PET FOOD PRODUCT

Abstract

Novel blends useful for use in manufacturing petfood products are disclosed. These novel blends can be used to manufacture petfood products which have physical integrity. They are also used to manufacture petfood products that are palatable to pets and with acceptable texture and/or smell to pet owners. The blends can be utilised using existing equipment and techniques. Also described are novel petfood products manufactured using the blends.

Claims

1. A reconstituted animal material comprising animal protein and a binder, wherein the binder comprises: (i) animal blood plasma in an amount of from about 20 to about 65 wt % by total weight of the binder; (ii) a pea fibre component comprising pea fibre in an amount from about 10 wt % to about 25 wt % by total weight of the binder; and (iii) a pea protein component comprising pea protein in an amount from about 2 wt % to about 15 wt % by total weight of the binder, wherein components (ii) and (iii) are different and are derived from pea vegetable matter.

2. The reconstituted animal material of claim 1, wherein the binder comprises animal blood plasma in an amount of from about 45 wt % to about 55 wt %, by total weight of the binder.

3. The reconstituted animal material of claim 1, wherein the animal blood plasma is dried animal blood plasma, preferably porcine and/or bovine blood plasma.

4. The reconstituted animal material of claim 1, wherein the pea fibre component comprises from about 45 wt % to about 60 wt % pea fibre, by total weight of the pea fibre component.

5. The reconstituted animal material of claim 1, wherein the pea fibre component comprises from about 45 to about 55 wt % pea fibre by total weight of the pea fibre component, and the binder comprises the pea fibre component in an amount of from about 20 to about 50 wt %, by total weight of the binder.

6. The reconstituted animal material of claim 1, wherein the binder comprises the pea fibre component in an amount such that the binder comprises from about 12 wt % to about 22 wt %, preferably from about 15 to about 22 wt %, preferably from about 18 to about 22 wt % pea fibre, by total weight of the binder.

7. The reconstituted animal material of claim 1, wherein the pea protein component comprises at least about 20 wt % and/or less than about 75 wt % pea protein, by total weight of the pea protein component, and/or wherein the pea protein component is selected from the group consisting of pea flour and pea protein concentrate, wherein the pea flour comprises from about 20 wt % to about 40 wt % pea protein and the pea protein concentrate comprises from about 40 wt % to about 75 wt % pea protein.

8. The reconstituted animal material of claim 1, wherein the pea protein component comprises from about 50 to about 55 wt % pea protein by total weight of the pea protein component, and wherein the binder comprises the pea protein component in an amount of no more than about 20 wt %, preferably no more than about 15 wt %, and preferably in the range from about 5 to about 15 wt %, by total weight of the binder.

9. The reconstituted animal material of claim 1, wherein the binder comprises the pea protein component in an amount such that the binder comprises from about 5 wt % to about 10 wt % pea protein, by total weight of the binder.

10. The reconstituted animal material of claim 1, wherein the pea protein component comprises from about 25 to about 30 wt % pea protein by total weight of the pea protein component, and the binder comprises the pea protein component in an amount of at least about 30 wt %, preferably at least 40 wt %, by total weight of the binder.

11. The reconstituted animal material of claim 1, wherein the binder comprises the pea protein component in an amount such that the binder comprises from about 10 wt % to about 15 wt % pea protein, by total weight of the binder.

12. The reconstituted animal material of claim 1, wherein the binder comprises: animal blood plasma in an amount of from about 45 wt % to about 55 wt %, preferably about 50 wt %, by total weight of the binder; a pea fibre component in an amount of from about 35 wt % to about 45 wt %, preferably about 40 wt %, by total weight of the binder, wherein the pea fibre component comprises from about 45 to about 55 wt % pea fibre by total weight of the pea fibre component; and a pea protein component in an amount of from about 5 wt % to about 15 wt %, preferably about 10 wt %, by total weight of the binder, where the pea protein component comprises from about 50 to about 55 wt % pea protein by total weight of the pea protein component.

13. The reconstituted animal material of claim 1, wherein the binder comprises animal blood plasma in an amount of from about 20 wt % to about 30 wt %, preferably about 25 wt %, by total weight of the binder; a pea fibre component in an amount of from about 20 wt % to about 30 wt %, preferably about 25 wt %, by total weight of the binder, wherein the pea fibre component comprises from about 45 to about 55 wt % pea fibre by total weight of the pea fibre component; and a pea protein component in an amount of from about 45 wt % to about 55 wt %, preferably about 50 wt %, by total weight of the binder, where the pea protein component comprises from about 25 to about 30 wt % pea protein by total weight of the pea protein component.

14. The reconstituted animal material of claim 1, wherein the binder is heat-settable.

15. The reconstituted animal material of claim 1, wherein the reconstituted animal material comprises from about 0.5 to about 10 wt %, preferably from about 0.5 to about 5 wt %, by total weight of the reconstituted animal material.

16. The reconstituted animal material of claim 1, wherein the reconstituted animal material contains, or is derived from, a composition comprising: (i) binder in an amount from about 0.5 to about 10 wt % by total weight of the reconstituted animal material; and (ii) ground animal material in an amount of from about 50 to about 99 wt %, by total weight of the reconstituted animal material.

17. The reconstituted animal material of claim 1, wherein the reconstituted animal material further comprises additional ingredients selected from the group consisting of fat(s), antioxidant(s), carbohydrate source(s), fibre source(s), additional source(s) of protein, seasoning, colorant(s), flavouring(s), mineral(s), preservative(s), vitamin(s), emulsifier(s), farinaceous material(s) and combinations thereof.

18. The reconstituted animal material according to claim 1, wherein a total protein content of the reconstituted animal material is in a range of from about 5 to about 40 wt %, preferably from about 25 wt % to about 36 wt %, by total weight of the reconstituted animal material, preferably wherein the protein content of the reconstituted animal material comprises at least 50 wt % of animal protein by total weight of the protein content of the reconstituted animal material.

19. The reconstituted animal material according to claim 1, wherein the fat content of the reconstituted animal material is less than about 15 wt % and preferably from about 4 wt % to about 13 wt %, preferably wherein the fat content comprises at least 50 wt % of triglycerides by total weight of the fat content.

20. The reconstituted animal material according to claim 1, wherein the water content of the reconstituted animal material is up to about 75 wt %, and preferably from about 50 to about 55 wt %, by total weight of the reconstituted animal material.

21. The reconstituted animal material according to claim 1, wherein the reconstituted animal material exhibits a density of from about 0.8 to about 1.2 g/ml.

22. The reconstituted animal material according to claim 1, wherein a longest dimension of the reconstituted animal material is from about 5 mm to about 150 mm.

23. A pet food product comprising the reconstituted animal material of claim 1.

24. The pet food product according to claim 23, wherein the pet food product is a wet pet food product.

25. The pet food product according to claim 24, which is a nutritionally balanced food product.

26. The pet food product according to claim 24, which is a loaf product in the form of a single piece of reconstituted animal material, preferably having a piece volume of from about 20 to about 2,000 cm.sup.3.

27. The pet food product according to claim 24, which is a chunk-in-sauce product, preferably wherein the ratio of reconstituted animal material:sauce is from about 20:80 to about 90:10.

28. The wet pet food product according to claim 27, wherein the sauce exhibits a water content of at least about 80 wt % by total weight of the sauce, preferably wherein the sauce comprises a thickening agent selected from the group consisting of carrageenan, xanthan, guar gum, cassia gum, starch, gelatine and combinations thereof.

29. The wet pet food product according to claim 27, wherein the wet pet food product comprises fines in an amount of no more than about 3 wt %.

30. The pet food product according to claim 24, wherein the wet pet food product comprises from about 5 wt % to about 100 wt % of the reconstituted animal material, by total weight of the wet pet food product.

31. The pet food product according to claim 23, which is a dry or semi-moist pet food product.

32. (canceled)

33. A process for preparation of reconstituted animal material comprising animal protein and a binder, the process comprising the steps of: (a) mixing a ground animal material with a heat-settable binder comprising: (i) animal blood plasma in an amount of from about 20 to about 65 wt % by total weight of the binder; (ii) a pea fibre component comprising pea fibre in an amount from about 10 wt % to about 25 wt % by total weight of the binder; and (iii) a pea protein component comprising pea protein in an amount from about 2 wt % to about 15 wt % by total weight of the binder; wherein components (ii) and (iii) are different and are derived from pea vegetable matter; (b) preferably, preparing a slurry from the mixture and subjecting the slurry to conditions of shear to produce an emulsion of the mixture; (c) heating the mixture to an internal temperature of at least 70 C., preferably at least about 80 C., preferably wherein the duration of heating is at least 30 seconds; and (d) forming discrete pieces of reconstituted animal material.

34. A process for preparation of a wet pet food product comprising reconstituted animal material, the process comprising the steps of: (a) mixing a ground animal material with a heat-settable binder comprising: (i) animal blood plasma in an amount of from about 20 to about 65 wt % by total weight of the binder; (ii) a pea fibre component comprising pea fibre in an amount from about 10 wt % to about 25 wt % by total weight of the binder; and (iii) a pea protein component comprising pea protein in an amount from about 2 wt % to about 15 wt % by total weight of the binder; wherein components (ii) and (iii) are different and are derived from pea vegetable matter; (b) preferably, preparing a slurry from the mixture and subjecting the slurry to conditions of shear to produce an emulsion of the mixture; (c) heating the mixture to an internal temperature of at least 70 C., preferably at least about 80 C., preferably wherein the duration of heating is at least 30 seconds; (d) forming discrete pieces of reconstituted animal material; (e) optionally combining the reconstituted animal material with a sauce; (f) inserting the reconstituted animal material and optional sauce into a package; and (g) sealing and sterilizing the package to provide a packaged wet pet food product.

35. The process according to claim 33, wherein the slurry comprises a ground animal material in an amount of from about 50 to about 99 wt % by weight of the slurry.

36. The process according to claim 33, wherein the heating of the mixture is conducted by heating from below by applying steam to an underside of a continuous belt carrying the mixture and/or from above by bringing steam into direct contact with the mixture.

37. The process for preparation of a wet pet food product according to claim 34, wherein the pet food is a wet pet food of claim 25.

Description

EXAMPLES

Reference Example 1 and Example 1

[0107] Wet cat food products comprising reconstituted animal material was prepared by mixing ground animal material with heat-settable binder. In each case, the reconstituted animal material comprised 4 wt % of the binder, by total weight of the reconstituted animal material. The binder in Reference Example 1 was conventional dried porcine blood plasma. The binder in Example 1 consisted of a mixture of dried porcine blood plasma, a pea fibre component (containing 50 wt % of pea fibre and 7 wt % pea protein) and a pea protein component (a pea protein concentrate containing 50 wt % of pea protein and about 4 wt % pea fibre) in a ratio of 50:40:10 by weight. The ground animal material for Example 1 was supplemented with 1 wt % of poultry meal in order to compensate for the relatively lower protein content of the new binder (compared to pure porcine blood plasma), and maintain the protein content of the final product at a level similar to that of Reference Example 1. In each case, a slurry was prepared from the mixture of ground animal material and heat-settable binder and the slurry subjected to conditions of shear to produce an emulsion. The emulsion was heated to at least 80 C. and then cut to generate discrete pieces of reconstituted animal material. The reconstituted animal material was then combined with a conventional water-based sauce to generate a chunks-in-sauce wet cat food.

[0108] The properties of the products are given in Table 1 below. Example 1 had the same visual appearance as Reference Example 1.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Reference Example 1 Example 1 Protein (wt %) 7.8 7.3 Moisture (wt %) 82.94 83.50 Fat (wt %) 5.0 4.6 Fibre (wt %) 0.3 0.4

[0109] The amount of fines in the freshly made product was measured by putting the chunks under stress in a hammer mill, followed by sieving using rotating sieves with varying pore sizes. The sieved products are collected and weighed and then a ratio of the weights are calculated against the original product used for the stress test. Thus, 5 kg of chunks are first pre-sieved to remove any residual fines remaining from production. The chunks are fed into the hammer mill, and the products collected and weighed. The lost product, usually sticking to the hammer mill, were counted as fines. The collected product is then fed into co-rotating concentric sieves, which partition the collected product into three fractions: large (unbroken), medium (broken but still large enough not to pass through a 3 mm screen) and fines (small enough to pass through a 3 mm screen). The weight of each fraction is recorded. The difference between the weight of the collected product and the sum of the weights of all three fractions is counted as fines sticking to the sieves and, together with the lost product at the hammer mill and the fraction passing through the 3 mm sieves, a total amount of fines is calculated.

[0110] Thus, the size distribution may be described in terms of:

(i) the amount of fines 3 mm);
(ii) the amount of medium-sized chunks (for cat food, a longest dimension of from 5 mm to no more than 7 mm); and
(iii) the amount of large-sized chunks (for cat food, a longest dimension of greater than 7 mm),
all calculated as a % wt of the total weight of the chunks.

[0111] The size distribution is presented in FIG. 1. The amounts of fines, medium chunks and large chunks for Example 1 were the same as those for Reference Example 1, within experimental error.

[0112] The mean hardness of the solid pieces of reconstituted animal material was determined by texture profile analysis (TPA) using a double compression method. The chunk is first compressed to 50% of its original chunk height, the pressure released, and the chunk then compressed a second time to 50% of its chunk height. The mean hardness of a freshly made chunk, and the mean hardness of the finished product was tested. The mean hardness of the chunks of Example 1 was within acceptable quality control limits for, or equivalent to, the existing commercial product, as represented by Reference Example 1, in respect of both fresh chunk hardness and finished product hardness.

[0113] The palatability of Example 1 and Reference Example 1 was compared in a feeding trial by measuring the amount of the product eaten by cats. The results are shown in FIG. 2 and demonstrate that Example 1 is equivalent to Reference Example 1 in the non-inferiority test.

Reference Example 2 and Example 2

[0114] Wet dog foods were prepared in a manner similar to that described above, using 1 wt % poultry meal in the ground animal material for Example 2, and the properties of the products are given in Table 2 below. Example 2 had the same visual appearance as Reference Example 2.

TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Reference Example 2 Example 2 Protein (wt %) 8.6 8.4 Moisture (wt %) 83.62 83.37 Fat (wt %) 5.1 5.2 Fibre (wt %) 0.4 0.6

[0115] The size distribution of the reconstituted animal material is presented in FIG. 1. The amounts of fines, medium chunks and large chunks for Example 2 differed slightly from those for Reference Example 2, but within the acceptable quality control limits for the commercial product.

[0116] The mean hardness of the chunks of Example 2 was within acceptable quality control limits for the existing commercial product, as represented by Reference Example 2, in respect of both fresh chunk hardness and finished product hardness.

[0117] The faeces of eight dogs (mixed sizes) fed with the wet food product of Example 2 were examined and analysed for Dry Matter Digestibility, Wet Faeces Output, Mean Faeces Score and Unwanted Faeces. The results are presented in Table 3 below and FIG. 3 (Mean Faeces Score).

TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 Quality Property control ranges Example 2 Dry matter Digestibility (%) Good: 80 82.1 Average: 77.5 Poor: <77.5 Wet Faeces Output (WFO) (g/1000 kcal) Good: 185 152.7 Average: 215 Poor: >215 Mean Faeces Score (MFS) Good: <2.7 2.68 Average: 2.8 Poor: >2.8 Unwanted Faeces (UF) (%) Good: <3 1.8 Average: 6 Poor: >6

[0118] The results demonstrate that both wet cat food and wet dog food prepared from the binder of the present invention maintain the excellent characteristics exhibited by the existing products in which the binder consisted of dried animal blood plasma. In particular, the amounts of fines in the product demonstrate that the chunks are sufficiently hard and stable to resist breakage.

Example 3

[0119] A wet cat food product was prepared in similar manner to Example 1 except firstly that the pea protein component was a pea flour containing 25 wt % of pea protein and 14.5 wt % of pea fibre, and secondly that the binder consisted of a mixture of dried porcine blood plasma, the pea fibre component and the pea protein component in a ratio of 25:25:50. The product quality was good in terms of texture, hardness and palatability and within acceptable quality control limits.

Comparative Examples 1 to 4

[0120] Wet cat food products were prepared in a similar manner to Example, using varying amounts of dried porcine blood plasma, pea fibre component and the pea protein component, as shown in Table 4 below. The products were inferior in terms of chunk hardness.

TABLE-US-00004 TABLE 4 TOTAL TOTAL BLOOD PEA PEA PEA PLASMA PEA FIBRE PROTEIN FIBRE PROTEIN IN COMPONENT COMPONENT IN IN BINDER (and amounts (and amounts BINDER BINDER (wt %) in binder) in binder) (wt %) (wt %) Performance Ref. Ex. 1 100 Existing product Example 1 50 Fibre (40 wt %) PPC (10 wt %) 20.4 7.8 Equivalent to existing product in terms of texture, fines & palatability Example 3 25 Fibre (25 wt %) Flour (50 wt %) 19.75 14.25 Product quality good; within acceptable quality control limits Comp. Ex. 1 0 Flour (50 wt %) + 9.25 37.5 Inferior to PPC (50 wt %) existing product Comp. Ex. 2 0 PPC (100 wt 4 50 Inferior to %) existing product Comp. Ex. 3 25 Flour (50 wt %) + 8.25 25 Inferior to PPC (25 wt %) existing product Comp. Ex. 4 10 Fibre (40 wt %) Flour (50 wt %) 27.25 15.3 Inferior to existing product PPC = Pea Protein Concentrate comprising 50 wt % pea protein, and 4 wt % pea fibre Flour = Pea Flour comprising 25 wt % pea protein and 14.5 wt % pea fibre Fibre = Pea Fibre component comprising 50 wt % pea fibre and 7 wt % pea protein