With good protein quality and more fat than most grains, millet has the potential to serve as an ‘alternative’ ingredient in pet food.

In this era of grain-free, novel and exotic ingredient-containing foods, is there a nutritional or processing reason that buckwheat remains relatively obscure to the pet food market?

The use of alfalfa in some dog and cat foods has created questions with consumers—specifically, whether alfalfa is an ingredient that belongs in these foods. Unfortunately, there isn't a compelling or definitive answer for the petfood company, veterinarian or pet owner.

As more and more petfood brands strive for differentiation, the search for non-traditional ingredients intensifies. We have seen new meats and meals, tubers in many varieties and now legume seeds and beans becoming prominent.

In the search for more novel ingredients to use in petfood, a new starch source, tapioca, has begun to find its way into some specialty foods. This ingredient has become especially prevalent in no-grain and “elimination” diets.

Rye is a fairly common ingredient in human foods and beverages. The most prevalent occurrence is in crackers and breads. Be it a light American rye, a dark German rye, heavy whole-grain pumpernickel rye or a slightly bitter rye with caraway, rye gets its share of notoriety in baked goods.

Oats, as a whole grain, are widely promoted for their benefit to human nutrition and health, especially since the first federally-sanctioned health claim for a manufactured food was granted to makers of oat-rich foods in early 1997. The petfood industry is no stranger to oats; they are a staple in horse feed and a key component in many pet rodent diets.

Dogs and cats have been eating potatoes for years, if for no other reason than they were leftovers from Sunday dinner. However, the intentional declaration of potatoes as a key ingredient in the pet diet is fairly novel.