alternative protein concentrate for pet food

Pet food companies have been motivated to explore new ingredients in order to expand supply, to differentiate their product offerings, and to avoid sensitizing dietary elements. Traditional ingredients such as corn, wheat, rice, poultry and beef continue to be used in mainstream products. However, new product growth and shelf-space in retail are being given to foods containing ingredients more familiar to human foods than livestock feeds. Alternative carbohydrates include ingredients such as peas, potatoes, carrots, and sweet potatoes; whereas, the more frequently used alternative proteins Include animal (including fish and fowl) or from vegetables sources. Examples of alternative animal source proteins include novel rendered meat meals such as venison, rabbit, duck, and various fish protein meals like salmon, and the milk protein concentrates such as whey and casein. The alternative vegetable proteins include such items as pea, potato, and rice protein concentrates and isolates. By name alone these items sound straight forward and wholesome; however, they are relative unknowns in pet food formulations until just recently. Little information is available in the literature regarding the alternative animal protein meal. Commercial specifications are in many cases the only data available. Anecdotal evidence would suggest that these proteins can be unreliable supply and may have an inconsistent nutritional composition. For the alternative fish meals and milk proteins more data are available; but, seldom for pet foods. Anecdotal reports indicate that these proteins periodically have rancidity issues; but, the supply stream is relatively stable and composition relatively consistent. The alternative vegetable proteins tend to fall into two classes – the concentrates which are produced by mechanical density separation and the isolates which rely upon a wet process to isolate and purify the proteins. In the concentrates, besides protein anti-nutrional factors can be higher. These could include compounds such as trypsin inhibitors, phytate, glycoalkaloids, and indigestible oligosaccharides. The isolates tend to be much higher in protein and lower in these anti-nutritional factors than the concentrates. Dietary and nutrient utilization data exist for these alternative vegetable proteins in various animal species, but few reports that directly describe their use by dogs or cats. While use of alternative animal and vegetable proteins is likely safe and effective, additional research should be conducted to better understand the their