News & Newsletters: Page 796

UK blog discusses environmental impact of pets

A UK Guardian blog looks into whether or not pets are environmentally-friendly. The blog says that views of whether or not a pet’s impact on the environment should be considered usually depend on if the person is a pet owner or not.

Pet insurance company offers petfood and nutrition tips for consumers

Pet insurance company Petplan's online blog offers consumer guidelines on selecting a petfood, as cases of petfood contamination and recalls have become more frequent. A report from Packaged Facts predicted the sales of natural and organic petfoods to grow three times faster than regular petfoods through 2015, though the pet insurance company warns consumers that the two terms are not the same.

AFIA awards Dr. Fahey for petfood, animal nutrition contributions

The Federation of Animal Science Societies and the American Feed Industry Association recognized George C. Fahey Jr., Ph.D., professor of animal sciences and nutritional sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, with the FASS-AFIA New Frontiers in Animal Nutrition award. A committee of FASS members selected Fahey to receive the award, which is given to stimulate and reward innovative research relevant to the nutrition of animals and petfood.

Dr. Clay Zimmerman (left) presents the New Frontiers award to Dr. George Fahey (right).

Market Trends and Reports

E-commerce company launches online petfood, supply store

E-commerce company Quidsi recently launched Wag.com, an online pet supply and petfood store. The website offers 10,000 pet-related products, ranging from petfood and treats to grooming supplies, clothing and pet health products.

P&G expands Iams Naturals petfood line

Procter & Gamble's Iams petfood brand added two dry dog food recipes to its Naturals petfood line: Sensitive Naturals, and Simple & Natural. The Sensitive Naturals recipe contains ocean fish as the first ingredient, Iams says, and is ideal for dogs with ingredient sensitivities

UK petfood company to open anaerobic digestion plant in September

A UK petfood processing company will open an anaerobic digestion plant in September, which will be able to recycle 45,000 metric tons of food waste each year and produce 2.8 Mw of renewable electricity and heat. Prosper De Mulder’s £12m (US$19.13 million) plant will create 35 to 40 new jobs, and will allow the company to move away from using landfills to dispose of food waste.

New probiotic production method tested by researchers in Germany

Researchers from the Technical University of Munich, Germany, developed a gentle production method for probiotics, which they say will allow for use of a wider range of probiotic strains in foods and feed. Currently, probiotic bacteria are mostly freeze-dried, though not all probiotic strains can withstand this production method.

California, USA, natural petfood company expands production

A new line of boutique wet dog food is expanding petfood production for Lotus Natural Pet Foods, in Torrance, California, USA, according to a Packaging Digest article. The company began with a line of dry petfoods that are baked, not extruded, and made from all-natural ingredients.

FDA wants food-safety law funds in fiscal 2012 budget

The US Food and Drug Administration wants the US government's fiscal 2012 budget to include US$1.4 billion in funds for FDA's food-safety law that guides FDA regulation in cases of petfood contamination, according to Bloomberg.com. In June, the US House voted to cut FDA’s fiscal 2012 food-safety budget by 10% to US$752 million, which FDA says would slow progress of Food Safety Modernization Act implementation.

Natural Balance Pet Foods honors working canines for September 11

Natual Balance Pet Foods sponsored a contest with Dog Fancy magazine to honor the United States' top working dogs, in honor of the 10th anniversary of the September 11 tragedy. Natural Balance's Working Canine Hero of the Year contest named three winning dogs: Air Force dog Lucky; a search-and-rescue dog named Hunter; and Renzo, a K9 with the Shreveport, Louisiana, USA, police department.

Online petfood, pet product retailers recently popular among consumers

Two online petfood retailers have recently launched and secured funding to expand, drawing some conclusions that these petfood stores are becoming popular among certain consumers. PetFlow.com, a premium petfood retailer, recently received US$10 million Series B funding to expand its operations, led by LightSpeed Venture Partners.

Nestle Purina opens petfood production plant in Hungary

Nestle Purina opened a 10,000-square-meter (107,640-sq.ft.) petfood production plant in Bük, Vas County, in northwest Hungary. Construction of the petfood production facility cost around HUF 10 billion (US$54.8 million).

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