• No regulatory responsibilities to the pet food
  industry

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Governing Agencies

• Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
• Established rules that specify proper
  identification of pet foods
• Quantity of food
• Proper listing of ingredients
• Manufacturers name and address
• Acceptable manufacturing procedures

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Governing Agencies

• Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
• Regulates health claims on pet food labels
• Drug claim implication that the consumption of
  food may help in the treatment prevention or
  reduction of particular disease or diseases
• E.g. low ash cannot be used on cat food labels to
  imply product has effect on urinary tract disease

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Governing Agencies

• United States of Agriculture (USDA)
• Responsible for ensuring that pet foods are
  clearly labeled to prevent human consumers form
  mistaking these products as human food
• Inspection and regulation of research facilities

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Governing Agencies

• Pet Food Institute (PFI)
• Trade organization that represents the
  manufacturers of commercially prepared dog and
  cat foods
• Works in conjunction with AAFCO to make
  recommendations for changes to or enact new
  regulations
• No direct regulatory power

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Pet Food Regulations

• Statements of nutritional adequacy or purpose of
  product are strictly regulated
• completely balanced nutrition for all stages of
  life
• Must be substantiated through one of 2 methods
• 1. demonstrated through feeding trials
• 2. food formulated to contain ingredients in
  quantities that are sufficient to meet reqts of
  all stages of life (according to AAFCO)

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Pet Food Regulations

• Term all or 100 must mean that only the
  designated ingredient an amount of water needed
  for processing and trace amount of preservatives
  are present
• Use of lamb and rice dinner requires that 25
  or greater of formula is lamb meat and rice with
  rice making up lesser of 2 ingredients and still
  3 of formula

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Pet Food Regulations

• Term new and improved is only allowed to be
  used for 6 months after introduction of changes
• Artificial color only used if approved by FDA as
  harmless to pets
• Caloric content expressed in kcal/kg kcal/lb
  kcal/oz etc can be included on label since 1994
• Must be substantiated by calculation using
  modified Atwater factors or feeding trials as
  specified by AAFCO

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Pet Food Regulations

• Use of terms lite lean low-fat etc.
  Approved in 1998 by AAFCO
• Dry food must contain less than 3100 kcal ME/kg
• Food must contain less than 9 crude fat
• reduction in calories must be included on label

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Pet Food Labels

• Important component that consumers rely on for
  valuable information of product nutritional
  adequacy and palatability

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Pet Food Labels

• Guaranteed analysis panel
• Min CP CF
• Max CF moisture
• Optional Mg Taurine Linoleic acid Ash
• Recognize these are mins and maxs not exact
  amounts of these nutrients

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Pet Food Labels

• Consumers must take into account moisture content
• Dry foods 6-10 moisture
• Canned foods 78 moisture

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Pet Food Labels

• Ingredient List
• Arranged in decreasing order of predominance by
  weight
• Terms used must be AAFCO approved
• Standard for feed industry
• Popular and generics formulated to be
  variable-formula diets (ingredients changed
  based on cost of ingredients)
• Premium or prescription diets are fixed formulas
  (formulas do not change regardless of ingredient
  price)

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Pet Food Labels

• Ingredient List
• General information type of ingredients
• No quality information (availability
  digestibility)
• Dry matter content can make list deceptive
• An ingredient that contributes the least amount
  of nutrients if it has most moisture will be
  higher in the list than a drier ingredient that
  contributes more nutrients to the diet
• Misleading on manner in which ingredients are
  presented (split ingredients)
• Wheat bran ground wheat flaked wheat wheat
  middlings
• All wheat just different forms

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Pet Food Labels

• Nutritional Adequacy
• Common claim is complete and balanced for all
  life stages
• Limited claim states that food provides complete
  and balanced nutrition for a particular stage of
  life
• Another claim is found on products intended for
  supplemental or intermittent feeding
• Products intended for therapeutic feeding state
  use only as directed by your veterinarian

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Pet Food Labels

• Other information
• Net weight of product
• Name and location of manufacturer
• Feeding instructions

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Terms under Scrutiny

• Natural all ingredients except vitamins and
  minerals in the pet food are NOT chemically
  synthesized
• Tartar Control pet foods and treats that claim
  to clean teeth freshen breath or whiten teeth
  by virtue of their mechanical (abrasive) action
  during chewing are acceptable

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Pet Food Advertising

• All foods must be formulated to meet AAFCO
  Nutrient Profiles
• So nutritional adequacy is not good advertising
  technique
• Acceptability palatability cost feeding
  convenience digestibility and suitability for
  pets stage of life marketing targets

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Pet Food Advertising

• Digestibility hard to determine from label so
  most consumers depend on palatability and
  acceptability
• Palatability subjective measure of how well an
  animal likes particular food
• Can lead to overeating
• Acceptability indication of whether the amount
  of food consume will meet nutrient needs

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Pet Food Advertising

• Busy society convenience is important
• Individual meal portion packaging
• Dry pet foods no spoiling
• Cost important while not chief consideration
• Cheaper lower quality require FI
• Get what you pay for

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Pet Food Advertising

• Niche marketing
• Creating food for specific stages of life
  activity levels health status etc.
• Development of products that resemble human foods
• Promotion of addition or deletion of certain food
  ingredients that are more/less acceptable to the
  purchaser
• No soy gas in dogs
• Fish in cat foods even though cats are desert
  animals that historically never consumed fish

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Types of Pet Foods
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Types of Pet Foods

• Dry Pet Foods
• Canned Pet Foods
• Semi Moist Pet Foods
• Snacks and Treats
• Homemade Diets
• Veterinary Diets

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Types of Pet Foods

• Majority of pet owners in the US feed their
  companion animals commercially prepared pet foods
  instead of homemade diets

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Brands of Pet Foods

• Popular or National Brand
• Premium
• Generic or Private Label

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Dry Pet Foods

• 6-10 moisture (90 DM)
• Categories
• Kibbles
• Biscuits
• Meals
• Expanded products

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Dry Pet Foods

• Ingredients
• Cereal grains
• Meat
• Poultry
• Fish
• Milk products
• Vitamin and mineral supplements

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Dry Pet Foods

• Kibbles and Biscuits
• Ingredients are mixed into a dough which is baked
• Biscuitsdough is formed and cut into desired
  shapes and baked like cookies
• Kibblesdough is spread on sheet and baked and
  then broken into smaller pieces

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Dry Pet Foods

• Expanded products
• Extrusion technology!
• Mixing all ingredients to form a dough which is
  cooked under conditions of high temperature and
  pressure
• Machine extruder
• When cooked dough reaches the end of the extruder
  it is forced through an opening (die)
• This is what gives the pet food its shape
• After cooling fat can be sprayed on the kibble
  (enrobing)

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Dry Pet Foods

• Caloric density
• 3000-4500 kcal/kg
• Economic
• Store well due to low moisture content
• Long shelf life
• Owners can leave in bowl for extended period of
  time without spoilage
• Chewing and grinding may aid in prevention of
  plaque buildup on teeth

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Dry Pet Foods

• May be less palatable
• Harsh temperatures and drying conditions
• Reduce digestibility
• Loss of nutrients
• Poor nutrient availability

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Canned Pet Foods

• 2 primary types
• 1. provide complete and balanced nutrition
• Comprised of muscle meats poultry and fish
  byproducts cereal grains texturized vegetable
  proteins vitamins and minerals
• 2. dietary supplements/treat
• Contains meat products w/o supplemental vitamins
  and minerals

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Canned Pet Foods

• Preparation
• Blend meat and fat ingredients with water
• Addition of dry ingredients
• Mixture is heated and canning occurs on conveyor
  line
• 3- 6- or 14-ounce cans
• After filling cans are sealed under pressure
• Pressure sterilization retorting
• Cans are cooled and labels applied

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Canned Pet Foods

• From processing standpoint 3 types of food
• 1. loaf
• 2. chunks or chunk in gravy
• 3. chunk in loaf combination

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Canned Pet Foods

• Canned foods more palatable and digestible than
  dry foods
• Contain higher proportion of protein and fat on
  DMB
• High heat and pressure involved in processing
  kills harmful bacteria and causes some nutrient
  losses

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Canned Pet Foods

• On DMB 3500-5000 kcal/kg
• Low amount of digestible CHO
• More expensive
• Contain on average 75 water
• Long shelf life and acceptability
• Predisposes animals to obesity

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Canned Pet Foods

• Gourmet pet foods
• May or may not be nutritionally complete
• Contain primarily animal tissues
• Fish shrimp tuna liver
• More so than dogs cat develop fixed food
  preference
• Eventually only accept 1 type of food/flavor of
  food

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Semi Moist Pet Foods

• 15-30 water
• Include fresh or frozen animal tissues cereal
  grains fats simple sugars vitamins and
  minerals
• Use of preservatives to extend shelf life
• High sugar content high palatability
• On DMB 3000-4000 kcal/kg

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Semi Moist Pet Foods

• Less odor than canned foods
• Convenient single serving packages
• Many shapes and textures
• Simulate types of meat products such as ground
  beef meat patties etc.
• Cost on DMB is usually between canned and dry pet
  foods

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Snacks and Treats

• Not to meet nutritional requirements of animal
• Given to reinforce desired behaviors to provide
  variety to diet for proper dental health etc.
• Owner less concerned with nutritional composition
  and more with palatability

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Snacks and Treats

• Semi Moist biscuits jerky rawhide products
• Do not have to nutritionally complete
• Some formulated to be nutritionally
  complete/balanced
• Generally not intended as sole supply of food

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Homemade Diets

• Important to know that recipe must be guaranteed
  to produce a ration that is nutritionally
  complete
• Most have not be tested for nutrient content and
  availability
• Never substitute ingredients in recipe
• Danger of imbalancing the ration

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Veterinary Diets

• Incorporating human health claims into
  prescription diets
• Fiber and GIT function/health
• Fat intake and heart health
• Nutritional management of disease conditions
• Only available from your veterinarian

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Brands of Pet Food

• Popular
• Foods that are marketed nationally or regionally
• Sold in grocery store chains
• Companies invest lots of in advertising
• Market palatability and appeal
• Use variable formulations

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Brands of Pet Food

• Premium
• Developed to provide optimal nutrition during
  different stages of life
• High quality ingredients with high availability
• Fixed formulas used in formulation

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Brands of Pet Food

• Generic
• Do not carry a brand name
• Produced and marketed locally or regionally
• Low-cost product
• Inexpensive poor quality
• Few feeding tests to determine nutritional quality

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Brands of Pet Food

• Private Label
• Carry house name of store in which they are sold
• Least-cost formulation
• Often claim to be comparable to premium brands
  but at lower place
• Uses inexpensive ingredient and minimal testing
  is conducted concerning nutritional adequacy
• May not be balanced

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Brands of Pet Food

• Premium vs. Generics
• Puppies fed generics consumed 19-40 more food/lb
  gain
• End of 10 week study puppies consuming generic
  food had graying hair
• Indicative of nutrient deficiency/imbalance
• Significantly reduced growth rates
• Nutrient digestibilities lower
• Protein digestibility SIGNIFICANTLY lower