Master of Science / Department of Grain Science and Industry / Cassandra Jones / Salmonella contamination in animal food production facilities is a growing concern. The bacteria has been the cause of 40% of pet food recalls in the past 5 years, and there are potential human health implications because pet food is a direct human contact food. A potential method to reduce Salmonella contamination in pet food is through the use of acidifiers and desiccants to destroy and inhibit growth of bacteria. The objective of this thesis was to quantify Salmonella contamination in livestock feed and pet food manufacturing facilities, and propose mitigation measures to mitigate the presence of pathogens in animal food. Therefore, the objective of Experiment 1 was to investigate sources of Salmonella contamination throughout livestock feed (n = 2) and pet food (n = 2) manufacturing facilities on a specific sampling day. Salmonella was present in all four facilities. However, one of the livestock feed manufacturing facilities had more than double the Salmonella-positive locations than all other facilities. This experiment demonstrated that surface type and location should be taken into consideration when controlling Salmonella contamination. In Experiments 2 and 3, the use of a commercial powdered dry acidulant, sodium bisulfate, was studied as a coating of dog kibble to reduce and prevent Salmonella growth over time. The coating reduced Salmonella concentration, and its efficacy was not impacted by altering the bulk density or surface area of the kibble. Experiment 4 was conducted to determine the efficacy of sodium bisulfate added to poultry mash to reduce or prevent Salmonella growth over time. The inclusion of the dry acidulant did not reduce Salmonella concentration; however, storage time reduced Salmonella contamination in poultry feed. In summary, Salmonella contamination exists in manufacturing facilities, but the location and magnitude of contamination differs. Furthermore, sodium bisulfate effectively reduces Salmonella contamination when applied as a pet food coating, but not in poultry feed.

Thesis PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references.

Master of Science / Food Science / Sajid Alavi / Validation studies on process equipment are an important step for effective pathogenic control during dry expanded pet food manufacturing. The preconditioner is used to hydrate, mix and pre-cook raw materials before extrusion of pet food. The High-Intensity-Preconditioner (HIP) was designed with two independently driven shafts, thus offering control of both shaft speed and rotational direction with potential for improving residence time and thus pathogen inactivation. Residence time distribution (RTD) of raw dog food mix was impacted by the HIP process parameters (average residence time varying between 104-178 s for dry experiment and 65-177 s with steam addition) depending on shaft speed and direction. In general, increase in shaft speed resulted in shorter residence time with the larger shaft having a greater impact than the smaller shaft. Rotational direction of shafts also had an effect on average residence time (a maximum difference of 37 s was noticed between treatments with different shaft directions and the same speed). The uniformity of residence time distribution (difference of 97-132 s between 15 and 85 percentiles of the cumulative RTD) also varied considerably with process conditions, with uniformity increasing with shaft speed.  Enterococcus faecium (ATCC® 8459™) was chosen as a surrogate for Salmonella for microbial inactivation studies on the HIP. Both HIP shaft speed (200 and 300 rpm) and process temperature (67-70°C and 89-91°C) impacted E.faecium survival. Lower shaft speed (corresponding to longer residence time) or higher temperature led to greater E.faecium inactivation. A 5 log CFU/g of E.faecium was reduced using selective agar (m-Enterococcus or mE agar) after treatment with high temperature, but approximately 3.5 log CFU/g of E.faecium reduced on non-selective agar (Brain Heart Infusion or BHI agar). Uneven heat distribution, inadequate residence time and system instability might have negatively affected the inactivation. Microbial inactivation, with E.faecium as surrogate, was also studied for the complete dry expanded pet food process using a pilot-scale single-screw extruder with a regular double shaft preconditioner. Meal was inoculated with E.faecium at 6 log CFU/g and processed. Preconditioner downspout temperature ranged from 89-94°C and extrusion die temperature was between 120-140°C. Complete inactivation was observed after extrusion.

Master of Science / Department of Grain Science and Industry / C.G. Aldrich / Novel ingredients have been a source of innovation and growth in the pet food market. Further, with rising trends in the humanization of pet food, there has been increased competition between the human food systems and pet food industry for high quality ingredients. Next-generation distillers dried grains (NG-DDG) are a sustainable alternative protein source that show a strong potential for use in companion animal diets. The objectives of this work were to determine the effect of NG-DDG on the extrusion of dry kibbles, the utilization of diets by dogs, the palatability of diets by dogs and cats, and to evaluate the amino acid profile and protein quality through a chick growth assay. Corn gluten meal (CGM) and soybean meal (SBM) were used as standards for comparison. Diets were extruded over 3 days in a complete block design. During extrusion, the NG-DDG kibbles had less radial expansion (P<0.05) compared to the CGM and SBM kibbles (2.62 vs. average 3.10 mm²/mm², respectively). The NG-DDG kibble also required a smaller (P<0.05) mass restriction-valve opening to increase die back-pressure. No other differences in extrusion parameters or kibble texture were observed. Twelve beagle dogs were arranged in a 3x3 replicated Latin Square and were each fed the 3 experimental diets to evaluate digestibility by use of titanium dioxide. Diet produced with CGM was more digestible (P<0.05) in terms of dry matter, organic matter, crude protein, crude fat, and gross energy. Additionally, dogs fed NG-DDG diets had larger (P<0.05) fecal mass than both CGM and SBM (55.65 vs 35.91 and 43.25 g/d, respectively), and a higher (P<0.05) fecal score than dogs fed the CGM diet (3.63 vs. 3.27). Diets were fed to both dogs and cats to assess palatability via a two-bowl test. Dogs had a preference (P<0.05) for CGM over SBM and NG-DDG, but cats showed a preference (P<0.05) for SBM and NG-DDG over CGM. To assess protein quality, one-day old chicks (CobbxCobb; n=120) were fed semi-purified diets containing test ingredients at a 10% crude protein inclusion level, as well as spray dried granulated egg (SDG) and a nitrogen-free basal diet (NEG) to serve as positive and negative controls, respectively. Chicks were arranged in a randomized block design with 6 chicks per pen, 1 pen per battery, and 4 pens per treatment. The protein efficiency ratio (PER) of each treatment was calculated as weight gain (g) per protein intake (g). All experimental treatments had a lower (P<0.05) PER value than the positive control. The PER for NG-DDG and CGM did not differ from each other and had the lowest value of all treatments (P<0.05; average 1.17). In summary, next-generation distillers dried grains can be used to make a similar kibble to CGM and SBM, are similar to SBM in terms of digestibility, and would be an acceptable source of protein in companion animal diets when paired with a supplemental protein source.

Master of Science / Grain Science and Industry / Sajid Alavi / The U.S. pet food market was approximately worth $22 billion in 2013. Further growth is predicted at a pace faster than most major human food product categories. More than 60% of pet food products are processed using extrusion, and a significant proportion is produced using baking. However, research is lacking on fundamental process and product differences between extrusion and baking. The current study focuses on this aspect and also in-depth characterization of process and product quality. Three iso-nutritional diets were formulated for dry expanded dog food using 0%, 7% and 15% fresh meat inclusion. Major variations between diets were inclusion rates of mechanically deboned chicken, cereal grains, and poultry fat. Each diet was processed with a single screw extruder using various thermal and/or mechanical energy inputs (obtained by varying pre-conditioner stem injection and/or extruder screw speeds). Diets were also processed by baking using a 30 foot experimental oven at 425°F, although the fresh meat inclusion was at 0%, 10% and 20% levels. Proximate analysis of products was conducted. Products were also characterized for physico-chemical properties such as bulk density, piece density, expansion ratio, degree of gelatinization and textural attributes. As fresh meat inclusion increased (0–15%), expansion ratio (4.1–3.5) decreased irrespective of extrusion treatment. Expansion was not evident in the baked kibbles, and bulk and piece densities were up to 56% higher for baked versus extruded kibbles. Textural analysis of extruded kibbles revealed serrated force-deformation response, typical of cellular products, with peak hardness of 2.9–1.5 kgf. On the other hand, baked products had a ‘smooth’ force-deformation response with higher peak hardness than extruded products (up to 3 kgf). Microbial counts for baked products were higher than extruded products, and rancidity profiles as obtained from gas chromatography also had marked differences. The extrusion process was characterized by detailed mass and energy balance analyses, and compared with baking that lacks mechanical energy input. Results from this study provide a useful bench-mark for dry expanded pet food product quality and commonly used processing technologies.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Food, Nutrition, Dietetics, and Health / Kadri Koppel / The pet food industry represents a competitive and growing part of the food industry that is constantly looking for innovation to differentiate products in the market. In recent years, the pet food market has undergone a humanization trend that has transformed pet owners into parents. In the light of this trend, pet owner acceptance has become even more crucial to product developers as the owners are the ones who make purchasing decisions. Performing descriptive sensory analysis on pet foods utilizing a human panel can assist in understanding the sensory characteristic of products. Knowing the sensory profile of pet food can then be useful in product development, in order to relate the descriptive data with palatability data from pets and to understand specific sensory attributes that drive pet liking. At the same time descriptive analysis can help understand what drives consumer acceptance of the products. The first objective of the research was to develop a sensory lexicon that could assist researchers and sensory professionals working in the pet food industry to describe appearance, aroma, flavor, and texture characteristics of dry dog food. More than seventy sensory terms were identified, defined, and referenced. The second objective was to utilize this sensory lexicon to understand relationships between sensory properties of products and pet owners’ liking. Results indicated that appearance played a major role in driving consumer liking of dry pet food. The next objective of the research was to understand sensory qualities and acceptance of extruded dry dog food manufactured with different fractions of red sorghum through some of the developed concepts. Sorghum is an important crop to Kansas that represents the first producer in USA. Sorghum characteristics such as a low glycemic index and antioxidant properties make it a perfect fit for pet food industry. A process such as extrusion may then help improve some negative characteristics such a lower digestibility that has been associated with sorghum in the past. Descriptive sensory analysis was performed and results indicated that aroma and flavor profile of the sorghum diets were not dissimilar to the ones of a control diet manufactured with rice, wheat, and corn, grains that are typically used by the pet food industry. Acceptance of pet owners was then assessed through a Central Location Test involving 105 consumers. The whole sorghum diet resulted to be the most liked sample by consumers, at the same level of the control diet. The next objective was then to understand how the experimental diets would be accepted by pets compared in a home situation. Thirty dogs were fed the diets in their own household environment over 20 consecutive days. No differences in acceptance for the diets were found. The last portion of the research was to determine volatile compounds present in the four diets and try to identify possible relationship with the sensory properties of the samples. Thirty-six compounds were identified with aldehydes being the most abundant volatiles group. Several relationships with sensory characteristics of samples were found.

著作権情報を一部追加（2023-06-30） / 京都大学 / 新制・論文博士 / 博士(農学) / 乙第13508号 / 論農博第2906号 / 新制||農||1095(附属図書館) / 学位論文||R4||N5408(農学部図書室) / (主査)教授 谷 史人, 教授 入江 一浩, 教授 井上 和生 / 学位規則第4条第2項該当 / Doctor of Agricultural Science / Kyoto University / DFAM

The thesis focuses on commercial communications, in particular on new media and on-line communication in the PET FOOD market. The theoretical part is based on evaluation of current marketing and market segmentation status from the point of view of "4P" theory by E. Jerome Mc Carthy. This part is aimed at inner enterprise information systems used for market segmentation and market studies of consumer typology as well. The theoretical part is concluded with a chapter on new media and Internet as a form of on-line communication. The practical part is based on an analysis of the Czech Internet user and case study about the Pedigree brand on-line communication. The thesis is based on the knowledge of on-line communications, the Czech Internet user and the PET FOOD market. It is aimed at analysis of current Pedigree on-line communication with using of its cunsumers' typology and recommendation for improvement at the level of own web sites as well as entire on-line communication strategy.

Master of Science / Grain Science and Industry / Greg Aldrich / Processing pet food can be beneficial, but can also have adverse effects on shelf-life and nutrient survival. Most affected are supplemental vitamins and essential fatty acids (EFA). Pet food complicates this relative to human foods by combining all elements into the product before processing and requiring an extensive shelf-life (up to 2 years). The objective of this research was to determine the effects of processing, diet, and storage conditions on vitamin (vitamin A, vitamin D₃, vitamin E, folic acid and thiamine) and omega-3 fatty acid (with an emphasis on eicosapentaenoic acid; EPA 20:5n3, and docosahexaenoic acid; DHA; 22:6n3) retention. The research was conducted in two separate experiments. Each experimental diet was produced on a single-screw extruder and triple-pass dryer. Target nutrients were evaluated in premixes in tandem to extruded diets. The vitamin study was conducted as a 3 X 2 X 2 factorial arrangement of treatments with 3 levels of dietary crude protein (CP), 2 screw speeds in the extruder, and 2 levels of time X temperature combinations in the dryer. Vitamins were added at 10 times normal levels to aid in analysis. The EFA study was conducted as a 3 X 3 factorial arrangement of treatments with 3 levels of dietary protein and 3 different omega-3 sources: fish oil, fish meal, or purpose-grown algae rich in DHA. In the vitamin premix study, the quantity of vitamins declined by approximately 50% over 6 months storage in ambient conditions (AMB; 20C, 50%RH), and all except folic acid were lost to some degree in stressed shelf life testing (SSLT; 50C, 70% RH) over 6 weeks. In all cases, the concentration of vitamins in food exiting the extruder and dryer were lower than target levels. As CP increased, the retention was higher (P ≤ 0.05) for vitamins A, E, and folic acid off the extruder (e.g. 225,352 vs. 219,184 and 206,249 IU/kg of vitamin A for high vs. medium and low CP, respectively), and vitamin D₃, E, and folic acid off the dryer (e.g. 9,047 vs. 7,473 and 6,945 IU/kg of vitamin D₃ for high vs. medium and low CP, respectively). During storage of finished pet food in AMB, vitamins A and D₃ were lost (P < 0.05) to the greatest degree (49 and 22%, respectively). The total retention following both processing and AMB storage was 27, 68, 78% for vitamins A, D₃, and E, respectively, while folic acid and thiamine were relatively stable. In SSLT storage, all vitamins except vitamin E were depleted more than 60% (P < 0.05) by 24 weeks, whereas total retention following both processing and SSLT storage was 3, 59, 43, 33, and 7% for vitamins A, D₃, and E, folic acid, and thiamine, respectively. This would suggest that beyond processing losses, the vitamins are relatively stable in premixes and foods if stored in AMB conditions. In the study to evaluate fatty acid stability within a vitamin premix, EPA, DHA, and total omega-3 fatty acids were relatively stable during storage over 6 weeks with losses no greater than 12% in stressed shelf life testing (SSLT; 40C, 70% RH). While in ambient conditions (23C, 50% RH) over 3 months, there was a total loss of EPA, DHA and total fatty acids by 17, 9, and 11%, respectively. Exiting the extruder and dryer, EPA and DHA were not affected by CP level or Omega-3 source. As SSLT storage of finished pet food increased through 24 weeks, EPA, DHA, and total fatty acids declined slightly (P < 0.05; 125, 82 mg/kg for EPA and 77, 60 mg/kg for DHA, and 418, 476 mg/kg for total fatty acids at 0 vs. 24 wk. As time in ambient storage reached 24 months, EPA, DHA, and total fatty acids declined slightly (P < 0.05; 125 vs. 78 mg/kg for EPA and 77 vs. 50 mg/kg for DHA, and 387 vs. 373 for total fatty acids at 0 vs. 24 mo.) Algal-DHA appears to be a stable source of DHA when compared to fish oil and fishmeal. During processing retention of fat soluble vitamins was less than water soluble vitamins, and the omega-3 fatty acids were relatively unaffected. Whereas, vitamins appeared to be more sensitive to temperature during storage and the omega 3 fatty acids more affected by time.

O segmento Pet, no agronegócio, está relacionado ao desenvolvimento das atividades de criação, produção e comercialização de animais de estimação. Este mercado cresceu 7,6% entre 2014/2015, gerou R$ 18 milhões no Brasil e 67,3% desse valor refere-se a produtos para alimentação animal, comumente chamados de Pet Food. Na alimentação animal, o alimento pode ser um único ingrediente ou uma formulação elaborada. Os ingredientes são categorizados em proteínas, carboidratos, fibras, gorduras, vitaminas e minerais. Eles são selecionados considerando os seguintes aspectos: disponibilidade, níveis de nutrientes, funcionalidade, palatabilidade, digestibilidade, custo e segurança. As matérias-primas são escolhidas de acordo com o (s) método (s) de processamento (s) em que o produto passa, sua estabilidade no processo e sua fonte nutricional durante a validade do produto. Na preservação de alimentos, o processo de irradiação é um tratamento que busca reduzir a carga microbiana dos mesmos. No entanto, também pode alterar a composição dos ingredientes presentes e formar produtos radiolíticos na formulação que ainda estão em estudo. Nos alimentos, as gorduras atuam como aporte de ácidos graxos essenciais são palatabilizantes e uma fração energética importante das rações. Nos produtos que contêm a presença de gordura, a principal preocupação são as 2-Alcilciclobutanonas (2-ACBs), que são produtos radiolíticos formados exclusivamente pós-processamento com radiação ionizante. A formação de 2- ACBs está diretamente relacionada à concentração lipídica e à dose de irradiação. O objetivo deste trabalho é descrever os possíveis subprodutos radiolíticos formados em rações caninas extrusadas contendo gordura após irradiação e determinar se a formação de 2-ACBs depende do aumento da dose de radiação, assim como , verificar sua citotoxicidade e genotoxicidade em cães. / In agribusiness, the Pet segment is related to the development of the activities of creation, production and commercialization of pet food. This market grew 7.6% between 2014/2015, generated R$ 18 million in Brazil and 67.3% of this amount refers to products for animal feed, commonly called pet food. In animal nutrition the food may be a single ingredient or an elaborate formulation. Ingriedients are categorized into proteins, carbohydrates, fiber, fat, vitamins and minerals. They are selected considering the following aspects: availability, nutrient levels, functionality, palatability, digestibility, cost and safety. The raw materials are chosen according to the method (s) of processing (s) in which the product is submit, its stability in the process and its nutritional source during the validity of the product. In food preservation the irradiation process is a treatment that seeks to reduce the microbial load of the food. However, it can also alter the composition of the ingredients present and form radiolytic products in the formulation that are still under study. In foods, fats act as a contribution of essential fatty acids are palatabilizing and an important energetic fraction of the rations. In products containing the presence of fat, the main concern are 2- alkylcyclobutanones (2-ACBs), which are radiolytic products formed exclusively post-processing with ionizing radiation. The formation of 2-ACBs is directly related to the lipid concentration and the dose of irradiation. The objective of this work is to describe the possible radiolytic by-products formed in extruded fat-containing canine rations after irradiation and to determine if the formation of 2-ACBs is dependent on the radiation dose, and as well as verify their cytotoxicity and genotoxicity.