PET Food Processing - December 2018 - 52

"Many complete and balanced pet foods currently in
the market reflect the different perceptions of what
pet owners believe is a clean label product, which
continues to be ever-changing and evolving."
Eric Altom, Ph.D., Balchem

that meet the product design requirements, Altom says
it's important to consider the ingredient composition including its carrier material, the country of origin for raw
materials, where the final ingredient is manufactured
and the supply chain stability.
With choices come compromises. "Evaluate the total
formulation, paying attention to how your chosen ingredients adjust pH, water activity and moisture level,
because all those factors can affect spoilage," says Robert
Ames, senior business development manager, Corbion,
Lenexa, Kansas. "Consider the market trade-offs. Giving
up some degree of product performance may improve
sales and market access. Also, thoroughly research the
ingredient source. In clean label, it is extremely important to choose a supplier who can bring science-based,
research-backed solutions that perform consistently."

Hard to say good-bye
Certain formula adjustments are easier than others.
Transforming a current product to a natural preservative
system may require minimal adjustments and validation,
according to Altom. Removing a major protein source
or a major carbohydrate source is a much more complex
reformulation project and could require requalification of
the product with additional feeding assessments.
Another challenge that has no easy solution is
related to the required vitamins, minerals and other
necessary nutrients for complete and balanced
pet food diets.

Many pet owners prefer ingredients they recognize and
can pronounce on pet food labels. For this reason, some of
the more challenging ingredients to address are vitamins
and minerals. "Pets require specific vitamins, minerals,
fatty acids, and amino acids in defined qualities in their
diet each day for a healthy life," Altom explains. "The
sources of the nutrients must be readily bioavailable to
the pet so many vitamins and minerals are supplemented from concentrated sources to ensure no potential
nutrient deficiencies. The Association of American Feed
Control Officials (AAFCO) requires supplemental vitamins and minerals to be listed on packages by the approved names. Although some of the names may be difficult to recognize and pronounce, education of the pet
parent rather than removal of the ingredient is the best
course of action."
For other ingredient categories such as colorants,
clean label alternatives can be limiting. Rountree says,
"Copper chlorophyllin is definitely one of the most
challenging to clean up since the regulations on what
can be used for green are extremely limited. There are
very few alternatives that have a secure supply chain
for that hue. Red #40 has always been a challenge to
match without using a much higher use rate to get the
same color. The good news is that new products are
getting closer every year."
Suppliers of color additives are developing natural,
label-friendly alternatives to current (FD&C) certified color dyes but are finding it difficult to match
certain hues that consumers favor. "Caramel colors
are becoming very commonly used as replacements
for synthetics and more recently iron oxides for color
delivery as pet food consumers study labels more
closely," says Brian Sethness, executive vice president,
sales and marketing, Sethness Products Co., Skokie,
Illinois. "Class I, or Plain, caramel colors have become
the fastest growing segment of caramel colors for pet
foods. They meet the clean label demand, but they
can only reach a certain level of darkness - more of
a light brown shade. Sethness caramel colors are generally recognized as safe (GRAS), achieve appetizing
color tones and have performed well with pets, but
Pet food brands are offering protein-packed, grain-free, low-carb
and low-glycemic formulas to meet consumers' preferences for
clean label products.
Nulo

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PET Food Processing - December 2018

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