OptiSol™ 9000 Allows for 50% or More Fresh Meat Inclusion in Extruded No Grain Recipes for Cat and Dog Foods

FITCHBURG, WISCONSIN, USA (April 7, 2011) – OptiSol™ 9000 is a patent pending revolutionary new functional ingredient that allows for the inclusion of 50% or more meat in low grain, high protein extruded pet diets and baked treats.

Since first introduced in the mid to late 1970s, meat based dry extruded pet foods have been limited in how much meat they could include (typically 15-30%) because of processing and quality limitations. In attempts to exceed 30% meat, manufacturers were hampered by production equipment unable to handle higher meat levels. They experienced increased density due to reduced expansion, which made drying more difficult. They also experienced reduced kibble durability, resulting in significant fines.

OptiSol™ 9000 significantly reduces these difficulties. After more than 40 production test runs on Wenger extruders at the Wenger Extrusion Technical Center in Sabetha, Kansas, the OptiSol™ 9000 ingredient in concert with optimized formulas, equipment and process controls, repeatedly demonstrated successful inclusion of 50% and more fresh meat in a number of various extruded recipes with significant benefits over existing technology.

In palatability comparisons of fresh high meat dog food recipes made with OptiSol™ 9000 were preferred 7:1 by dogs to a leading super premium brand. In breakage and kibble durability testing, products made with OptiSol™ 9000 produced less than 1% fines. In digestibility testing with cats, the product made with OptiSol™ 9000 showed 82.7% Dry Matter digestibility 88.3% Crude Protein digestibility, 91.2% Fat digestibility and 88.3% ME digestibility. Cat stool testing resulted in over 95% normal stools. Numerous recipe variables were tested including type of fresh meat (chicken, lamb, bison, salmon, and whitefish), starches (tapioca, pea protein, potato starch, ground pea’s starch) and grains (corn, wheat, brown rice, rice flour, and combinations of each). In every recipe tested, OptiSol™ 9000 enabled higher levels of fresh meat while maintaining kibble durability.

There are several reasons why increasing fresh meat to levels of 50% or more of dry ingredients is important to the pet food industry. Fresh Meat is perceived by consumers as better, safer and of higher quality, likely because they are familiar with meats themselves, but not with various animal meals. Meat is easy to understand, whereas consumers may perceive meals as containing unlisted additives like melamine and preservatives. Fresh meat has more functionality, which means it contributes to binding in the extrusion and baking process as compared to rendered meals. Fresh meat makes it possible to have a “single source protein” formulation in conjunction with meals of the same species. Finally, fresh meat based diets are now possible without the safety concerns from bacterial contamination from lack of refrigeration (unneeded with extruded and baked kibble).