PET Food Processing - September 2020 - 45

"By giving consumers a portion-control food bar
with instructions on how much of that bar to feed,
they almost always feed the recommended amount."
Karen Neola, My Perfect Pet

necessity to scrap a batch. Just one incorrect dose can earmark a batch as waste. While that batch might be usable
again as a product, it's no longer a pure ingredient. While
the choice of portioning method is dependent on process
and product type, choosing the right equipment for the
application further improves portioning effectiveness.
When blending finished products with varying characteristics into one consumer-ready package, KSE employs the use of specialized pet food dosing slides, which
are designed to minimize damage on finished kibbles
while being able to create a large flow for capacity and a
small flow for accuracy. To achieve greater accuracy and
activation of challenging materials, KSE promotes the
use of slides versus traditional augers or vibratory feeders, offering a greater range and flexibility compared to
these traditional systems. One of the key challenges is to
achieve this flexibility in the production process as the
market has shifted from large bulk productions to specific breed- and age-based diets. The dosing slide enables
pet food processors to stay agile while offering a wide
variety of products and operating at high capacity.
Efficiencies also arise with the elimination of foods
inefficient in nutrient use. In other words, animals who
do not receive the full healthful benefits will eliminate
the excess waste.
"It's like a giant puzzle where all pieces need to be
there for the animal to use it," Habraken said. "So, if a
single piece is missing, basically all the other nutrients
are voided as well, resulting in more animal fecal waste."
To ensure control over the quality of its blends and
a homogeneous mix when blending a large volume
of fresh food with a small volume of supplement, My
Perfect Pet does not use any premixed vitamin or mineral packs. The fresh food manufacturer performs all its
own measuring and mixing in house to ensure control
over every ingredient in its blends.
The vane cell design of Handtmann's portioning technology minimizes product waste with an automatic
weight compensation feature. Building in accuracy to
each cell, the design allows even large portions of chunky
products to be delivered with gram-level accuracy to
Handtmann's single- and multi-lane cutting, forming,
extruding, co-extruding and depositing attachments.
For baked pet foods and treats, accurate portioning is
often achieved through the use of a rotary moulder. RBS
advocated that processors consider the variables of the
extraction webbing, including the type of belting fabri-

cate used and the coarseness of the weave. Other choices
include a single or durometer rubber roll, with the hardness of the rubber taken into consideration.
"The selection of the webbing and rubber roll will depend from formulation to formulation and die shape to
die shape," said Sam Pallottini, director of biscuit, cookie and pet treat equipment sales, RBS. "When selected
correctly, it will minimize tailing, extraction issues and
product buildup."
A flexible rotary moulder can accommodate a wide
range of formulations, shapes and sizes. An adjustable
gap allows for increasing and decreasing the blanket required on the forcing roll. The ability to adjust enables
better control of the dough being fed into the smaller
or larger cavities. A second drive provides additional
power for forming the biscuits and the ability to speed
up or slow down the forcing roll from the die roll to help
fill up the range of cavities. Finally, a drive for the rubber
roll minimizes the force required by the rubber roll for
extracting out the biscuits, Pallottini shared.
While the rotary moulder does the heavy work in
many baked pet food and treat facilities, processors are
discovering applications for sheeting and two-dough
products with the use of a low-pressure extruder. Softer
treats using a wirecut system also provide an element of
humanism to pet food and treats, according to Pallottini.
Frequent new product introductions means processors need the ability to push
production to change over
on the fly and respond with
flexible scheduling. This necessitates keeping an eye on
temperamental ingredients
such as easily compactable
powders that can result in
poor product flow, in addition to the challenges of the
tolerance of a weight range
acceptability for a given
product weight.

Finished packaging
materials and
formats combine
with packaging
systems to deliver
precise portions
that meet label
requirements for
product weight.
Mondi Consumer Flexibles

Temperature
and cooling
Reigning in variability is
critical when it comes to
temperature and cooling in

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PET Food Processing - September 2020

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