Super Premium Petfoods
How do you know that what you're feeding your pets is
nutritionally complete and balanced? Super Premium
Food uses research and development to ensure the best
possible diet.
For your pet to live a long and healthy life, they need a
complete and balanced diet, a regime that meets
all the nutritional requirements in the necessary
proportions. To ensure all products in the ADVANCE range
meet all nutritional requirements, a thorough testing process is
implemented during the development stage. This stringent testing is
maintained even after the products are available on the shelves of
the specialist pet food outlet.
Dietary requirements of pets
The components of food that provide the energy and materials for
the processes of growth, body maintenance, activity and
reproduction are called nutrients. These nutrients include
proteins, fats,
minerals, vitamins,
carbohydrates and water. Most
foods contain a mixture of some or all of these, so a careful
combination of different foodstuffs will provide a suitable diet
for your pet. As well as the essential nutrients there are also
other important dietary considerations:
- Food must be palatable - what's left in the
bowl is of no nutritional value.
- Food must be sufficiently concentrated so that
your pet eats enough to meet its particular nutrient needs.
- Absorption into the body is only possible if the nutrients are
in a digestible form.
- The diet must be safe, which means it should be free of toxins,
harmful bacteria and parasites.
So, how do you know that what you're feeding your pets is
nutritionally complete and balanced? How can you be certain that
you're fulfilling all the above requirements? Without the help of a
research laboratory or having a degree in nutrition you can't be
sure. However, you can be certain if you're feeding a super premium
pet food.
Testing
It's not just high quality ingredients and advanced manufacturing
processes that make super premium pet foods - it also involves
meticulous testing procedures. MARS Petcare Australia Pty Ltd is
committed to delivering the high quality standards demanded by our
customers, as well as meeting the nutritional guidelines of both
the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) and our
own nutritionists at the Waltham Centre for Pet
Nutrition (WCPN) in the UK.
One...
Maintaining the highest standards of quality and nutrition is
achieved by implementing a three-step process, starting with
laboratory analysis. The MFANZ Research and Development team
studies new and existing pet food products and compares their
findings with recognised nutrient profiles from Waltham and AAFCO.
Laboratory analysis ensures that nutrients are present in the
correct ratio to the energy content of the diet and also in the
correct ratio to other nutrients. The analysis will also verify
that nutrients present meet life stage and lifestyle requirements,
that is growth, adult maintenance, reproduction, senior, light and
working.
Two...
Once a pet food recipe is defined it undergoes palatability
(acceptance/consumption) and digestibility testing through
non-invasive trials within special feeding facilities. These trials
determine the actual feeding performance of the product.
Where step one will indicate if the necessary nutrients are present
in the pet food, step two gives a better indication of the
availability macronutrients such as protein, fat
and carbohydrate and how efficiently they are being utilised by the
animal.
For example, a panel of animals may be put on a 10-day feeding
trial. Faeces (stools) are collected from days 4 to 10 and are
analysed for protein, fat, moisture and ash content. These results
are then compared against the same parameters within the diet fed
to determine what levels the animal has utilised. The faeces are
also graded on a system of one to five - one being too hard and
five being diarrhoea. Recipes are formulated to target grade 2
faeces. These types of trials indicate product palatability and the
quality of the raw materials being used - the better the raw
material, the better they are utilised by the animal resulting in
fewer and firmer stools.
Three...
The last stage in testing is where the diet is fed for the life
stage for which it was designed. These tests ensure that foods meet
feeding procedures and nutritional levels established by AAFCO
for:
- Growth
- Adult maintenance
- Gestation and Lactation
For instance, growing puppies need two to three times as much
energy as adults as well as strictly controlled
calcium and phosphorus levels,
and a prepared pet food for this life stage must deliver
accordingly.
Trials for life stage feeding of ADVANCE products are conducted here in
Australia. This is because, for best results, it is important to
trial within the country in which they will be used.
Adult maintenance trials may take six months to complete. A full
veterinary examination is also conducted to ensure the pets used in
the trial are healthy. Food intakes and body weights are recorded
throughout the trial period along with other important indicators
such as oral health, skin and coat
health, body condition and faecal
quality. At the conclusion of the trial a blood sample is
taken to detect any nutritional deficiencies or excesses. As a
further measure to assess palatability, in home feeding trials are
conducted as we have access to approximately 8,000 households
throughout Australia. This ensures we get a true reflection of
pets' acceptance and preference of the ADVANCE product range.
Some MFANZ pet food products may take up to three years to develop
because of this rigorous three-step testing process.
Follow-up Testing
Further quality checks are continuously undertaken on raw materials
to ensure the ADVANCE
range of pet foods is made using only ingredients that meet pre
determined quality standards. There is also regular sampling of the
finished product at the point of manufacture as well as random
samples of products from the shelves of our specialist ADVANCE
retailers. ADVANCE pet foods are closely monitored by stringent
quality systems. Only one recipe specification exists for each
variety ensuring that the highest quality products are consistently
delivered to our customers. Products manufactured are only released
for sale once chemical analysis have validated that they meet the
ADVANCE standard quality specifications. This stringent testing
ensures that all ADVANCE products deliver:
- Lastest nutritional innovation
- Product consistency
- Highest quality ingredients
- Australian made products best suited for
Australian pets
