Have you ever stopped and wondered exactly how dry pet food is made?
It is so easy to just pick up a bag of food at the vet shop, pet shop or retailer and feed it to our dogs according to the feeding guide or our vet’s recommendation. But where does the process start and how does the final product get packaged?
Product development
The very first step in the manufacturing process of pet food is the development of the food in a laboratory. Nutritionists work on various formulas and experiment with a wide variety of ingredients to ensure that the final product is a well-balanced nutritional meal for our pets. These recipes are then adapted for the bulk manufacturing of the food.
A couple of decades ago, buying dog food was simple and easy to do, as there weren’t many options available. Thanks to science and nutritionists, dog food has been developed to cater for various stages of a dog’s life, a variety of health issues, and there is even breed-specific food. As with many industries, pet food manufacturers also keep an eye on the latest trends worldwide, and the local market’s needs in pet food, and all the latest information is used in the product development division.
Raw materials
Once a specific formula is tried and tested, the raw materials are sourced. Manufacturers of quality dog food will require a Certificate of Conformance or Certificate of Analysis from the supplier to ensure that only the best ingredients are used in the food. Once delivered, they will take a representative sample and test the raw materials in the lab to ensure that it is within the specifications.
Batching
The actual production of the dog food starts with batching the raw materials. Most manufacturers of quality dog food use software programmes to batch the correct weight of the raw materials that go together.
Milling and mixing
Once all the raw materials have been batched, the ingredients are ready for the next step, the milling and mixing of the materials. The ingredients will be allocated a batch number, which can be tracked throughout the rest of the manufacturing process. The ingredients will be milled to a certain size, according to the formulation specifications, before it is discharged to a mixer.
Extrusion
The mixture is then off to the extrusion process, which, in a nutshell, is where the food is cooked, almost like in a huge pressure steamer. The mixture then becomes like a dough and is then shaped into the kibble shape we will see in the bag. In most cases, the extrusion process happens at extremely high temperatures and pressure in the extruder and the meal is cooked in a very short time.
Drying
The drying section of the process is to remove all the moisture from the kibble. One can almost compare it to making rusks: once the dough is baked, the next process is to dry the rusks to get rid of the moisture. If the kibble contains too much moisture, there is a possibility of mould growing on the food while it is in the packaging, and this is definitely something that we don’t want. Therefore, the drier dries the kibble and, in some instances, there are several driers that the food passes through.
Coating
When the kibble comes out of the driers, it is still slightly warm. This is the ideal time to add any coating according to the formulation of the nutritionists. In most cases, the coating is an oil or a mixture of oils that coat and sometimes saturate the kibble.
Packaging
Before the kibble is packaged into the form that we buy, the food is tested for quality, among other things. Each bag is filled and weighed to ensure that the weight is correct before the bag is closed. So, you can rest assured that every batch of dog food manufactured by quality manufacturers is of the best quality available.
Delivery
Once the food is packaged according to the manufacturer’s standards, it is ready to be delivered to the various retailers where it goes on sale. To ensure that your dog gets the best food you can afford, do some research on the brand and the manufacturers. Find out what ingredients are used and if their manufacturing process is of a high standard. Always look for the PFI logo on the packaging to ensure that the manufacturer goes through a regulating process, to ensure that the food complies with certain standards.
For six tips to keep your kibble fresh, click here.
