Pet Food Processing - November 2023 - 48

INGREDIENTS
Maev's human-grade
raw food for dogs
contains flash-frozen,
identifiable pieces of
raw food, including
beef, green beans,
zucchini, kale and
blueberries.
Maev
" With any forming system, some degree of visible
muscle fiber will be necessary to have the most natural
visual, " he added. " In other words, you cannot start with
an emulsified puree and make it look like striated muscle,
but you can take a course ground cut or trimmings
and bind them into a steak-like piece. "
Such technology may also be used to produce inclusions
designed to simulate fruits and vegetables. They
are typically lipid based and provide an inert way to liven
up the food. These types of fabricated inclusions also
allow for the addition of extra nutrition. This includes
everything from fiber to support gut health to glucosamine
for joint health.
Ensuring piece integrity from
the processing plant to the food
bowl involves careful handling,
processing and quality control
throughout the supply chain. "
Brittany White, Simmons Pet Food
" It is important to understand the losses of these nutrients
that may occur during processing and storage to
ensure the final product delivers the amount of nutrients
declared on the packaging and to deliver the desired nutritional
benefit, " White said.
With some fruits and vegetables, the real deal is necessary.
Replicating broccoli florets is not possible... yet.
" Whole foods are seen as a preferred choice because
they offer a natural and comprehensive way to meet nutritional
needs while promoting overall health and vitality, "
Chen said. " Nutrients in whole foods also typically
are more bioavailable and contain phytonutrients, which
are often missing in synthesized supplements. "
Elisa Gumbel, director of marketing, Tree Top Inc.,
Selah, Wash., said, " Our fruit ingredients add sweetness,
fiber and nutritional value to pet product formulation.
With more pet parents buying with their eyes, we have
been getting more requests for our dehydrated apple
pieces. "
Dehydration allows for ambient distribution and storage
of the ingredient. It lowers freight costs, too, as no
one is paying to ship water. The pieces can be used in
kibble or added to wet food, with extra water added to
the formula to rehydrate the pieces.
" Our fruit ingredients are also used in toppers, which
are generally wet mixtures poured over dry kibble, "
Gumbel said. " They contain fruit and vegetable purees,
often with apple pieces, to visually communicate the inclusion
of real fruit. "
Tree Top has developed numerous kibble topper recipes.
An apple, pumpkin, cranberry with chicken powder
is designed to appeal to the pickiest eaters, while apple,
butternut squash, spinach with quinoa adds plant protein,
iron and lots of fiber.
Van Drunen Farms offers freeze-dried fruit and vegetable
pieces. They retain the color, shape, flavor and nutrients
of fresh, offering formulators the opportunity to
conveniently incorporate fruit and vegetable ingredients
into their applications, according to Galinski.
Fun inclusions applied as toppings are showing up in
pet-friendly cakes, cookies and ice cream. This includes
colorful chips, edible glitter and sprinkles. Puppy Cake
LLC, Portersville, Pa., for example, includes Pupfetti
Sprinkles in a number of its human-grade dog dessert
48 PET FOOD PROCESSING | November 2023 | www.petfoodprocessing.net
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Pet Food Processing - November 2023

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