Cargill granted US patent for petfood cooking process

Cargill was granted a US patent for the exclusive cooking process it developed for making its Loyall premium petfood.
Cargill's Opti-Cook process, for which the patent was granted, works by using a combined steam and pressure cooking system and Near-Infrared Reflective Spectroscopy technology. NIRS technology uses light waves to measure the chemical composition of nutrients in every cooked batch of Loyall pet food. All nine Loyall petfood formulas use the Opti-Cook process, according to Cargill.
"It is well known that in order for cats and dogs to digest the starch in dry pet food, it must be cooked properly," said Mark Newcomb, technology director for Cargill Animal Nutrition. "If it is under- or over-cooked, pets may have digestive problems. But until now, there was no quick way to measure the chemical change that occurs in starch during cooking. With this technology, Cargill does not have long waits for lab results on samples- we can rapidly determine if pet food has been properly cooked and ensure consistent quality in every batch."