Pet food extrusion course offered in Europe

A food and feed drying technology program is offered the previous week. Participants can choose to attend extrusion or drying courses individually, or in combination.

A recently extruded pet treat | Courtesy Extrutech
A recently extruded pet treat | Courtesy Extrutech

Food processing consulting agency FoodStream’s new Petfood Extrusion Technology course will be held from May 2 to 4 in Norway. Following aquafeed extrusion courses held in Norway for the last two years, Australian company FoodStream added a pet food extrusion technology course to the program in 2017, in collaboration with the Centre for Feed Technology (FôrTek), in Norway.

A food and feed drying technology program is offered the previous week, and is also relevant to pet food manufacturers. The courses are independent, so participants can choose to attend extrusion or drying courses individually, or in combination.

Pet food extrusion course content

The three-day pet food extrusion workshop and course covers the principles of extrusion, the design of extrusion processes, and the formulation of extruded pet food with respect to extrusion. Topics cover the basics of extruders and their configuration, the transformations happening chemically and physically inside the extruder barrel, and extruder dies and extruder instability.

Examples in product formulation and the design of extrusion processes demonstrate application of the theory. Principles learned will be applied during the practical demonstration in the FôrTek pilot plant. An extrusion exercise is carried out during the course to demonstrate the principles presented during the training.

“We have been presenting extrusion and related training programs in Australia and the surrounding region, including Thailand, for almost 20 years, with our first European course in 2015,” said course organiser and co-presenter Gordon Young in a press release. “Feedback from participants has been excellent. One participant from the Philippines commented ‘The extrusion course is unique in that it is able to present the blend of the fundamental principles of extrusion technology with its practical applications. The speakers transcend the hurdles of mathematical and engineering concepts by using appropriate learning and citing their vast production experiences.’”

Pet food extrusion text books

The course presenters have also now published two text books which support the training. “Food & Feed Extrusion Technology: An Applied Approach to Extrusion Theory” contains similar, but expanded, information as the extrusion courses. A specialised text “The Design of Food Extrusion Dies” describes, with worked examples, this complex topic. These books are available separately from consulting firm Food Industry Engineering or from major booksellers. 

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