MANHATTAN, Kan. — Experts in the pet food industry attended the IGP–KSU Pet Food Formulation for Commercial Production course, January 8–12, 2018 at the IGP Institute Conference Center at Kansas State University. Attending were 25 participants from the United States, Canada and New Zealand where they gained education and experience in developing and formulating pet food products.
“Creating pet food formulas from concepts, reverse engineering existing pet foods, and troubleshooting pet food production and quality control compliance issues using formulation software were additional learning outcomes of the training,” says Greg Aldrich, research associate professor in the Department of Grain Sciences and Industry.
More of the topics covered included understanding ingredients, processes, and software necessary to create new products; revising existing formulas; perform business and production analysis; gaining an understanding of the raw ingredients used to produce pet foods, their general composition and processing considerations; fundamental principles of companion animal nutrition and dietary needs (specifically dog and cat); learning the processes involved with producing pet foods, the regulatory constraints regarding claims and requirements, and the transportation and storage factors involved with marketing effective foods for companion animals; and studying the range of formulation tools common to the trade.
“The information from this course that will help me in my job is knowing the importance of the ingredient characteristics and their contribution to the overall diet that we are trying to produce,” says Dana Tomlinson, research nutritionist at Zinpro Performance Materials in Jeffersouton, Virginia. “This was an excellent course from the standpoint of the hands-on part, but also getting to the technical details of how that product was formulated.”
Along with presentations and demonstrations led by KSU and AIB International (American Institute of Baking) faculty and staff, participants also gained hands-on experience in the Pet Food Processing Lab, and the Bioprocessing and Industrial Value-Added Program (BIVAP) on the KSU campus.
Aldrich says, “As the industry grows and improves, the Department of Grain Sciences and Industry at K-State is continually striving toward significant research developments and works hand-inhand with the goals of the feed and food industry to promote and develop pet food processing.”
In addition to courses offered in feed manufacturing and grain quality management, the IGP Institute also offers courses in grain marketing and risk management, and grain processing and flour milling. To learn more about these other training opportunities, visit the IGP Institute website at www.ksu.edu/igp
— Samantha Albers, Communications Intern, IGP–KSU
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