Pet Food News: Page 471

Spring Naturals petfood brand launches new blog

Spring Naturals brand of dog dinners and treats has expanded its website with the launch of a new blog, Spring Dishes. The blog was launched to promote good nutrition and wellness for pets and animal advocacy.

Ainsworth Pet Nutrition selects Transplace as logistics provider

Petfood manufacturer Ainsworth Pet Nutrition has selected Transplace, a provider of transportation management services and logistics technology, as its third-party logistics provider to deliver transportation management services for all outbound shipments. The petfood company will use Transplace's Transportation Management System to enhance process automation and improve operational efficiency.

Iams donates 5.5 million petfood bowls as part of pet adoption drive

Through Iams petfood brand's Home 4 the Holidays pet adoption drive, which ran October 1, 2012, through January 2, nearly 1.3 million pets were placed in forever homes in partnership with the Helen Woodward Animal Center. As part of the drive, Iams donated 5.5 million bowls of petfood to homeless pets.

AVMA releases latest US pet ownership demographic information

The American Veterinary Medical Association recently released its US Pet Ownership & Demographics Sourcebook, compiled based off a survey conducted every five years. According to the survey, conducted in 2012 and based off of numbers from December 31, 2011, the percentage of households that made no trips at all to a veterinarian between 2006 and 2011 rose 8 percent for dog owners and 24 percent for cat owners.

Market Trends and Reports

Lincoln Bark donates US$4,000 to help homeless animals in 2012

Pet treat maker Lincoln Bark made roughly US$4,000 in charitable donations to nonprofits and dog rescues throughout the US in fiscal 2012. The three main recipients of Lincoln Bark’s donations were PAWS Chicago, The Anti-Cruelty Society and the Fido Friendly magazine “Get Your Licks on Route 66” adoption tour.

Mexico's petfood market on the rise, says consumer goods whitepaper

Economic forecaster The Economist Intelligence Unit has teamed up with Mintel for a new whitepaper that predicts trends over the next three years in fast moving consumer goods categories in five emerging markets compared to the USA and EU, including Mexico's growing petfood market. The whitepaper, Convergence with Divergence, found that sales of petfood in Mexico have doubled in the last five years, as pet owners shift from feeding their dogs and cats scraps to buying prepared petfood.

Petfood extrusion workshop to be held at Food Processing Center in Nebraska

The Food Processing Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln will present an Extrusion Workshop specifically designed for the food and petfood industries, October 15-17. The three-day, hands-on workshop will provide an introduction to extrusion theory and techniques with lectures and pilot plant exercises that emphasize real-world product development for the food and petfood industries.

Market Trends and Reports

FDA, Merrick Pet Care investigate moldy cat food cans

The US Food and Drug Administration and Merrick Pet Care announced they are investigating a California, USA, pet owner's complaint that mold was found in Merrick cat food cans. The moldy cat food cans were first reported on TruthAboutPetFood.com, which said the cans came from two cases and did not appear to be sealed properly because they did not make a vacuum-seal noise when they were opened.

Consolidated Standards for Inspection updated by AIB International

AIB International has updated four of its 11 Consolidated Standards for Inspection. Regulatory developments, including the US Food and Drug Administration's Food Safety Modernization Act, and other industry best practices impacting the food industry created a need for the update.

Nestle Purina to launch new petfood for athletic dogs

Petfood manufacturer Nestle Purina is planning to launch a new petfood aimed at dogs that participate in athletic events. The new dog food line, Purina Pro Plan Sport, will debut in the US in January, featuring products designed to support the fitness of active dogs and dogs that participate in agility or other sporting competitions.

Food & Water Watch comments on recent chicken jerky treat recalls

Wenonah Hauter, executive director of the nonprofit group Food & Water Watch, issued a statement in response to the recent chicken jerky treat recalls by Nestle Purina's Waggin' Train and Canyon Creek Ranch brands and Del Monte's Milo's Kitchen brand due to the presence of an antibiotic. According to Hauter: “...This is a long overdue step to protect pets from unsafe imports.

Pet owners confused on pet nutrition, petfood labeling, petMD finds

A recent petMD survey about pet nutrition found that pet owners are confused about the nutritional needs of their dogs and cats. Although 57 percent of pet owners surveyed said they look at petfood labels for information about the petfood's ingredients, the survey found pet owners often misinterpret the information on the labels.

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