Proteins

Beef: A popular, complicated ingredient in dog and cat diets

There are many options and challenges to beef in the supply chain.

January 11, 2021

There are many options and challenges to beef in the supply chain, both historically and currently; in spite of that it remains a popular pet food ingredient.

Cheese: A fun food ingredient for pets and their owners

An overview of the origin and potential benefit for adding cheese to pet foods and treats.

May 11, 2020

Greg Aldrich, PhD

Dr. Greg Aldrich provides an overview of the origin and potential benefit for adding cheese to pet foods and treats.

Chicken meal: Is there anything new with this ingredient’s use in pet food?

A staple in pet food chicken meal has undergone modest changes to its definition and composition in the past 15 years, but challenges remain.

April 10, 2018

Greg Aldrich, PhD

A staple in pet food chicken meal has undergone modest changes to its definition and composition in the past 15 years, but challenges remain.

Soybean meal: A quality ingredient with a lot of critics

Despite claims to the contrary, soybean meal remains a consistent, quality, sustainable and nutritious part of value-minded pet foods.

March 9, 2018

Greg Aldrich, PhD

Despite claims to the contrary, soybean meal remains a consistent, quality, sustainable and nutritious part of value-minded pet foods.

Fish meal: Supply, preservation biggest challenges for dog and cat diets

Fish meal remains a high-quality source of protein and omega-3 fatty acids, but supply and preservation challenges may force pet food to be more pragmatic in their choices.

February 9, 2018

Greg Aldrich, PhD

Fish meal remains a high-quality source of protein and omega-3 fatty acids, but supply and preservation challenges may force pet food to be more pragmatic in their choices.

Duck in dog, cat food: The other red meat?

Duck appears to be here to stay as an alternative meat/protein source in pet foods.

September 6, 2016

Greg Aldrich, PhD

Duck appears to be here to stay as an alternative meat/protein source in pet foods.

Meat and novel proteins in pet food

Meat in pet food is here to stay. Here’s what needs to be addressed to meet growing demand.

January 13, 2016

Greg Aldrich, PhD

Meat in pet food is here to stay. Here’s what needs to be addressed to meet growing demand.

Freeze-dried meat and pet food

Is it worth the added expense?

September 9, 2015

Greg Aldrich, PhD

There are a couple of approaches in which freeze-dried meats are included in pet foods.

Casein: Does it have a use in pet food?

This novel ingredient may have a place in specialty formulas

April 15, 2015

Greg Aldrich, PhD

In pet food, casein shows up in some prescription and specialty diets but we don’t often find it in over-the-counter diets. So why hasn’t it found popularity in pet food?

Poultry by-product meal and poultry meal: Is there a difference?

From a nutrient standpoint they can be nearly identical, and quality may have more to do with process and raw materials.

August 9, 2013

Greg Aldrich, PhD

The availability of fresh poultry and rendered poultry products coincided with the commercialization and industrialization of poultry production in the 1940s and 1950s; and feed values for poultry by-product meal (PBPM) were first established in the 1950s (Fuller, 1996). The volume of rendered poultry proteins in 2003 was estimated at 3,073.5 million pounds per year and the companion animal industry consumes about 23% (Pearl 2003).