Pet Food Safety Ingredients

Food safety in the petfood industry is a shared responsibility among renderers, ingredient suppliers, petfood manufacturers, distributors and even the pet owners who feed the final pet food or pet treat to their companion pets. Ensuring the safety and quality of commercial pet foods is both a challenging and complex process.

A few of the major challenges that petfood manufacturers face include oxidative deterioration and microbial contamination of both their ingredients and finished pet food. Failure to control oxidation and microbial risks of the ingredients used in pet foods can result in loss of nutritional quality, reduction in palatability, and increased microbial risk of the pet food. Autoxidation can be effectively managed through proper use of antioxidants in petfood ingredients and throughout the entire pet food production processes. Management of microbial risk in pet foods can be achieved by proper ingredient management and usage of appropriate microbial control ingredients.

Kemin: The Leader in Microbial Preservation and Mold Inhibitors

Kemin is setting the standard in preservatives and mold inhibitors, providing petfood manufacturers effective natural and synthetic preservatives for the extended shelf-life of petfood ingredients, pet food and pet treats. Kemin has developed the ALLINSUR^TM and PREVION^TM brands as solutions for renderers and petfood manufacturers to assist in managing oxidation and microbial risks in fats, oils, rendering raw materials, and pet products.

ALLINSUR A Series for Managing Inherent Fat and Oil Risks

Microbial hazards are considered a pet food safety issue and are seen by many as a potential public health issue due to the risk of direct human contact with pet food. Effective management requires that a hazard analysis be completed on the entire supply chain and production process and that preventative controls be put into place.

In pet foods, any ingredient that is applied topically to kibble after the extrusion kill step poses a significant risk. Since fats and oils are added post-extrusion, the associated risk can be managed by several methods: good sanitation and hygiene procedures, heating fat to control microbial levels and usage of ingredients that can provide conditions unsuitable for microbial growth.

The ALLINSUR A product line is an effective combination of an antioxidant and organic acid that provides petfood manufacturers and renderers with an effective option to control autoxidative deterioration of fats, preserve fat freshness and influences conditions affecting microbial risks in fats.

ALLINSUR FS Series for Effective Management of Rendered Raw Materials

There are significant risks to consider in the management of raw materials used in the rendering process. Delays in processing raw materials can have consequences on both the oxidative and microbial quality of rendered fat and protein. Endogenous or exogenous enzymes, such as lipases or decarboxylase enzymes, can degrade raw rendering material. These enzymes can catalyze a number of reactions that increase production of free fatty acids, biogenic amines and lipid oxidation by-products.

Raw material deterioration can also have important negative consequences on the efficiency of rendering plant operations. If the raw material degrades, it can cause a reduction in the heat transfer ability of the fat, which will require the product to cook longer and result in increased energy costs. The longer resonance time in the cooker will increase the level of product fines, which will decrease the efficiency of the presses. This causes a decrease in the fat yield and leaves more fat in the meal, which can result in meal that is more difficult to handle.

The ALLINSUR FS product line is a highly effective blend of antioxidants and acidifiers utilized for maintaining the quality of raw material in the rendering industry. It aids in prolonging the freshness of these materials by controlling oxidation and conditions which result in microbial degradation. Protection of the quality of the raw materials can assist in improving operational efficiency in the rendering plant and supporting the achievement of pet food producers’ quality requirements.

PREVION for Pet Treat Preservation

As humanization of pets becomes more prevalent, the pet treat market is growing rapidly in every region globally. Pet treats can be produced in a wide variety of product forms, many of which are at an elevated microbial risk due to their high moisture content and potentially elevated water activity. Effective microbial shelf-life preservation is a critical factor in the long-term market success of many types of pet treats. In the past, pet food manufacturers have had very few options for replacing synthetic ingredients with natural alternatives.

PREVION was developed to provide petfood manufacturers an effective, natural option to synthetic preservatives intended for extending the shelf-life of pet treats. Since it is a water-soluble combination of buffered vinegar and citric acid in a powder form, it can be incorporated into brines, marinades, dry ingredient blends or directly into meats.

Buffering improves product handling and minimizes corrosivity of ingredients. Most importantly, it does not negatively impact the palatability of pet treats and assists in maintaining consistent flavor profiles with each treat.

Kemin is Your Freshness Protection Partner

The Kemin Technical Service and Customer Laboratory Service (CLS) teams are your freshness protection partners throughout the pet food and pet treat manufacturing process. Our experienced team is available to provide technical advice and laboratory testing support to provide optimum oxidation management, natural mold inhibition and microbial control for your rendered fats and protein meals, pet food and pet treats.