Petfood Industry Electronic Newsletter April 03, 2007

April 03, 2007
Volume 7, Number 7

This newsletter is also available in an Acrobat PDF format. To download the PDF click on the following link: Apr03PDF.

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.

Here's what's been happening lately:

Industry news

Toxins in recalled petfood identified; recall examined
A rodent poison was discovered to be the contaminant in batches of petfood recently recalled by Menu Foods Inc. Scientists hadn't determined the exact source of the toxin as of press time. The toxin was identified as aminopterin, used to kill rats in some countries. Scientists at the New York State Animal Health Diagnostic Center at Cornell University and at the New York State Food Laboratory tested three cat food samples provided by Menu Foods and found aminopterin in two of them.

Subsequently, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found a chemical used to make plastics in petfood recalled by Menu Foods. Melamine was found in samples of the Menu Foods petfood, as well as in wheat gluten used as an ingredient. FDA official Stephen Sundlof said during a press conference that melamine was found in the urine of affected cats. Though its presence is undeniable, it has not been determined to cause sickness or deaths in pets, he said.

Menu Foods Income Fund expanded the product recall to ask retail outlets to immediately remove all impacted varieties of wet petfood posted on its website, regardless of the date code. Media outlets have reported conflicting and incorrect information, including that Menu Foods has expanded its recall to include all products produced.

To clarify, the US Food and Drug Administration and various media outlets reported that some retailers still had recalled product on their shelves. In response, Menu Foods issued instructions for retailers to remove from their shelves all “cuts and gravy” products of the flavors listed on the recall list, regardless of the dates produced. For many retailers, this had already been completed as their standard operating procedure. This step did not expand the recall, but provided the remaining retailers with an efficient means of withdrawing the recalled product. The full recall list is available at www.menufoods.com.

Alcan Packaging announces management promotions
Alcan Packaging Food Americas has announced two key management appointments. Gene Welsh has been named vice president and general manager of Meat & Dairy Flexibles North America, Rigid Containers & Celply. Richard Company has been promoted to vice president and general manager of Alcan Food Packaging South America.

Kersey joins AFIA
Jarrod Kersey has joined the American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) as ingredient and state regulatory manager. Formerly, Kersey was a senior scientist with Procter & Gamble Pet Care. Kersey will replace regulatory consultant, Betty Pendleton, who leaves AFIA after 15 years at the end of March. She will be concentrating on her regulatory counseling business.

At AFIA, Kersey will be responsible for ingredient issues, including regulatory, legislative and working with FDA to create a better regulatory environment for moving new ingredients to the marketplace in a timelier manner. He will also manage state regulatory/legislative issues and bills in states west of the Mississippi River.

International congress on trace minerals scheduled
The first international scientific symposium on trace minerals in animal production systems will be held in Geneva, Switzerland on June 14-15, 2007. Sponsored by Pancosma, Organic Trace Elements for Animal Nutrition and the Environment (OTEANE) will focus on trace elements as essential nutrients for the nutrition and health of land and aquatic animals. International specialists in soil science and animal nutrition will present information during the symposium. For more information, visit www.oteane.org.

Provimi announces sales for 2006
The Provimi Group has announced its annual turnover for 2006. Sales increased by 15% to 1.8 billion Euro, as compared to 2005. Progress was particularly good in North America and the emerging markets. In France, despite a declining market, sales and volumes improved also due to a good contribution from strong exports growth to Asia and Latin America. In the rest of Europe, sales showed good growth and included the full year effect of the acquisitions made in 2005. The most significant contribution to sales growth came from the feed businesses in the Netherlands, Romania, Bulgaria and Russia, as well as from petfood.

How to prepare for a product recall
It can be outside of your control, but the impact ripples throughout the industry: a product recall. While there are a number of quality control processes you can put in place to prevent it, what do you do when it happens? How can you prepare yourself to respond? Traceability expert Julie Lenzer Kirk will explore answers to these questions during a facilitated discussion at Petfood Forum 2007—April 16-18, 2007, Chicago, USA, http://www.wattnet.com/petfoodforum/PetForum.cfm.

Julie Lenzer Kirk has been delivering traceability applications to manufacturers for nearly 20 years. She currently works with the Manufacturing Intelligence group at Interstates Companies (www.interstates.com). For details on Petfood Forum, check our websites or E-mail Marcia Riddle (attendees) at mriddle@wattnet.net or Ginny Stadel (exhibitors) at gstadel@wattnet.net. Please join Petfood Industry for one or more of these worthwhile experiences.

India's first International Pet Fair was successful
India's first ever International Pet Fair recently concluded and was reported to be a success by its organizers. Organized by Creature Companions magazine, the fair was held February 9-10 at NSIC Exhibition Hall in Okhla, New Delhi, India. More than 6,000 people attended the event. Around 1,500 visitors were from outside of Delhi. The organizers are now gearing up for the next fair scheduled for January 18-20, 2008.

DeHaven joins AVMA as new executive VP
Dr. Ron DeHaven, administrator of the USDA's Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), has been named the new executive vice president of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA). The AVMA Executive Board voted unanimously to approve his selection in March. DeHaven will succeed Dr. Bruce W. Little, the AVMA's longest-serving officer, who has held the position of executive vice president since 1996 and is retiring at the end of this year.

Perdigão to launch petfood brands
Brazilian company Perdigão said that it would enter the petfood market recently with its launch of dog food brands Balance and Supper. These are the first products in Essential Pet Care's portfolio, a new division created for the petfood sector. The company said it has invested R$4 million on a production line in its plant located in Francisco Beltrão, Brazil, and its production volumes will be adapted to the market's demand. The company expects to reach a 3% market share in the segment by the end of 2009.

Market data

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

Total US drug stores with US$1 million and over in sales. Petfood sales data for the 52 weeks ending February 24, 2007. UPC-coded products only. Source: ACNielsen

Category	US$ sales	% chg vs. 2006	Unit volume	% chg vs. 2006
Cat dry	$30.3 million	13.0%	6.3 million	-0.7%
Cat semi-moist	$0.04 million	-3.7%	0.03 million	-12.3%
Cat wet	$24.4 million	4.8%	36.6 million	-0.9%
Dog & cat treats	$19.9 million	14.1%	7.0 million	6.3%
Dog dry	$28.4 million	15.3%	4.7 million	9.6%
Dog semi-moist	$0.02 million	-53.9%	0.06 million	-93.5%
Dog wet	$12.0 million	7.7%	13 million	-0.2%
Total	$124 million	8.2%	70.2 million	-0.9%

New report: Pet Food and Pet Care in Canada
Canadian consumers are changing the way they shop for their pets, according to a new report by Euromonitor International—Pet Food and Pet Care Products in Canada. While supermarkets/hypermarkets was the leading distribution channel for petfood and pet care products in 2006, accounting for a value share of 32%, its share dropped by 1% over the year. Pet superstores and other non-food stores (which include discounters and club stores) are performing particularly well, with pet superstores increasing their share from 15% in 1998 to 24% in 2006. The main losers were pet shops, which saw its distribution share decline from 27% in 1998 to 19% in 2006, and other food stores, which saw its share fall by a total of four percentage points to reach 10%. As consumers looking for cheaper products flocked to pet superstores and other non-food stores outlets, smaller specialist pet shops, where prices tend to be much higher, suffered the most.

Euromonitor International publishes petfood and pet care reports on 52 country markets. Click here for more information about petfood and pet care reports from Euromonitor International and to buy reports online.

Product news

Sanitary rotary batch mixer
The Model 700-TH-40-SS sanitary rotary batch mixer by Munson Machinery Co. Inc. gently blends batches of ingredients in parts as small as one per million with 100% uniformity in less than three minutes, evacuates 100% of the batch and can be sanitized rapidly with no tools, according to Munson Machinery Co. The unit is designed with a retractable inlet for rapid, thorough washdown, a stationary discharge and a rotating drum with proprietary mixing flights. These flights tumble, turn and fold material gently, imparting minimal energy to the batch while reportedly achieving 100% uniformity in two to three minutes. This is regardless of disparities in the bulk densities, particle sizes or flow characteristics of batch ingredients.

Conveyor systems
Cusinato Giovanni Srl has been designing and manufacturing equipment and systems for conveying and storing fragile granular and milling products for more than 40 years. Cusinato supplies not only single machines (bucket elevators, stainless steel spirals, vibrosifters, belt conveyors, etc.), but also complete turnkey plants. Thanks to the numerous machines and systems currently operating worldwide designed by Cusinato's technical staff and constructed at its production sites, as well as constant quality improvement, Cusinato says it has achieved its position as a leader in its field.

E-news

Petfood recall tops Google query list
The Menu Foods recall was at the top of pet owners' minds recently. Fast-rising queries on Google.com included “pet food recall,” as well as derivations with “dog” and “cat.”

Following is a summary of Google Zeitgeist results for the top gainers on Google.com, when comparing search queries that have risen by a significant percentage for the week of March 18-24, 2007. For more information, visit the Google Zeitgeist at http://www.google.com/zeitgeist.

Top 5 Google.com gainers:
1. Pet food recall.
2. Menu Foods.
3. St. Patrick's Day.
4. Dancing with the Stars.
5. Grand Canyon skywalk.

Research notes

Y₂O₃ as an inert marker in digestibility studies
This study evaluated the use of yttrium oxide (Y₂O₃) as an inert marker in studies of apparent total tract digestibility in dogs, blue foxes and mink. Comparison was made with total fecal collection, and use of chromic oxide (Cr₂O₃) as marker, respectively. Four experimental diets were added 0.1 g/kg yttrium oxide and 10 g/kg chromic oxide and fed to four animals of each species.

Fecal recovery of yttrium oxide was 94.4% (SEM ± 1.0), and of chromic oxide 105.8% (SEM ± 1.5). The digestibilities of dry matter, crude protein, crude fat, starch and total carbohydrates obtained by total collection and yttrium oxide as marker showed close similarity, and in most cases not significant differences, independent of species and diets. In dogs, overall digestibilities of main nutrients with chromic oxide as marker were not significantly different from overall means obtained with yttrium oxide (p > 0.05).

Overall digestibility of dry matter, crude protein and total carbohydrates in blue foxes and mink was significantly higher with chromic oxide than with yttrium oxide (p < 0.05). In dogs and blue foxes, digestibilities of individual amino acids determined by use of yttrium oxide were not different from values obtained using total collection of feces, both within diets and for overall mean (p > 0.05). Overall amino acid digestibilities in dogs determined with chromic oxide as marker were similar to corresponding figures for yttrium oxide, whereas use of chromic oxide resulted in significantly higher digestibilities for a number of amino acids compared with yttrium oxide in foxes and mink (p < 0.05).

The digestibilities of most main nutrients and amino acids revealed no interaction between diet and method (p > 0.05). The study showed that yttrium oxide can be used in low concentration in the feed, allows high accuracy of analyses and thereby precise digestibility determination. It is concluded that yttrium oxide is an alternative inert marker to chromic oxide in the studied species.

Source: S.G. Vhile et al., 2007. JAPAN (OnlineEarly Articles).

Dietary patterns of cats with cardiac disease
This study was undertaken to determine nutrient intake and dietary patterns in cats with cardiac disease. For this prospective study, 95 cats with congenital cardiac disease or primary cardiomyopathy were utilized. Pet owners completed a standardized telephone questionnaire regarding their cat's diet and a 24-hour food recall to determine daily intake of calories, fat, protein, sodium, magnesium and potassium.

Of the 95 cats, 18 (19%) had a history of congestive heart failure and 73 (77%) had no clinical signs of cardiac disease. Fifty-five percent (52/95) of cats had concurrent disease. Inappetance was reported in 38% (36/95) of all cats and in 72% (68/95) of cats with a history of congestive heart failure. Most (57% [54/95]) cats received treats or table scraps on a regular basis. Approximately half the cats were receiving orally administered medications, supplements or both.

Only 34% (32/68) of owners used food to administer medications to cats. Cats consumed more than the AAFCO minimums for protein, sodium, potassium and magnesium, and nearly all cats consumed more than the AAFCO minimum for fat. Daily nutrient intake was variable for all of the nutrients assessed.

Dietary intake in cats with cardiac disease was variable, but results for dietary supplement use, food use for medication administration and treat feeding were different from those found in a similar study of dogs with cardiac disease. This information may be useful for treating and designing nutritional studies for cats with cardiac disease.

Source: D.S. Torin, L.M. Freeman and J.E. Rush, 2007. JAVMA 230(6):862-867.

Positions available

Sales account manager needed
SPF North America Inc., the worldwide leader of palatability enhancers, is seeking a sales account manager. This position will play a major role in our development in North America. Individuals with entry-level sales experience are encouraged to apply. Contact Judy Gehler with your resume at jgehler@spf-usa.com or fax to +1.715.926.5285.

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.

References

See our selection of pet industry books available at Petfood Forum in Chicago, April 16-19, 2007!

Petfood Industry Books
Petfood Forum and Focus Books

Contact information

To submit any information you would like us to consider for publication on our website, in the printed magazine, or on this newsletter, E-mail your information to Jenny Kvamme, DVM.

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