Probiotic-powered palatants

Probiotics are one of the fastest growing areas in the healthy eating segment of the human food industry. The benefits of probiotics are becoming increasingly well known to a broader base of consumers through the popular press, increased product offerings and commercial advertisements.

Probiotics are one of the fastest growing areas in the healthy eating segment of the human food industry. The benefits of probiotics are becoming increasingly well known to a broader base of consumers through the popular press, increased product offerings and commercial advertisements. They have moved from daily tablet supplements to availability in a widening range of food products.

With the growing relationship between pet owners and their pets, more and more consumers are providing healthy choices to their pets. The major issue in most cases is the difficulty in ensuring consumption of healthy foods. The availability of good tasting foods containing these health improving supplements is leading to rapid growth in this category. Unfortunately, most probiotic species do not survive well in dry petfoods due to the low water activity. Few live strains survive the stomach acids or bile acids to actually reach the gut in a viable state.

AFB International has recently created a new palatant containing probiotics through a partnership with Ganeden Biotech Inc. This new product contains GanedenBC30, live spores of a patented strain of Bacillus coagulans. The probiotic was reviewed by the US Food and Drug Administration's Center for Veterinary Medicine and found to present no safety concerns when used in direct-fed microbial products.

GanedenBC30 is currently available in a variety of human food products, giving you the link between the benefits for the owner and their pet. This new palatant is added to petfood prior to extrusion and survives the full process. Key benefits derived from this approach include more uniform distribution of the probiotics and survival throughout the shelf life of your product. This brings active cultures to your customer's pet on a daily basis through their normal diets. No more issues with acceptance of the supplement. Recommended feeding rate is 200 million daily for large dogs and 100 million daily for cats and small dogs.

Data in Figure 1 demonstrate the survival of GanedenBC30 during the extrusion process and subsequent storage as finished product.

The spore-forming nature of this strain allows petfood marketers to use the probiotics in their existing manufacturing process without worry about survival. These spores' germination is triggered by the transition through the pH changes between the stomach and the intestinal tract. The pet's own system becomes the means to activate the probiotics at the appropriate time. Growth of the probiotics in the intestinal tract promotes improved digestive health through the production of lactic acid, improved breakdown of nutrients for better absorption and displacement of undesirable bacteria in the gut. These probiotics have been shown to enhance the immune system in human studies along with reducing symptoms in IBS and colitis sufferers.

The internal use of the product allows petfood marketers to apply either liquid or dry palatants to the surface without concern about the impact on the probiotics' viability. Feeding studies conducted by AFB International have shown growth of the probiotics in the gut with a 780 % increase in fecal spore counts after only seven days on the feed.

It has never been easier or more palatable to bring these benefits to your customer's pet. Currently this product is available in the US and Canada. Call your AFB International account representative for more information: +1.800.218.5607.

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