At Global Pet Expo, many new dog, cat and other pet products contained functional ingredients meant to provide more than just basic nutrition.
At Global Pet Expo, many new dog, cat and other pet products contained functional ingredients meant to provide more than just basic nutrition. Marketing claims accompanying with these functional ingredients included joint health, skin and fur support, stress relief and immunity boosting. Along with pet foods, functional ingredients appeared in supplements, toppers and treats.
“Functional foods are quite popular,” Kambria Newton, Petcurean’s trade marketing and communications manager, told Petfood Industry at Global Pet Expo 2022. “We've been in this space for a long time, and now we're offering the solutions that are most frequently switched to by consumers.”
Formulations meant to address allergies, weight management, digestion and gut health were among those functional pet food formulations most in demand by pet owners, according to Petcurean’s consumer research. Those demands were addressed in the brand’s new products.
For the functional ingredients in the Brit line of dog and cat functional snacks, new product developers also selected items based on the health topics that consumers want to solve or improve, Karolina Capova, head of product for Vafo Group, Czech-Republic-based maker of Brit and other brands, told Petfood Industry at Global Pet Expo 2022. Some of those functional ingredients included krill in a skin and coat dog treat formulation, she said. Other functional ingredients for pet treats included rosemary, hemp, ginger and chamomile in the Brit dog and cat treats on display at the Expo. Formulation included immunity, skin and coat, antistress with shrimp, dental with venison, mobility with squid, antiparasitic with salmon, skin and coat with krill and immunity with insects.
New functional pet foods and treats at Global Pet Expo
New dog, cat and other pet foods and treats with functional ingredients in the new product showcase at Global Pet Expo included:
VetDiet – dental, skin and stomach, weight control cat foods
Tim Wall covers the dog, cat and other pet food industries as a senior reporter for WATT Global Media. His work has appeared inScientific American, Live Science, Discovery News, Honduras Weekly, Global Journalist and other outlets. He holds an M.A. in journalism and an M.S. in natural resources, both
from the University of Missouri - Columbia, along with a bachelor's degree in biology.
Wall served in the Peace Corps in Honduras from 2005 to 2007, where he coordinated with the town government of Moroceli to organize a municipal trash collection system, taught environmental science, translated for medical brigades and facilitated sustainable agriculture, along with other projects.
Many hours, efforts, dollars and brainpower go into pet food companies’ and regulatory bodies’ efforts to ensure that products on the market are safe and healthy for pets.
