Looking at the bag of food that you just bought for your pet might lead you to believe that it was made in a kitchen just like yours or maybe on just a bit bigger scale. Marketing firms advertise the foods this way because we consider our pets part of our family and we want to feed them like they are members of our family. Pet food companies need to make large quantities of food at a time and doing so in a pot on a stove just does not work. Read on for a detailed description of how dry pet foods are made.
The most common method for manufacturing pet foods is called extrusion. Extrusion involves using heat and pressure to adequately cook the food.
This is not how most of us cook dinner. However, it is an excellent method for properly cooking pet food, especially the starches in the food. First, though, we should talk about the batching. Just like mixing up a batch of chocolate chip cookies, right? Well in a way, yes. Just on a larger scale and with more automation. Most large pet food manufacturers have systems that are completely controlled by computers. Elaborate software programs are responsible for telling certain bins to release certain ingredients onto the scales, where the ingredient is precisely measured before moving to the mixer. Wet ingredients are adding at certain times and dry ingredients are kept separate. Of course, computers can make mistakes so an engineer is responsible for watching the process at all times. Elaborate alarm systems signal whenever a problem arises.
Some ingredients will be ground by the pet food manufacturer, instead of being purchased already ground. Sometimes the entire mix will be ground before being blended with the wet ingredients. Now that we have the batch mixed up, we’re ready to cook. The extruder is a long barrel with screws inside (think one or two big screws, not the screws that are holding your pictures in the wall). The mixture is pushed through the barrel by the turning of the screws and steam heat is applied. Fat is often added into the food at this point. The food is forced through die plates at the end and cut by a system of knives (responsible for the round pellets, flat disks, and even x’s and y’s that we find in our bag of food). The amount of “cook” that is applied to the food must be just right. Food that is undercooked will be difficult to digest and food that is overcooked may not be palatable to the pet.
A note about “cook”: Starches in the food must be cooked fully or gelatinized. If they are not gelatinized, these components of the food will be difficult to digest. This can lead to flatulence, loose stools or extra stool volume. Manufacturers work hard to achieve just the right amount of cook to optimize digestion and stool quality.
Once extrusion is complete, the food moves through a system of dryers. These giant dryers have trays that the food moves across and the kibble that exits is dry and crunchy. One last step typically is the application of fat and flavor. The completely cooked food moves into a coating system where it either tumbles through the coater or is sprayed as it rides by. Some specialty items like encapsulated vitamins or probiotics may also be added after the food is cooked.
The finished product is then moved to the bagging system where it is placed into the bag that you just bought. Production code information is printed or stamped on the bag and then it is placed onto pallets or into boxes for shipment to the stores.
Most pet food manufacturers work hard to produce a consistent and high-quality product that your pet will enjoy meal after meal.
Watch this interesting news clip from the Veterinary News Network, VNN.