Extru-Tech Inc. and Food Safety Validation LLC have completed the industry's first full-scale extruder scientific validation study proving the lethality for Salmonella in the extrusion process for a generic petfood formula.
This study was done in a Bio-Safety Level 2 laboratory in Manhattan, Kansas, USA, on a full-size E525 extruder co-located adjacent to the Food Safety Validation lab.
According to Lee Cantley, managing director of Food Safety Validation: "Under the new Food Safety Modernization Act, petfood companies will be required to demonstrate with specific scientific evidence that their extrusion process eliminates the risk of Salmonella contamination in their entire line of extruded products. This includes representative formula testing as well as a generalized test. Since formula categories are processed using different temperatures, pressures and retention time, and have varying ingredients that present a different environment for bacterial presence and growth, formula category testing is a necessary component of a well-constructed testing program. Petfood companies will also need to demonstrate that the extruded petfood is not recontaminated or cross-contaminated post extrusion."