Probiotics are one of the fastest growing areas in the
healthy eating segment of the human food industry. The benefits
of probiotics are becoming increasingly well known to a broader
base of consumers through the popular press, increased product
offerings and commercial advertisements. They have moved from
daily tablet supplements to availability in a widening range of
food products.
With the growing relationship between pet owners and their
pets, more and more consumers are providing healthy choices to
their pets. The major issue in most cases is the difficulty in
ensuring consumption of healthy foods. The availability of good
tasting foods containing these health improving supplements is
leading to rapid growth in this category. Unfortunately, most
probiotic species do not survive well in dry petfoods due to
the low water activity. Few live strains survive the stomach
acids or bile acids to actually reach the gut in a viable
state.
AFB International has recently created a new palatant containing probiotics
through a partnership with Ganeden Biotech Inc. This new
product contains GanedenBC30, live spores of a patented strain
of Bacillus coagulans. The probiotic was reviewed by the
US Food and Drug Administration's Center for Veterinary
Medicine and found to present no safety concerns when used in
direct-fed microbial products.
GanedenBC30 is currently available in a variety of
human food products, giving you the link between the benefits
for the owner and their pet. This new palatant is added to
petfood prior to extrusion and survives the full process. Key
benefits derived from this approach include more uniform
distribution of the probiotics and survival throughout the
shelf life of your product. This brings active cultures to your
customer's pet on a daily basis through their normal diets. No
more issues with acceptance of the supplement. Recommended
feeding rate is 200 million daily for large dogs and 100
million daily for cats and small dogs.
Data in Figure 1 demonstrate the survival of GanedenBC30 during the
extrusion process and subsequent storage as finished
product.
The spore-forming nature of this strain allows petfood
marketers to use the probiotics in their existing manufacturing
process without worry about survival. These spores' germination
is triggered by the transition through the pH changes between
the stomach and the intestinal tract. The pet's own system
becomes the means to activate the probiotics at the appropriate
time. Growth of the probiotics in the intestinal tract promotes
improved digestive health through the production of lactic
acid, improved breakdown of nutrients for better absorption and
displacement of undesirable bacteria in the gut. These
probiotics have been shown to enhance the immune system in
human studies along with reducing symptoms in IBS and colitis
sufferers.
The internal use of the product allows petfood marketers to
apply either liquid or dry palatants to the surface without
concern about the impact on the probiotics' viability. Feeding
studies conducted by AFB International have shown growth of the
probiotics in the gut with a 780 % increase in fecal spore
counts after only seven days on the feed.
It has never been easier or more palatable to bring these
benefits to your customer's pet. Currently this product is
available in the US and Canada. Call your AFB International
account representative for more information:
+1.800.218.5607.