Nutrition: Page 311

New ISO standard on traceability of fish products to improve food safety

A new ISO standard on the traceability of finfish products, ingredients often used in dog and cat food formulas, is expected to improve food safety by supplying stakeholders throughout the supply chain with accurate information about the origin and nature of these products. The new standard, ISO 12875:2011, Traceability of finfish products - Specification on the information to be recorded in captured finfish distribution chains, specifies the information to be recorded in marine-captured finfish supply chains in order to establish traceability.

Natural/Organic Pet Food

Raw petfood and the industry part of the same team

In the opinion of Geoff Bowers, founder and director of K9Natural, since the 1950s pet owners all over the world have been convinced that feeding cats and dogs is difficult and they need expert help. “Fortunately, with the Internet and its access to unsolicited information, people are realizing that’s not the case,” he says.

Natural/Organic Pet Food

K9 Natural ensures raw petfood is here to stay

When most petfood manufacturers talk about their customers, they’re referring to the human buyers—pet owners, retailers or distributors—of their products. “At K9 Natural, we do the opposite,” says founder and director Geoff Bowers.

Geoff Bowers based his companyâ€™s philosophy on the gray wolf family and its values, while K9 Natural products are based on the wolfâ€™s diet because domestic dogs and wolves share 99.8% of the same DNA, the company says.

Human food trends not necessarily adequate for pets, vet cautions

As people opt for more organic foods, the trend is also crossing over to petfoods, but a veterinarian is cautioning pet owners that these human food trends may not always meet the nutritional needs of pets. In a recent Huffington Post article, Dr. Karen Becker says that dogs and cats need wholesome, "living foods," just as people do.

Nutro Co. scientist discusses using poultry by-products as petfood ingredients

USPOULTRY and the Poultry Protein and Fat Council recently discussed using poultry by-products as petfood ingredients at the 2011 Poultry Protein and Fat Seminar in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. In his presentation, The Importance of Rendered Ingredients in Pet Foods, Jim Eastin, supplier quality assurance scientist for Nutro Company, provided an overview of the dry pet food process and examined the benefits of chicken meal and poultry fat in pets' diets.

NASC Adverse-Event Reporting System minimizes pet, human contamination risks

The US Food and Drug Administration issued a recall on October 6 for Salmonella contamination in Thumb Oilseed’s soy flour, which is used to manufacture certain animal foods. But, the National Animal Supplement Council's ability to scan thousands of products and ingredients in its NASC Adverse-Event Reporting System allowed NASC to identify 27 products containing soy flour and notify the eight companies selling these products with specific instructions on how to check the ingredient with raw material suppliers.

Market Trends and Reports

Examiner.com says genetically engineered ingredients often found in cat food

A recent article on Examiner.com discusses the amount of genetically engineered, or genetically modified, GMO, ingredients that may be found in cat foods. The article cites Justlabelit.org, which says that GE foods are altered at a molecular level in ways that would not otherwise happen naturally, meaning the genetic makeup of plants and animals is altered using DNA molecules from other sources to create a new set of genes that exhibit specific traits.

Market Trends and Reports

Nutrition trends: Allergen-free petfoods

Food allergy and intolerance in dogs and cats are potentially serious problems that can result in sensitive or irritated skin, coat and ear conditions or gastrointestinal upset. Pets that have adverse reactions to food typically experience an abnormal response to the protein in their diet.

Because every dog and cat is unique, it's sometimes very difficult to determine what causes food-related allergies and what doesn't. Common petfood culprits include wheat, corn, rice and soy.

Market Trends and Reports

New petfood products: What comes after humanization?

It seems that the days of humanization being only about petfood products that look just like human foods may be coming to an end. That does not mean that we will not continue to see more products on the market that do, in fact, look like human food.

Rachael Rayâ€™s Nutrish Just 6 dog food and dog treats are made with only six main ingredients (plus vitamins and minerals), the company saysâ€”a way to reach consumers with easy-to-understand ingredients and ingredient statements.

Pet Food Ingredients

How diet change affects canine microbiomes

Many dietary factors influence fecal output and consistency, including digestibility, fiber and resistant starches. To better understand how dietary change can influence the microbiome and fecal characteristics, we performed a feeding trial using two different foods in six dogs.

Pet Food Ingredients

Amino acid profile of scarlet macaw chicks

Hand rearing of neonates is a common practice for the propagation of psittacines. However, nutritional requirements for their growth and development are not well understood and malnutrition is common.

Pet Food Ingredients

How fatty acids affect adipokines in cats

The aim was to determine associations between serum concentrations of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and concentrations of adiponectin, leptin and insulin in 56 healthy, adult, client-owned cats. Body condition score (BCS) was determined and blood samples were collected after food was withheld for 12 hours.

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