www.kemin.com/pets

Concoctingan Appetizing

Aroma page 3

Creating the Perfect

Texture page 5

ControllingOxidation in

Natural Pet Food

page 6

Your Partner in

Palatability page 8

VOLUME 6

Technology in Pet Food Palatability

When we think of tech, we think of sleek new devices, mobile apps and blockchain. Kibble? Not so much.

But one of the largest global disruptors in the petfood market is internet retail, with e-commerce giants and startups alike rapidly overtaking sales of tradi-tional store-based channels.1 Online, pet owners can read reviews, compare features and get products delivered without ever leaving their seats. And e-commerce isn’t the only technology shaking up the industry.

New pet devices are continually emerg-ing, from “treat cams” that let you see and talk to your dog from your phone, to Mookkie™’s face-recognition bowl, that locks out food stealers from eating more than their share.

Some devices even have scientific po-tential, including pet activity monitors like PetPace™, a smart collar that mea-sures dogs’ heart rate, calories, activity levels and more. In the future, devices-like these could help scientists test food

palatability and pet nutrient intake.2

New petfood delivery formats mirror those of humans, providing conve-nience and personalization down to pets’ breed, activity level and allergies. Subscription services like The Farmer’s Dog™ in the U.S. and Butternut Box™ in the U.K. allow pet parents to tailor their pet’s food online and receive time-ly shipments to the door.

The new normal is continual innovation; and at Kemin® we use technology to deliver the best in pet food and ren-dering. In this issue, we’ll dive into the technologies we use to perfect petfood palatability in this ever-evolving market.

Welcome

Mookkie™ is a trademark of Volta.ai. PetPace™ is a trademark of PetPace LTD. The Farmer’s Dog™ is a trademark of The Farmer’s Dog, Inc.

1. Euromonitor, 2019.2. Aldrich, et al. “Pet Food Palatability Evaluation.” Animals, 2015. www.mdpi.com/journal/animals

The PetPace™smart collar measures dog’s heart rate, calories, activity level and more

2 Customer Cravings

Olfaction is dogs’ “primary modality”, or way of interacting with the world, according to Al-exandra Horowitz, a Ph.D. at Barnard College who researches dog olfaction and behavior. Her research has shown that dogs’ sense of smell is so acute and complex, they can even “smell through times,” detecting not only past odors but also future ones coming on the breeze.

How important is aroma when it comes to palatability? Technology has not advanced enough to allow us to ask a pet what it is they like about a food, so we must look for behavior signals of ac-cepting or rejecting a food. The most common method for evaluating palatability is a simple two-bowl test, in which animals are expected to choose between foods A and B.

The first choice method, or, simply monitor-ing which food a pet chooses first, is used to assess food aroma. First choice is a direct as-sessment of how much an animal is attracted by one aroma over another by smelling both foods.1 Unlike intake ratio, which measures how much food is consumed, first choice is not impacted by the sensory responses of food consumption, including taste and texture.

Data from over 300 palatability trials shows a strong correlation between first choice and mean intake ratio. This indicates that if pets find the food aroma enticing, they are very likely to eat more of that food, regardless of other factors.2

What technology does Kemin use to develop palatant aroma?Fermentation, oxidation and thermal process-ing are the primary routes of developing aro-ma in foods. Kemin uses Maillard technology, a non-enzymatic browning process, to develop appetizing flavor profiles. Maillard technology is a chemical reaction that plays a major role in developing the characteristic aromas of many

continued >

Concocting an Appetizing Aroma

Sense of smell plays a key role in dog and cat food preference.

Learn how to harness the power of aroma in pet food palatability.

Customer Cravings 3

food products, including roasted meat, toast-ed marshmallow, baked bread and chocolate. Domesticated pets, particularly dogs, have evolved to seek these types of aromas since they joined humans around campfires.

Today, the influence of the Maillard reaction is ubiquitous in petfood flavor development. It is the key mechanism to develop the savory, meaty, robust aroma profiles of palatants.

Since pets’ noses are much more sensitive than ours, how can we be sure we’re producing appetizing aromas?

Most aroma compounds are volatile organic molecules that are complicated to extract and isolate. Pets’ noses are much more sensitive than most analytical instruments and can de-tect some aroma compounds at levels lower than the detection limit of any technology.

Even modern methods like gas chromatography (GC), non-specific detectors like flame ioniza-tion detectors (FID), or fast GC-based electron-ic nose technologies are limited by separation resolution and lack of identification specificity when applied to complex flavor matrices.

Kemin utilizes a state-of-the-art GC/Q-TOF (Quadrupole Time-of-Flight) mass spectrom-eter (MS) that provides enhanced detection,

deconvolution, and identification of key aroma compounds in trace amounts from complex palatant and pet food matrices.

Q-TOF mass spectrometers are distinguished by their high resolution, mass accuracy, and sensitivity, which allows us to apply the tech-nology at the molecular level to assess and im-prove flavor.

Concocting an Appetizing Aroma

The Maillard reaction is a cascade of reactions initiated by a carbonyl group from a reducing sugar and a free amino group from either amino acids, peptides, or proteins. By changing the type of amino acids in a reaction flavor system, one can obtain a variety of distinctive aroma profiles from roasted chicken to dark chocolate. Factors such as temperature, pH, and water activity are also important to monitor when controlling the Maillard reaction.

Deep Dive:

The MaillardReaction

4 Customer Cravings

1. Kemin Internal Document: SD-19-000122. Aldrich GC, Koppel K. Pet Food Palatability Evaluation: A Review of Standard Assay Techniques and Interpretation of Results

with a Primary Focus on Limitations. Animals. 2015;5:43-55.

Proteins

+ + =

Sugars Flavor Processing

Flavor andAroma

Generation

Click to Download

Creating the Perfect Texture

It depends, both on the breed and on the indi-vidual animal.

Cats, viewed as more finnicky eaters, generally prefer drier, less dense foods due to the ease of fracturing kibble into smaller pieces. Research also shows that cats may prefer certain food shapes over others.1

Dogs generally prefer more moist foods, and our research has shown dogs prefer animal-based fat over vegetable fat, whereas cats don’t seem to have a preference2 – an interesting finding due to the fact that cats are the obligate carnivores.2

What factors impact texture development?Processing conditions, food shape, nutrient con-tent, fat level and type and palatant level and type can all affect the texture of a food or treat.

All pet food, whether canned, dry, baked or soft-moist, goes through a cook process. Ingredient factors like particle size, fat percentage and fiber

amount can affect how a food is processed during cooking. For example, ingredient particle size can affect moisture uptake and gelatiniza-tion during extrusion, which in turn can affect the food’s density and porosity.

Fat is one of the biggest contributors to the mouthfeel of a food. Specifically, the amount and type of fat used. In the pet food industry, poultry fat is most commonly used, but beef tal-low, canola oil, sunflower, coconut and fish oil are also used as internal components or coat-ings. Using high quality fat can improve palat-ability.

What technology is used to assess pet food texture?We use a Brookfield Texture analyzer to measure the force that is needed to break a kibble or treat. This can be a useful tool to examine texture be-cause the same factors that affect texture will also likely affect the breaking point or hardness of each foodstuff.

The interactions between moisture, fat, and den-sity can make it difficult to correlate palatability to one specific attribute. While there are numerous studies on texture and how it appeals to humans, we often must speculate how animals interpret texture by testing one factor at a time.

What is the perfect texture for pets?

1. Bradshaw, et al. “Food selection by the domestic cat, an obligate carnivore.” Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Physiology, 1996.2. Kemin Internal Document

Customer Cravings 5

Fat Type on Dog Intake Ratio

Click to Download

How does oxidation affect palatability?

We know oxidation can be detrimental to petfood safety, but it also affects food quality, color, nutrition, odor and palatability. Because pets are more sensitive to aroma than humans, they have even lower flavor thresholds.

We recently conducted a study in which dog food was coated with fresh fat and with fat spiked with 20, 40 and 80 ppm of aldehydes (specifically, a 50:50 mixture of hexanal and 2,4-decadienal.) Dogs had a much higher intake ratio of the fresh food over the food that was spiked with aldehydes at all levels, indicating their detection of off odors and flavors.1

Why is natural pet food harder to control in terms of oxidation?

Due to the increasing popularity of natural and

organic pet food, manufacturers are using more

unsaturated fats and oils. Unsaturated oils are

more prone to lipid oxidation than saturated

fats. For example, a diet high in fish and veg-

etable oil that uses brown rice instead of corn

will have a fatty acid composition that is much

more prone to oxidation than a traditional chick-

en, poultry fat and corn-based diet.

Other pet food trends like raw, frozen, semi-

moist, freeze-dried and high-meat diets pose

unique stability challenges that require custom-

ized solutions. There is no one-size-fits-all anti-

oxidant solution that works for all diet types,

and it’s important to choose carefully based on

your desired product shelf life.

continued >

Controlling Oxidation in Natural Pet Food

Food Oxidation on Dog Intake Ratio

6 Customer Cravings

Lipid oxidation is a degradation reaction of lipids.

The process of lipid oxidation is complex but can

be divided into three different phases: Initiation,

propagation and termination.

During the initiation phase, oxygen reacts with

initiators like light, metals, or enzymes to form

free radicals. These radicals react with unsaturat-

ed fats to create peroxy radicals, hydroperoxides

and secondary products like aldehydes.

During the propagation phase, radicals react with

non-radicals to form new radicals. This process

repeats over and over and is referred to as a

chain reaction mechanism. Radicals continue to

accumulate and can be observed as an increase

in peroxide value and changes in odor. This stage

can be quantified by measuring aldehyde levels.

The termination phase is the point where termi-

nation reactions are occurring more often than

propagation reactions. This late oxidation phase

coincides with high concentrations of radicals. At

this stage, most unsaturated fatty acids have oxi-

dized. This phase can be observed as a decrease

in peroxide value, a reduction in unsaturated fatty

acids and an increase in aldehydes and polymers.

Late stage signs of oxidation include increased

viscosity and a paint-like odor.

What technology is used to measure oxidation?The most common measurement for lipid oxi-dation is the Peroxide Value (PV) test.

The PV test measures hydroperoxides, which are quickly formed after hydrogen is abstracted from lipids. Hydroperoxides are odorless and tasteless, so these are not the compounds that people think of when they smell or taste an oxidized food.

During the decomposition process, aldehydes are formed. These aldehydes produce the clas-sic signs of oxidation: odor and flavor degra-dation. Many aldehydes can be detected by humans at very low concentrations, and we assume they’re even more evident to pets.2

How can we prevent pet food oxidation?Antioxidants are the key to preventing alde-hyde formation. Antioxidant mechanisms vary by product, but most work by breaking or interrupting free radical chains and inhibiting the formation of hydroperoxides.

It’s important to understand the solubility and mechanism by which a chosen antioxidant prevents oxidation to ensure it will work best in your formula. There are also several points during the manufacturing process during which an antioxidant can be applied, from an animal-based raw material at rendering to a kibble mix before extrusion. We recommend partnering with an antioxidant supplier who understands how to utilize antioxidants throughout the pet food supply chain.

Kemin Internal Document: SD-17-00022 Frankel, E. N. (1984) “Recent advances in the chemistry of rancidity of fats”, Spec. Pub. R. Soc. Chem. (47) 87-118

Deep Dive:

LipidOxidation

Customer Cravings 7

Click to Download

Kemin Nutrisurance:

Your Partner in PalatabilityFor your customers, the proof of quality, flavor-ful pet food is in watching their furry friends enjoy their food. Successfully achieving palat-ability in pet food requires balancing several complex factors, from product formulation to ingredient stability and flavor profiles. Palatants play an important role in the overall appeal of a pet food product by elevating preferred tastes and aromas.

When producing a palatable pet food, you need a trusted partner with expertise in ingredients, raw materials and the behavioral differences of your end users – dogs and cats.

Drawing on our technical capabilities when it comes to flavor, stabilization, safety and quali-ty, Kemin designs palatants to meet unique customer needs. Our palatants provide optimal flavor, consistent quality and are designed to achieve label claims important to our customers.

Kemin offers both dry and liquid, animal- or plant-based palatants for dog and cat food. Our flagship line of palatants, PALASURANCE®, is formulated to deliver desired palatability on the surface of pet food products or as a concentrated base.

Our new PALTEVA™ line of palatants deliver natural flavor for limited ingredient, vegetarian and conventional diets. This natural line of pal-atants comes in formulations without allergens including dairy, egg, soy and wheat. PALTEVA palatants are naturally protected from microbial contamination and maintain adequate shelf life.

At Kemin, we partner with our customers across all phases of the pet food manufacturing process to optimize flavor from start to finish. Contact us today to learn more about our tech-nical capabilities, palatants, antioxidants, food safety and health and nutrition ingredients.

Corporate Headquarters: 1900 Scott Avenue Des Moines, IA 50317

Administration:David RaveyrePresident

Product Management:Jim MannGlobal Product Manager – Antioxidantsjim.mann@kemin.com

Abby Castillo Global Product Manager – Palatantsabby.castillo@kemin.com

Alberto MunozGlobal Product Manager – Health & Nutritionalberto.munoz@kemin.com

Marketing Staff:Jordie NeuhausSenior Digital Marketing Specialist jordie.neuhaus@kemin.com

Scott BisGlobal VP of Marketingscott.bis@kemin.com

Ting TommeeMarketing Commnunications Coordinatorting.tommee@kemin.com

Kemin Industries, Inc. and its group of companies 2019. All Rights reserved. Trademarks of Kemin Industries, Inc., U.S.A

This publication is a product of WATT Global Media.

Contacts

FLAVOR IS COMPLEX. LET US GUIDE YOU.

With so many factors influencing flavor, it’s easy to get lost.

At Kemin, we provide comprehensive flavor expertise. From our high performance palatants to our raw material and pet food stability solutions, Kemin is the only palatant supplier that can partner with you across all phases of the petfood manufacturing process to optimize flavor.

© Kemin Industries, Inc. and its group of companies 2019. All rights reserved. ®™ Trademarks of Kemin Industries, Inc., U.S.A.

www.kemin.com/flavorTo learn more, visit:

8 Customer Cravings

FLAVOR IS COMPLEX. LET US GUIDE YOU.

With so many factors influencing flavor, it’s easy to get lost.

At Kemin, we provide comprehensive flavor expertise. From our high performance palatants to our raw material and pet food stability solutions, Kemin is the only palatant supplier that can partner with you across all phases of the petfood manufacturing process to optimize flavor.

© Kemin Industries, Inc. and its group of companies 2019. All rights reserved. ®™ Trademarks of Kemin Industries, Inc., U.S.A.

www.kemin.com/flavorTo learn more, visit:

www.kemin.com/flavor