This series of articles was published in the 2021 Resource Guide for Pet Food Processing. Read it and other articles in this issue in the digital version of our resource guide.

What do Kansas State University, Texas A&M University, University of Guelph, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and North Carolina State University have in common? An important partnership with the US pet food manufacturing industry.

These academic partners each provide unique focus and capabilities in the field of pet nutrition. These five universities are valuable partners and resources for students who aspire to join the industry after graduation, professionals who wish to continue their education, and companies that rely on key research to develop innovative products.

As a leader in food, nutrition and agricultural education, Kansas State University plays an important role in educating the pet food industry through research on pet nutrition and extrusion.

The university’s pet nutrition program is led by Dr. Greg Aldrich and focuses on the nutritional impact of pet food processing. Specifically, he looks at the effects of thermal and mechanical processes on food safety, nutrition and product shelf life. In addition, he is also committed to developing pet food science programs for undergraduate and graduate training, and is committed to developing new teaching and collaboration approaches between industry and universities.

Kansas State University has invested heavily in extrusion research, led by Dr. Sajid Alavi. He is responsible for overseeing an extrusion center that can process 300 to 500 pounds per hour. The facility enables the university to use grains and fresh meat to produce a variety of products that can be made into food for various species. Although the main focus is on food for dogs and cats, this work also has other applications. The university analyzes the characteristics of materials and has a sensory laboratory to test taste and palatability. It also has a microbiological test function.

In general, the extrusion laboratory provides pilot-scale trial operation services for the industry and helps meet the needs of research and course-related operations. It includes a pilot Wenger TX-52 twin screw extruder, a pilot Wenger X-20 single screw extruder and a Wenger 4800 series gas dryer. It also has a laboratory-scale Leistritz Micro 18 twin-screw extruder from the United States, enabling them to conduct small-scale experiments. Kansas State University uses extrusion not only as a process for mixing and forming products, but also as a way to sterilize and cook products to make them more digestible.

"The unique aspects of K-State's pet nutrition and extrusion research include the provision of a pilot-scale processing facility in one location and the ability to test pets through kennels maintained on campus," Alavi said. "In addition, the combination of pet nutrition and extrusion expertise with other scientists specializing in physical testing, chemical analysis, and microbiology makes the university a'one-stop shop' for solving complex challenges in the industry."

The university offers a variety of short courses, including extrusion processing technology and commercialization courses. It also provides various courses on demand to help meet specific industry needs.

Although the university does not have a unique degree in pet food processing, it does have the option of obtaining a degree in feed science and animal feed in the Department of Grain Science. It also offers master's and doctorate degrees that emphasize pet food research.

Texas A&M University

The use of extruders is essential for the production of pet food, and education on the use of the industry is the focus of the work of Dr. Mian Riaz, director of the Texas A&M Extrusion Technology Program.

The university currently offers five short courses related to extrusion. They include: extrusion pet food and snacks; aquaculture feed extrusion, nutrition and feed management; food extrusion: grains, beans, proteins and other ingredients; leisure Food processing; and extrusion of feed and pet food.

These extrusion courses train production personnel on the principles and characteristics of extruders and support systems for effective selection and operation. It also covers a review of current practices in pet food and snack food preparation, as well as the actual aspects of extrusion technology used in pet food manufacturing. Participants also have the opportunity to obtain certificates and professional development time.

These courses were taught in a virtual way during the pandemic, and future plans are to provide them in a hybrid way to allow participants from other countries to join. In fact, this year's pet food and snack course was attended by more than 40 people from nine different countries. All short courses last several days and provide practical elements.

Riaz said that for the past 30 years, the university has opened a pet food course that discusses the latest technology, innovation and safety of pet food. In this course, participants can also make a practical demonstration of pet food through video.

Although the university does not currently offer a formal degree in pet food processing, its poultry science course teaches many aspects of feed processing, and the veterinary school covers many aspects of nutrition. In addition, the school also offers undergraduate courses in food science and technology.

The university also cooperates with many feed ingredient suppliers to conduct feeding trials to understand the performance of their products. Overall, Riaz said that Texas A&M can help the industry solve their problems by providing special training and consulting.

Although the university’s 30-year-old pilot plant was re-adjusted in 2019, Riaz is studying how Texas A&M University will develop new facilities in the future.

At the University of Guelph, Dr. Kate Shoveller, an animal nutritionist from the Ontario College of Agriculture, and Dr. Adronie Verbrugghe, a veterinary nutritionist from the Ontario College of Veterinary Medicine, collaborated on research and innovation in pet food and product markets. They support research on companion animal nutrition management for healthy pets and clinical nutrition management for sick pets.

Shoveller and Verbrugghe studied the basics of pet nutrition, including nutritional requirements and metabolic responses to diet, as well as the role of clinical nutrition and dietary supplements in the treatment of dog and cat diseases. Other research areas include the impact of environmental management, such as the effects of feeding frequency, photoperiod and temperature fluctuations on physiological responses. In general, the team collaborates with animal behaviorists and behaviorists, consumer market experts, and veterinary experts to conduct such research.

The university has human food extrusion facilities and cooperates with other universities with product development expertise, such as the University of Alberta and the University of Saskatchewan. It also collaborates with industrial partners for product innovation. In these scenarios, industrial partners donate products as a contribution to research.

Research conducted by the University of Guelph also explored digestibility, metabolism, body composition, energy and macronutrient metabolism, behavior and welfare, and food quality. The university collaborates with veterinary experts, including gastroenterologists, cardiologists, oncologists and kidney specialists. In order to conduct all these studies, it has raised cats and dogs specifically for this purpose. In addition, it uses sport dogs through its relationship with the local sled dog kennels, and sometimes also dogs owned by customers. Its patients were recruited through the Small Animal Hospital of the Health Sciences Center of the Ontario College of Veterinary Medicine and local veterinary specialist clinics.

All undergraduates who meet the prerequisites can participate in advanced animal nutrition courses. Comparative Nutrition is a graduate course that covers all species, but with special emphasis on non-agricultural animal nutrition. In addition, all veterinary students teach clinical nutrition for dogs and cats for the prevention and treatment of diseases. The university also hopes to add pet food minor courses in the future. Currently, graduate students who specialize in pet nutrition can choose a variety of courses, including animal nutrition, food science, animal behavior, clinical research, biomedical science, and population medicine.

The university works closely with industry, partly because federal and provincial matching programs allow industry to use federal funds and academic teams to accelerate innovation.

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

The Companion Animal Biology and Nutrition Program of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was established in 1974 and conducts research in multiple disciplines. This includes evaluating new, alternative and sustainable ingredients, as well as studying the impact of processing technology on the quality and safety of pet food. It also investigated the use of therapeutic nutrition to support the health and well-being of pets.

Maria Regina Cattai de Godoy, an associate professor in the Department of Animal Science, said: “The program is considered the center of companion animal nutrition and a valuable destination for many young scientists interested in companion animal biology and nutrition.” “Currently in North America and worldwide pets Many professionals working in the food industry, government, and leading academic programs have received training from our program and received advanced degrees."

The university is capable of performing detailed chemical analysis of ingredients, snacks and pet foods, manufacturing research diets, and assisting companies in pilot-scale food processing. It also uses technology to conduct non-invasive in vivo studies, allowing researchers to determine the nutritional adequacy of new ingredients and pet foods, and to evaluate parameters related to animal health and disease.

The university has multiple facilities, including a feed technology center that can dry and store grains and ingredients, and use an online NIR system for grinding, mixing, and pelleting. The facility has a closed extrusion attachment with storage and live bins for dry blending and conveying, a preconditioner of different diameters, a single screw extruder, two-pass oven dryer and cooler, and a batch Coating system. The extrusion system is also fully automatic, with the ability to pneumatically convey and add fresh meat, fat and liquid ingredients.

The university’s food science and human nutrition experimental processing plants focus on human and pet food technology as well as baking and distillation equipment. It has a 10,000 square foot processing plant, product development kitchen and walk-in cold storage. It also has a comprehensive bioprocessing research laboratory equipped with six laboratories that can perform approximate analysis and detailed chemical characterization of macronutrients in ingredients, diets and samples.

The university has an online companion animal nutrition certificate course. The courses include dog and cat metabolism, nutritional functions and requirements, pet nutrition and disease, pet food ingredients, dietary formula principles, pet food processing technology, good manufacturing practices, pet food regulations and market trends. It hopes to develop a series of workshops and practical training in the future. The expansion of undergraduate and postgraduate courses in raw material handling and processing, pet food formulation and food safety is also underway. In addition, the university also offers non-thesis master's courses that can be completed online.

Although most of North Carolina State University’s animal food research has focused on livestock and poultry, feed mills have participated in the composition approval trials for livestock and poultry and can be used as a stepping stone in the pet food composition approval process.

The university’s animal food project has expanded in recent years and now includes food safety experts and extrusion and value-added experts, so the project can be developed to serve the pet food market in the future. The feed factory is designed for precision manufacturing and can collect data throughout the manufacturing process.

The university also has the ability to test the suitability of new foods with companion animals on campus and use various contract facilities for long-term feed growth trials.

In the university’s quality assurance laboratory, researchers have the ability to test ingredients and products for moisture, protein content, mycotoxin contamination, particle durability and particle size.  

Its extrusion laboratory recently acquired a differential scanning calorimeter and fast viscosity analyzer to analyze the starch content of raw materials and finished products. The facility has multiple sampling points throughout its entire process to measure product stability, mixing, granulation, and homogeneity of the mixer after cooling.

There are nutrition graduate students at North Carolina State University who study pet microbiomes, differences in feeding behavior, and the suitability of ingredients.

The university provides animal food prevention and control training courses for the industry as needed. Its animal food safety program has partnered with a number of pet food and snack food processors to help establish animal food safety systems and regulatory compliance.

The feed processing program provides some animal food manufacturing courses, giving students the opportunity to obtain an undergraduate minor or postgraduate certificate in feed processing. Students can take courses in comparative nutrition, animal nutrition, or companion animal management to supplement degrees or courses in feed processing. The extrusion course teaches pet food processing and allows students to understand the processing process. Nutrition certificates in animal science courses complement multiple degrees, and the university also offers undergraduate and graduate programs in companion animals.

North Carolina State Feed Milling Extension works with processors to provide training and programs related to the animal food industry, and the extrusion program meets the needs of the aquaculture industry.

"North Carolina's animal food research and education is unique because we have the ability to work with multiple species and stakeholders from different areas of the industry," said Marissa Cohen, a regional professional agent for animal food safety. "With the development of feeding practices, facility operations, teaching and training delivery, we are able to adapt and meet the needs of students and the industry, and we are particularly proud of this."

Read more about pet food industry associations, institutions and partners.

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