FSCI 232 Semester and Year Group Members/Group 2: Students X Y and Z Date: Month/Date/Year Topic: Food science and pet food technology Introduction ● Food Science is the discipline that encompasses all aspects of food from a scientific standpoint as it relates to the safety of food and its processing post harvest. Food consists of a combination of 6 basic nutrients, which include the following: Carbohydrates, Water, Lipids, Proteins, Vitamins and Mineral. ● Pet food technology is the understanding of how raw materials, production processes and other factors can impact the final pet food diet and are focused on providing industry-leading products that meet stabilization, palatability, ingredients and formulation needs. Thesis Statement ○ There are three components in pet food technology that are important to consider when discussing how to optimize pet food quality; (1) ingredients, (2) food allergens and (3) appearance. Main Body ● Main Point 1: Pet food ingredients should be tested more routinely for contaminants, pesticides, and chemicals. ○ Uniscope alerted the FDA on May 18 that the feed contained melamine, the same lethal chemical found in pet food imported from China. Melamine is used as a binding agent that’s used to make pellet food for cattle, sheep, goats, fish, shrimp and other animals. (Lopes 2007). ○ To detect the presence of Melamine, a new commercially enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test kit was developed. ELISA was able to detect the presence of Melamine in gravy from dog food in quantities of 74%±4% (Garber 2007). ● Main point 2: Food allergies account for about 10% of all allergies seen in dogs and accounts for 20% of scratching and itching in dogs. ○ Hypoallergenic food is design to avoid the use of ingredients most likely to provoke an allergic reaction. Common ingredients in dog food that cause an allergic reaction are; beef, chicken, lamb fish and dairy products (Foster and Smith 2016). ○ When working with a hypoallergenic dog, protein sources from plants such as soybean is used in pet food production. Protein size is also important, proteinaceous components cannot be too big since it can trigger an allergic response (McDaniel 2002) Main Point 3: The physical appearance of pet food is a factor that pet parents consider when choosing the ideal product for their pet. ○ According to research, 75% of all purchases are made on impulse by the influence of packaging. Product description and the design of packaging are factors that consumers look at initially when deciding on what food product to buy for their pets (Robertson 1977). ○ Pet owners are aware that their pets may have a preference to certain textures and physical characteristics that resemble raw meat. Dolan and Connor (1982) invented a way to mimic the appearance of raw, marbled, fat-rich pet food that is well maintained in room temperature. ○ Different types of packaging include those for storage and those for convenience. For example, Albujan and others (2001) invented a pet food snack for on-the-go where a sauce is dispensed into a dry pet food compartment when opened and the packaging serves as a bowl. Summary Allergens, ingredients and appearance are few of many characteristics that pet food industries take into consideration in the development in pet food products. These are characteristics used to optimize the quality of pet food and make it more appealable to pet owners.
