Often the base ingredients in pet foods do not meet the animal’s full nutritional requirements and there is a need to add a premix during the manufacturing process. A premix is a blend of vitamins, trace elements, amino acids and macro-minerals, and can also contain additional functional ingredients such as glucosamine and chondroitin to help maintain joint health, prebiotics and postbiotics to help maintain gut integrity and function, as well as herbs and botanicals to help ensure our pets maintain optimal health and wellbeing.
As a result, the inclusion of a well formulated premix can be pivotal in contributing to a happy and long life for the UK’s increasing pet population.
How is a premix formulated?
At Premier Nutrition, it starts with a close customer relationship to understand the customer’s and product’s unique requirements.
Firstly, formulating for different pet species, each species’ physiology is considered together with their life stage. For example, formulating foods for puppies and kittens may concentrate on the calcium and phosphorus levels/ratio and, similarly, the inclusion of increased levels of antioxidants will be recommended in products for aging pets.
Whilst additives may have had a bad press in the past, there are many approved additives that are most definitely needed to ensure the highest nutritional quality of a pet food. Formulating a premix which includes additives to support an animal’s full nutrition and wellbeing requirements is routine practice.
The final step is to formulate the premix to balance the nutrients which come from the recipe ingredients. For example, high salmon diets may not require added vitamin D3, depending on the raw materials used by the pet food manufacturer.
For some breeds, there may be additional dietary considerations and, therefore, formulating for low purine diets for Dalmations, low copper diets for breeds predisposed to copper-associated liver disease such as Labrador retrievers and Bedlington terriers, taurine and breeds predisposed to taurine-responsive dilated cardiomyopathy such as Boxers, Golden retrievers, Newfoundlands and American Cocker Spaniels as well as some other large breeds are all vital considerations.
Can premix help the health and wellbeing of pets?
Absolutely. By delivering high quality nutrition in pet foods through the use of expertly designed premixes, the industry can significantly contribute to the health and wellbeing of pets.
