Petfood Industry eNewsletter

October 2, 2007

Your free copy of the Petfood Industry Electronic Newsletter is sponsored by AFB International, maker of Optimizor® and BioFlavor® brand palatants. AFB is the petfood industry's first choice for dog and cat food palatants. For more information, please visit our website at http://www.afbinternational.com.

INDUSTRY NEWS: Congress approves new FDA authority on petfood

MARKETING DATA: Private label increases its dominance in South Africa

PRODUCT NEWS: Immune Booster for petfood

RESEARCH NEWS: Dietary modulation of behavior

POSITIONS AVAILABLE: Contact Ginny Stadel for more information

» INDUSTRY NEWS

Congress approves new FDA authority on petfood

Congress recently reauthorized the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) which includes a section requiring FDA to set ingredient definitions and processing standards for petfoods, modifying petfood labels and creating a food adulteration incident reporting system.

The petfood-specific language requires FDA to work with the industry and the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) to set ingredient definitions, processing standards, and to update labeling requirements that include ingredient and nutritional information. The language of the measure refers specifically to petfood and human food, so it likely will not apply to livestock and poultry feeds. The law will require FDA to work more closely with USDA and the Department of Homeland Security to create a new aquaculture and seafood inspection regimen.

The new PDUFA law also requires FDA to set up an “early warning system” on petfood recalls within a year, but also creates a new “reportable food registry” where companies required to register with FDA under the Bioterrorism Act would have to report to FDA within 24 hours of their determination of an adulterated food product. An exemption is provided if the company determined the adulteration occurred within its system, it detected the problem before the product was transferred out of the company’s control, and the product was seized and destroyed before being shipped.

Menu Foods cuts workers

Late last month, a spokesman for Menu Foods stated that 12 full-time positions were cut from their Emporia plant – less than the 100 positions that were rumored in the days leading up to the announcement. The spokesperson, Christopher Windsor, said this about the layoffs: “It is directly a result of consumer and market demand. It is tied to the recall. It’s not a reflection on the individuals.” The layoffs came just weeks after Procter & Gamble pulled all of its business from Menu and Mars Inc. pulled its business and purchased Menu’s manufacturing plant in South Dakota in order to produce its own product. According to CEO Paul Henderson, the company has taken a US$42 million hit in the first quarter as a result of the recall.

FDA recalled powder used in petfood

The FDA announced the recall of dehydrated parsley powder which was used in some Diamond Pet Food premixes. The manufacturer of the parsley powder issued the recall because some of the product was found to have Salmonella in it. Some petfood product containing the recalled dehydrated parsley powder did go onto store shelves, but Diamond has reassured customers that their product is safe for pets to consume.

A Diamond spokesman stated that the dehydrated powder that was used in their petfood premixes went through the process of extrusion and any Salmonella or bacteria in the product was killed or sterilized. Diamond did test their parsley powder for Salmonella after the recall and the product tested negative. All of the remaining parsley powder that was not used was sent back to the manufacturer.

Morris Animal Foundation to fund animal health studies

Nonprofit organization Morris Animal Foundation (MAF) has committed to funding more than US$4.6 million in traditional animal health studies for 2008 and ongoing support of US$10 million for these studies as they continue over the next three years. MAF is funding studies at nearly 50 of the world’s veterinary colleges, zoological institutions and scientific research centers. All studies are available for individual and group sponsorships. Descriptions of the approximately 120 studies are listed in MAF’s 2008 health study sponsorship booklet which is available at www.MorrisAnimalFoundation.org.

In addition to traditional animal studies, 30 veterinary student scholars will be conducting short-term health study projects at universities worldwide. The MAF-supported program is designed to help fill the need for training the next generation of veterinary scientists. These projects are also available for sponsorship in 2008 and are listed on the MAF website.

Bravo! issues recall of dog and cat products

Bravo! announced a voluntary recall of select tubes of three of its poultry products for cats and dogs. The petfood is being recalled because two of the products have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella and Listeria monocytogenes, while the other product has the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. The FDA detected the bacteria in a recent review. The company has received no reports of illness in either people or animals associated with any of the three products. A listing of the recalled poultry products can be found at www.bravorawdiet.com/recallinfo.html.

OrganiPets launches petfood with innovative packaging

Design agency Pemberton & Whitefoord has created the branding and packaging for start-up petfood company OrganiPets, which recently launched its petfood line. The packaging design features cats and dogs in care-free environments to reflect OrganiPets’ push of organic and natural petfood. Instead of using bold colors and cartoon images of family pets, designers from P&W used black-and-white photography to create a natural feel. “We wanted to create a design solution for the brand. Essentially a design that would make OrganiPets truly stand out on the shelf and be viewed as anything but run of the mill,” said Adrian Whitefoord, co-founder of P&W.

Provimi releases consolidated results

The Provimi Group has published its consolidated results for the first six months of the year. Sales increased, with most countries showing sales growth through increased volumes. In Europe, overall results were below the same period last year. Animal nutrition in the Netherlands, Spain, Russia and Bulgaria performed well, as well as petfood in central and eastern Europe. A slowdown in petfood activities in western Europe and a delay in passing on raw material price increases to supermarket chains held back results.

Lab Directory available online

Need testing help to ensure the safety of your products? Visit Petfood Industry - Digital to digitally view Petfood Industry magazine’s 2007 Lab Directory. A full listing of laboratories and the services they offer to the petfood industry is available, as well as contact information for all labs.

Petfood Forum and Focus coming in April

The petfood market continues its rapid pace of growth, despite recent crises. Find out the best opportunities for expansion and how to lead them in your organization at Petfood Industry and Watt Publishing Co.’s Petfood Forum and Focus events at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare Hotel, Chicago, Illinois, USA. Petfood Forum 2008 connects you with the people and information you need to continue to advance. This premier event taking place April 14-16 for the petfood industry features networking opportunities and exciting, informative sessions such as:

Ingredient popularity and trends.
Preventing brand theft.
Packaging case study.
The natural and organic markets.
Sustainability and carbon footprints.
Petfood safety management systems.
Weight loss through prebiotics.
Alternative petfoods and the melamine fall-out.
Ranking the importance of private label worldwide.
Managing palatability for treats.
Global trade issues.

Every petfood company around the world is placing a renewed emphasis on safety and quality. The Petfood Focus on Safety symposium, April 16-17, gives you an in-depth look at:

Crisis contingency planning.
Good purchasing practices.
Adverse event reporting and preferred vendors.
Finding the right insurance.
Case studies on quality/safety programs at a petfood supplier and a manufacturer.
ISO 22000—the world’s most advanced food safety management system
A panel discussion on the consumer connection: how best to communicate with consumers, especially during a safety crisis.

Registration for both of these events will be available soon. Visit www.petfoodindustry.com/petfoodforum.aspx

SPONSOR

» MARKET DATA

Each month the Petfood Industry E-newsletter will bring you the latest market data available from several different sources including Euromonitor International, Packaged Facts, Information Resources Inc. (IRI) and ACNielsen.

Company Shares (by Global Brand Owner) - Retail Value RSP - % breakdown

South Africa	2006
Pet food and pet care products
Mars Inc	26.1
Nestlé SA	16.9
Foodcorp (Pty) Ltd	8
Private Label	10.9

Private label increases its dominance in South Africa

South Africa has experienced phenomenal growth within its retail sector over the last couple of years. According to the latest Euromonitor International retail research, grocery channel outlets have grown by over 40% in the last five years. The three large mainstream grocery chains, namely Pick ‘n Pay, Spar and Shoprite, have grown their outlet numbers not only within urban areas but well into the outlying areas in order to be able to better target the lower and middle-income groups. The increase in outlets is leading to growth of their private label products, which these retailers are giving better positioning and shelf space than their branded alternatives.

The growing dominance of private label within the petfood and pet care market is likely to change the face of the market as it currently stands in South Africa. As private label grows within grocery, pulling down unit prices- the margin between economy and mid-priced is going to become a lot more blurred, as other grocery channel brands could be forced to drop prices. Those brands that cannot afford to drop prices will either disappear from the marketplace or be forced to take on the premium brands with improved formulas and functional benefits to warrant their higher unit prices.

Click here for more information about Petfood and Pet Care Products reports from Euromonitor International and to buy reports online.

» PRODUCT NEWS

Immune Booster for petfood

According to Gourmetceuticals, GLPH-1 is a polysaccharide extract derived from botanical yeast that has been proven to boost immune health in more than 20 clinical trials. GLPH-1 works as an anti-inflammatory agent through multiple mechanisms, including stimulating the immune system’s white blood cells. The extract is available in a highly stable water-soluble powder that can easily be added to food products. www.gourmetceuticals.com

Specialty recycled paperboard

Caraustar Industries Inc. has developed StaSquare 32, a recycled paperboard grade. The product offers sheet profile stability, favorable grain ratio and desirable density, according to Caraustar. The company also claims that with the recent installation of wet end paper machine technology, the StaSquare 32 ensures lay-flat quality through the gluing process and is dimensionally stable. www.caraustar.com

A-B-C dispenser/stacker runs full or half pallets

A-B-C Packaging has introduced a pallet dispenser and/or pallet stacker that can automatically stack empty pallets after depalletizing, or dispense pallets for palletizing. The device runs both conventional, full pallets and half pallets for custom merchandising. The pallet handler has a lift capacity rating of up to 1000 pounds. The system utilizes a unique side-clamp design that grips pallets securely, while the lift and place design accommodates pallets with loose boards or protruding nails. The package includes a pallet handling mechanism with lift and clamp devices, heavy gauge steel framework, electric motor drive and micro PLC control. www.abcpackaging.com

X-ray technology presentation available online

According to Mettler-Toledo Safeline, processors and packagers in the petfood industry face certain challenges, including detecting contaminants, detecting damaged or missing products, and identifying over-fill and under-fill. A presentation about x-ray technology and how it addresses these concerns is available for download at www.mt.com/XrayTechnology. The presentation, entitled X-ray Inspection – The Future of Packaging Inspection, explains the technology and its specific application to the industry, as well as demonstrates that x-ray provides capabilities not available in metal detectors or vision systems. www.mt.com/safelineus

» RESEARCH NEWS

Dietary modulation of behavior

Although a diet may offer complete and balanced nutrition, it may result in increased, unwanted behavior. For example, the minimum quantity of tryptophan in a commercial canine dry expanded diet that has passed a maintenance AAFCO feeding protocol has been reported to be 0.21 g/1,000 kcal ME (NRC, 2006).

The criteria for passing an AAFCO maintenance feeding protocol, however, do not take into account animal behavior although it is fairly well established that dietary tryptophan concentration may have a major effect on behavior of the animal. Dogs fed a high-protein diet without tryptophan supplementation showed a higher dominance aggression score compared with dogs fed the other dietary treatments. In addition, it is unknown whether the minimal concentration of tryptophan in a typical dog food meets the requirements of the wide variety of dogs, e.g., from emotionally stable to anxious individuals, under different conditions, e.g. from stress-free to stressful.

Besides tryptophan, total crude protein, amino acids, carbohydrate composition, micronutrients as well as antioxidants and fatty acid content in the diet may all have effects on feline and canine behavior.

Source: G. Bosch, 2007. Alltech Inc.

Formulating feline diets

Many adaptations can be found in the protein and amino acid metabolism of cats. The taste system of cats is geared toward the ingestion of animal tissues with amino acids and other compounds normally found in animal tissues being key stimuli or inhibitors.

Among the lesser well known metabolic adaptations in cats are the synthesis of structurally unusual sulphur-containing amino acids as part of normal protein metabolism and the high endogenous amino acid losses from the gut. The apparent fecal digestibility method is likely to be inaccurate for the measurement of the protein and amino acids absorbed from the diet by cats and more accurate techniques need to be developed.

Taking into consideration a number of unaccounted requirements (e.g. endogenous losses, feline synthesis) and inaccuracies in methodology, a protein content of less than 20-24% of the dry matter in commercial diets is likely to be insufficient to meet the protein requirements of adult cats. In addition, further knowledge is required about the effects of heat treatment of petfoods on dietary nutrient composition, digestibility and availability.

Source: W.H. Hendriks, 2007. Alltech Inc.

» POSITIONS AVAILABLE

Our help wanted listings aim to inform petfood industry professionals about employment opportunities worldwide. Contact gstadel@wattnet.net for more information on placing a listing in upcoming issues.

» CONTACT INFO

To submit any information you would like us to consider for publication on our website, in the printed magazine, or in this newsletter, E-mail your information to Jessica Taylor Bond, jbond@wattnet.net.

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