Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
3Z~l~
CASE 2928
DESCRIPTION
PET FOOD PALATANT AND
USE T~EREOF
05
TECHNICAL FIELD
_
The present invention relates to pet food ac-
ceptability, and more particularly to an improved
flavor system for pet foods.
While the development and production of nutri-
tious animal foods are quite well understood and pose
few problems to the art, there is a continuing prob-
lem in making these formulations palatable. Accord-
ingly, there is a present need to develop processes
and formulations which increase the palatability of
animal foods, especially pet foods, while at the same
time maintaining their nutritional value. Where the
offered foods are unpalatable, animals often pass
them up. Traditionally, the most severe palatabil-
ity and ration rejection problems have been associ-
ated with pet foods.
The use of palatability improving additives en-
ables the pet food manufacturer to provide pets with
rations of high palatability, yet use as raw mater-
ials high portions of ingredients which might other~wise be unpalatable -to pets. The ability to improve
the palatability of pet foods made of less desirable
r~w materials helps maintain the lowest possible
cost for human foods by decreasing the demand for
human food raw materials and increasing the econ-
'
~LZC)25~
,
omic value of the by-produc-ts of the human food indus-
try.
Many attempts have been made to obtain increas-
ed palatability of pet foods by the addition of a
05 variety of materials. For example, u.s. Pat No.
3,119,691 to Ludington, Schara and Mohlie suggests
coating a fat, a flavoring component and a dry gravy
former onto a dry dog food. The gravy former will
normally comprise a water soluble thickener and fla-
10 vor.
Eowever, due to the cost of the palatants cur- ~
rently used, there remains a present need to develop
more effective, on an economical basis, palatants
for pet foods.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present in
vention to provide a new process and composition for
improving the palatability of pet foods.
It is also an object of the present invention
to provide a new, highly palatable pet ood and pro-
cess for preparing it.
The most specific object of the present inven-
tion is to provide an improved method for feeding a
pet by the addition of a palatability improving com-
position to the food prior to consumption.
These and other objects are accomplished accord-
ing to the present invention which provides a palat-
ability improving composition or pet food, the com-
position comprising cereal grain malts, caramel cer-
eal grain malts, or combinations thereof.
The malt level in the particular pet ood is
adapted for the particular animal genus, and to
thereby significantly improve the palatability of
the food when consumed by dogs and cats.
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The term palatability is broad and encompasses
all of the various properties of animal foods, such
as dog and cat foods, sensed by the consuming ani-
mal. Among these properties are texture, taste and
05 aroma. It is believed that the present invention
increases palatability as a whole, primarily through
improving the taste and aroma of the food.
The palatability improving materials identified
by this invention -- cereal grain malts, caramel cer-
eal grain malts, and combinations thereof - can en-
hance the attractiveness and acceptance by dogs andcats of all types of foods formulated for them. How-
ever, the optimum utility of the present invention
is found in the environment of dry pet foods and the
following description will emphasize these as exem-
plary. It will be understood, however, that the
present invention does have utility in other types
of products such as soft-mois~ or canned products of
otherwise conventional formulation.
It is preferred that the cereal grain malts and
the carmel cereal grain malts be of the following
cereal grains- barley, wheat, rye, and oats and it
is most preferred that these mal-~s be of barley.
There are several chunk style dry dog food pro-
ducts on the market today which are particularly
appealing to the consumer due to their shelf stabil-
ity and convenience. These products are specific-
ally formulated using proteinaceous and/or farina-
ceous source ingredients and are charactertized by a
porous structure and crunchy texture. The products
may be served as is, but are preferably rehydrated
with water prior to consumption by the dog or cat.
Typical of the dry pet food formulations which can
be upgraded by the present invention are those de-
2~)Z5~6
scribed in U.S. Patent No. 3,119,691. The palat-
ability of these products is enhanced by a coating
of fat on the surface of the chunk or kib, over
which coating may be applied a powdered gravy form-
05 ing material based on gums, starches, coloring andflavoring material. Upon hydration, the gravy form-
ing material serves to thicken and color the water
thereby simulating a gravy or meat sauce.
The products of the type described in U.S. Pat.
10 No. 3,119,691 are in fact especially desirable be-
cause they are designed to employ a coating which
hydrates with water to form a flavorful gravy. Such
products may be manufactured by preparing a mixture
of farinaceous and/or proteinaceous ingredients with
optional vitamin and mineral supplements.
The farinacous ingredients will include a pri-
mary farinaceous ingredient which may be any of the
more common grains, such as corn, wheat, barley,
oats, etc., and their derivatives, including e.g.,
corn meal, red dog flour, wheat germ, etc. A pre-
erred farinaceous ingredient may include hominy.
Commonly, the farinaceous ingredients will be pre-
sent in amount of 30-65% of the total mass.
In the preferred embodiment, the mixture will
also include one or more proteinaceous ingredients
of vegeta~le, animal or fish origin, typically soy
bean meal, meat meal, or fish scrap. This ingre-
dient, preferably present in amounts of 25-40% of
the total mixture, will provide the bulk of the de-
sired protein content in the final product. In thepreferred embodiment, the ratio of farinaceous ingre-
dient to proteinaceous ingredien-t may be 2.5-0.8, e.g.
1Ø The farinaceous ingredient and the protein in
gredient together may comprise 55-95% of the total
mixture.
5 ~ 25~
It will be apparent that the proteinaceous in-
gredient will preferably be selected to provide both
the necessary level or amount of pro-tein and also
the necessary composition. Preferably several pro-
05 teinaceous ingredients will be present. More speci-
fically, these ingredients will be selected to be
complementary ~o each other and to the farinaceous
ingredients whereby the final mixture is balanced
with respect to desired amino acids. For example,
the protein of corn is low in trypotophane, as essen-
-tial amino acid, whereas fish meal is high in this
component; similarly wheat is low in lysine whereas
meat meal will provide this ingredient. According-
ly, mixtures of these complementary ingredients will
preferably be used to provide the desired balance.
Other preferred ingredients in the product
(typically present in total amount of 0.25 6% or 7%)
may include: desired flavor ingredients typified by
fish scrap (when this material is not used as the
prime source of protein) or salt, coloring ingredi-
ents including iron oxide etc., fihrous ingredients
typified by beet pulp; and desired vitamins.
This mixture is processed by heating it above
about 212F, subjecting it to superatmospheric pres
sure, adding additional moisture to the mixture so
that the mixture has a moisture content within the
range of about 20 to 40% by weight and mascerating
the mixture, for example, by extruding it through an
extrusion die into the atmosphere. As the material
issues from the die it expands into a porous, expand-
ed product due to the pressure drop across the die
and the flashing off of the water as steam. The ex-
trudate is then cut into bite size kibs having a
mean diameter within the range of about 1/~ to 3/4
inch, dried to a moisture content of less than about
6 ~ Z5~6
10% by weigh-t, coated first with bleachable fancy
tallow (typically 2-8%), and then coated with a palat-
ability enhancing material of -this inv~ntion, pre-
ferably applied in a flour formO Optionally, a powd-
05 ered gravy forming ingredient may also be added.
Thereafter, the pet food is packaged.
When the palatability improver of the instant
invention is used as a subsequent coating to tallow
coated kibs, it is preferred that the malt used be
milled into a flour first. The malt flour is then
coated on the kibs by any conventional method, e.g.
spraying. It is preferred that the malt, when coat-
ed on tallow coated kibs, be between about 0.10 and
about 7.0% of the pet food, it is more preferred
that the malt flour be between about 0.30 and 4.0%,
and most preferably between 0.35 and 3.0%.
Alternatively, malt and caramel malt has been
incorporated into the formulation of a moist cat
food with an improved palatability. Generally, when
2~ these malted materials are incorporated into pet
foods by means other than coating tallow coated dry
kibs, greater amounts of malt are used.
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
.:
The following examples are presented for the
purpose of further illustrating and explaining the
present invention and are not to be taken as limit-
ing in any regard. Unless otherwise indicated, all
parts and percentages are by weight.
EXAMPLE 1
Two dog foods improved with the palatabili-ty
enhancer of this invention were prepared and tested
by a 30 dog panel for two days against a control
formulation. The formulations are as follows:
S~a6
Ingredient Parts by Weight
Kibs Control Test A Test B
... .
Whole Ground Corn 40.00 40.00 40.00
Meat & Bone Meal 11.00 11.00 11.00
05 Soybean Meal 21.50 21.50 21.50
Wheat Middlings 19.40 19.40 19.40
Non-Iodized Salt 1.00 1.00 1.00
Vitamin & Mineral 3.10 3.10 3.10
Premix
1st Coatin~
Tallow 4.00 4.00 4.00
2nd Coating
Malted Barley 0 1.00 2.00
The samples were prepared as in U.S. Pat. No.
3,119,6gl, but without a gravy former.
The test samples, after being coated with the
tallow, were dusted with a malted barley flour (100%
passing through U.S. sieve size 20 screen) so as to
coat the experimental kibs at the correct level.
The results of the test are reported as follows,
expressed in terms of the average preference ratio
(APR). The APR is the quotient when the mass of the
test sample consumed by the test animal is divided
by the total amount of food consumed by the same test
animal during the test feeding.
Sample APR
Test A (1.0%) 0.745
Test B (2.0%) 0.730
Thus, in both cases, the test foods prepared in
accordance with the present invention w~re determ-
ined to be significantly preferred to the control by
the dogs.
~ 8 ~ ~2C125:~L6
EXAMP1E II
In another two day test, an 18 dog test panel
was fed both a control sample having the same formu~
latlon as the control in Example I, and a test form-
05 ulation having either (C~ 0.25% or ~D) 0.50% malted
barley flour coating applied to the control formula-
tion.
These test results are as follows:
Sample APR_
Test C (0.25%) 0.457
Test D (0.~0%3 0.724
Thus, the palatability e~hancer of this inven-
tion shows an improvement over control samples at
the 0.50% level, but only parity with the control
samples at the 0.25~ level.
It is anticipated that: levels as low as 0.10%
would be useful with a dog food that had been com-
bined with water before serving.
: EXAMPLE III
In another series of two day tests, kibbled dog
foods, again prepared in the manner of the Example I
control samples, were Eed to a panel of 30 dogs
against experimental samples with a second coating
of either (E) 1% or (F) 2% caramel malt flour from
barley.
This test produced the following results:
Sam~le _ APR
Test E (1% Caramel) 0~677
Test F (2% Caramel) 0.646
Again the positive effect of the palatability
enhancer of this invention is shown.
The above examples and explanation have been
presented for the purpose of teaching those skilled
in the art how to practice the present invention and
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are not meant to describe all those obvious varia-
tions and modifications which will become apparent
to the skilled worker upon reading this disclosure.
It is intended, however! that all such obvious modi-
05 fications and variations are to be included withinthe scope of this invention which is defined by the
following claims.
