Free Webinar: Trends in pet food humanization

The word on everyone’s mind when talking about pet food is humanization.  More and more, trends in pet food can be tied to trends in food for humans. But that’s not the whole story — pets have distinct and often quite different needs than do humans.

WATT Publishing and Petfood Industry magazine will present a webinar that will explore some of the key trends in pet food humanization, plus take a close look at other developments in pet food products.

Join Lynn Dornblaser, director of consulting from Mintel International in this educational webinar that will be presented on November 18, 2008 at 2pm ET

 

 

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Pet food Giant recalls some dry pet foods

 Mars Petcare announced a voluntary recall Friday of all dry pet food products produced at its plant in Everson, Pa. between Feb. 18 and July 29, citing potential contamination with salmonella.

Mars, in a news release, did not say how much pet food is involved, but said the pet food recall reaches 31 states and various brands and said the action was taken as a precaution.

“Even though no direct link between products produced at the Everson plant and human or pet illness has been made, we are taking this precautionary action to protect pets and their owners,” the company statement said.

Mars said it stopped production at the plant July 29 when it was alerted of a possible link between dry pet food produced in Everson and two isolated cases of people infected with salmonella.

Mars said salmonella can cause serious infections in dogs and cats and, if there is cross contamination caused by handling of the pet food, in humans also.

The company said consumers should look for “17″ as the first two digits of the second line on the UPC for products affected. For Pedigree products, they should look for “PAE” on the bottom line. They can also call 1-877-568-4463 or consult Mars Petcare.

The brand names include some items under the names Country Acres, Retriever, Doggy Bag, Members Mark, Natural, Ol’ Roy, Special Kitty, Paws & Claws, Pedigree, Wegman’s, Pet Pride, PMI Nutrition and Red Flannel.

Source: AP

Extremely informative pet blogs, online pet resources

Click here if you’re looking for Pet food nutrition news, or try this link if you need information on Dog Nutrition.

If you’re just looking for the latest in pet food trends, take a look at Pet Food Trends, or this web site Premium Pet Food.

Everything you need to know about pet food safety can be found on the Pet Food Safety blog. And if you need great resources on pet food ingredients, try this blog: Pet Food Ingredients.

Additional pet food resources are available at: Pet Industry News, Functional Pet Food, and the informative Dog Treats blog.

Before you head to the grocery store, you can review Pet Food Brands, learn more about Organic Pet Food, or just browse this Free pet food industry magazine.

Parties for pets replaces tupperware parties?

As if you need one more reason to avoid your neighbor.  Here’s one more.  Pawties.  Parties designed to sell pet owners all sorts of pet toys.  Ummm . . .

For candle collectors, there’s PartyLite. For those who love dips and easy recipes, there’s Tastefully Simple. And for our four-legged friends, there’s “pawties.”

Yes, humans aren’t the only ones who benefit from in-home parties. Petlane pet advisor Linda Parker, from South Barrington, has been selling dog, cat and bird toys since 2006.

One more odd work-from-home opportunity gone mad.

New book explores pet food politics

Pet owners who lost their cats and dogs in the 2007 pet food contamination will not soon forget that scandal. But, neither should anyone else, says nutrition expert and Chronicle columnist Marion Nestle whose new book, “Pet Food Politics,” is just hitting store shelves.

The reason, Nestle says, is because the entire issue sends out clear warnings about weaknesses in our global food production system, for humans as well as animals. That’s why the book’s subtitle is “The Chihuahua in the Coal Mine.”

Source: What’s New: ‘Pet Food Politics’ a wakeup call

1.6 Million Pets Put Under Due to Vet Bills They Can’t Afford

According to figures from Sainsbury’s Finance, vet bills are becoming increasingly unaffordable for many – with price inflation estimated at around 12 percent a year. This can be set against the current general inflation rate of 4.4 percent across all goods and services, which is itself at a 16-year high.

These price pressures have led pet owners to make some hard choices. The Sainsbury’s research shows that 1.6 million cats and dogs were put down between 2003 and 2008 because their owners could not afford either veterinary fees or other medical costs of looking after their pet.

Read more about this pet crisis: 1.6 million pets put under due to vet bills

Humans Now Used as Taste-Testers for Cat Food?

In a recent Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition paper, Dr. Pickering explains the potential value of having people act as taste testers to rate cat foods. For example, he believes it might enable manufacturers to understand why a cat favors certain foods. While manufacturers conduct trials to see what felines prefer, it’s difficult to know exactly which flavors or textures the cats are responding to, he explains.

“Cats aren’t very good at vocalizing what they like or don’t like about cat foods,” said Dr. Pickering, who conducted the study in Australia before coming to Brock University. “The idea was that humans can quite clearly verbalize what it is. Humans can also rate the intensity of different characteristics in a particular food or beverage.” Dr. Pickering says the value of his recent work could lie in taking the results of the human testing and comparing them to results of cat testing on the same products. It might offer a shortcut for researchers, he says.

Testers rated the foods on 18 flavor attributes, including tuna, prawn, chicken, caramel, cereal, soy, burnt flavors, bitter and offaly. They also evaluated textures, such as grittiness and chewiness.

Read more . . . Taste that innovates – human taste-testers testing cat food

The Seven Signs of a Healthy Cat Diet

Although diet is among many factors affecting cat’s health, appearance and behavior, feeding felines a high-quality meal is an essential and wise move.

Although diet is among many factors affecting cat’s health, appearance and behavior, feeding felines a high-quality meal is an essential and wise move. Here are seven signs a cat is thriving on a well-balanced, nutritious cat food:

1. A shiny coat. A cat’s coat should be plush and shiny, says Dr. Margie Scherk, DVM, DABVP (feline), a past president of the American Association of Feline Practitioners and editor of the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery. “Matting or flaking are suggestive of poor dental health, arthritic pain or poor nutrition,’’ says Dr. Scherk. Lack of protein can be the culprit. Cat food should contain crude protein levels of at least 30% in dry food and 8% in wet food.

2. Good teeth and gums. “Good dental health includes not just having strong, white teeth but also — and arguably more important — healthy, moist, pink gums that cover the roots of those teeth without bleeding or excess gum tissue,’’ Dr. Scherk says. Dry food may help some cats in keeping the tips of their teeth clean, says Scherk.

3. Digestion and hairball care. You can tell a lot about your cat’s diet when you scoop the poop. Look for moist, formed “logs” with a “pungent odor that is neither sour nor excessive,’’ advises Dr. Scherk. Switching to canned cat food, adding water to cat’s food or offering a water fountain are options to help cats get the water it needs and avoid dehydration. Loose fecal matter could be a sign of digestion problems, food intolerance, inflammation, infection or even a serious illness, such as cancer. Special hairball formula cat foods offer fiber that helps move the hair along the digestive tract.

4. A healthy weight. Veterinarians might recommend that consumers feed their cats a food designed for weight management or for older cats, which are often less active and burn fewer calories.

5. A strong immune system. If cats eat a complete and balanced diet, they are more likely to fight off illnesses. Veterinary nutritionists are researching the role antioxidants might play in promoting a healthy immune system in cats, as they do in humans, says Dr. Scherk. You’ll find Vitamin E and antioxidants from sources such as tomatoes and spinach in some commercial cat foods, particularly those that emphasize natural ingredients.

6. Strong bones. Sometimes, devoted cat owners who try to feed their cats a homemade diet make the unfortunate mistake of not providing bone meal, says Dr. Scherk. This can lead to bone fractures. If a problem is suspected, veterinarians can use X-rays to evaluate the cat’s bone density. A well-formulated cat food should include calcium.

7. A healthy heart. Diet plays a critical role in cat’s heart health. For instance, feeding felines table scraps rather than a well-balanced, nutritious commercial food can lead to a deficiency of taurine, a critical amino acid. Taurine deficiency can lead to heart problems and even heart failure.

New Aflatoxin Test Released

See www.vicam.com:

VICAM has expanded their line of mycotoxin test kits to include AflaCheck: a qualitative, one step immunoassay method for the detection of aflatoxin. AflaCheck provides fast and accurate, yes or no results for the presence of aflatoxin at levels as low as 10 ppb, according to the company, with an alternative testing protocol for detecting levels in excess of 20 ppb and improving pet food safety. VICAM also states that this test is able to provide results in as little as 3 minutes, in the field or in the lab, and without the use of expensive equipment or reagent chemicals.

Menu Foods On the Rebound

Menu Foods Income Fund says its business is on the way to recovering from the impact of last year’s pet food recalls, although on a smaller scale. The pet food maker said it lost it lost an estimated US$2.2 million or 10.8 cents per unit for the three months ended March 31, 2008 compared with a loss of US$17.5 million or 91.8 cents per unit a year ago. Quarterly revenue was US$55.6 million, down from US$64.5 million.

Investors cheered the news. “We have made considerable progress and our prospects look better today than at any other time during this past year,” president and chief executive Paul Henderson said in a statement. “As we move the business forward, we do so focusing on our core competency – the manufacture of high quality wet pet food. We will continue to work to solidify our customer base and further adjust our cost structure in line with our ongoing business.”

In April 2008, Menu Foods reached a “comprehensive cross-border agreement in principle” on litigation arising from its tainted petfood scandal. The mediated settlement of the case, which combined an array of class-action suits filed in the United States, came just over a year after the recalls. Dozens of cases against Menu Foods and many of the companies that own the private label pet foods were consolidated in a federal court in Camden, New Jersey, USA. The definitive terms of the deal, together with a motion for preliminary approval thereof, are scheduled to be filed with the US District Court on May 20, 2008, with a hearing scheduled on May 30, 2008. The scheduling for Canadian court is expected to occur at roughly the same time.