Webinar for petfood, treat manufacturers to be hosted March 28

Trouw Nutrition USA will sponsor a webinar on understanding and using operational petfood and treat manufacturing data on Thursday, March 28 at 10 a.m. CT.
The webinar, entitled, Understanding Variation - The Key to Managing Chaos in Petfood Manufacturing, will help attendees understand variance and analytical matters of petfood and pet treat manufacturing. By attending the webinar, you will learn:

• How to better analyze and interpret their petfood manufacturing and business data
• No data have meaning apart from their context
• All data contain "noise" - some data contain "signals"
• To detect "signals," you must first filter out the "noise"
This educational webinar will feature Dr. Donald Wheeler, one of few individuals to be elected as a Fellow of both the American Statistical Association and the American Society for Quality. Wheeler holds a bachelor's degree in physics from the University of Texas, as well as a master's degree and Ph.D. in statistics from Southern Methodist University. Wheeler taught as an associate professor in the Statistics department at the University of Tennessee for 12 years. In 1982, he formed Statistical Process Controls Inc. and has worked as a consulting statistician ever since. In 2010, he was awarded the Deming Medal.
The webinar will be moderated by Jessica Taylor, managing editor of Petfood Industry.
For more information and to register, please visit www.petfoodindustry.com/Webinars.aspx.

Hill’s launches new Ideal Balance natural petfood brand

Hill’s Pet Nutrition unveiled its new Hill’s Ideal Balance line of dog and cat food. The new petfood brand, which features natural ingredients, is the first new petfood brand from Hill’s since the launch of Science Diet in 1968.
The new Hill's Ideal Balance dog and cat food formulas feature:
• Fresh chicken or natural salmon as the first ingredient
• Brown rice to support healthy digestion
• Fruits and vegetables to support a healthy immune system
• No corn, wheat or soy
• Grain-free options for dogs and cats
• Dry foods made in Hill’s USA facilities
• 100 percent balanced nutrition, guaranteed or your money back
The new Ideal Balance line includes varieties developed for lifestage, size and grain-free. In addition to the dry foods, Hill’s Ideal Balance line includes 12 wet petfood varieties: six for dogs and six for cats. Protein sources such as venison, trout and salmon are offered. The new Ideal Balance petfood line is available at pet retailers and veterinarians. 

Petfood facility to produce pet treats from fresh fish

Angell Associates, a supplier of fish products to the petfood industry, has completed a new factory next to its current petfood production facility.
The new facility will produce pet treats from fresh fish, caught within European Commission quota stocks, the company said. Angell also said it is working on developing wet petfood in pouches and cans for dogs and cats.

Petfood donation program provides free petfood to low-income families

A new pet food donation program is feeding the pets of low-income families and food stamp recipients in the US who would otherwise not be able to feed their pets, according to a report.
The pet food donation-based program, Pet Food Stamps, had more than 45,000 pets sign up in two weeks, said founder and executive director, Marc Okon.
Based in New York, USA, the program is open to anyone in the US. Once a family’s need and income is verified, they receive pet food monthly, for a six-month period, from online pet food retailer Pet Food Direct. Families can only apply for the program through an online application, but Okon said mail-in applications will be accepted once the program is moved to its new office.
"We're not looking for government funding at this point," said Okon. "Should the government be willing to provide assistance further down the line, we will look into it."
Okon said the program's nonprofit status is pending.

New DIY natural dog treat mixes offers wholesale pricing option

Dog treat maker Pup-O-Licious announced that pet stores and pet retailers can now take advantage of the company’s new discounted wholesale pricing.
The dog treat maker’s new wholesale discounted pricing option aims to help retailers across the US introduce new customers to the DIY dog treats made from natural ingredients.
“By offering wholesale pricing on cases of our fun and easy-to-make homemade dog treats, we’re also giving our retail partners another way to add value and satisfy their customers,” said Teresa Koch, Pup-O-Licious’ chief financial officer. “These days, competition for customer loyalty is as fierce as ever, and customers want to connect with stores that offer them something out of the ordinary that their dog and their whole family, will appreciate!”
Representatives of pet retailers can learn more about the program by contacting Terri Welch at +1.217.214.7137. 

Researcher studies foodborne pathogen Salmonella in space

Researcher Cheryl Nickerson took the foodborne pathogen Salmonella up to the International Space Station to study what might happen.
According to Arizona State University:
"During an earlier series of NASA space shuttle and ground-based experiments, Nickerson and her team made a startling discovery. Spaceflight culture increased the disease-causing potential (virulence) of the foodborne pathogen Salmonella, yet many of the genes known to be important for its virulence were not turned on and off as expected when this organism is grown on Earth. Understanding how this switching is regulated may be useful for designing targeted strategies to prevent infection."
After researchers brought the Salmonella into space and then back down again, it returned three to seven times stronger than Salmonella grown on the ground.
According to NASA:
“We think space travel tricks Salmonella into behaving as if it is in the human gut,” Nickerson says. “It’s a mechanical phenomenon having to do with ‘fluid shear.’”
When Salmonella move around, the pathogens can sense how strong the force of the fluid moving past them is. If the Salmonella are able to find a small nook in the intestine wall, however, the fluid shear goes away, which they can sense. In space, an article says, the Salmonella think they are safe because the fluid shear is so low.
Fluid shear has important functions to the cell, according to NASA:
"As it turns out, many of the genes activated by the low fluid shear environment of spaceflight are involved in transporting these ions in and out of the cells, so there could be a connection. Research on this ion effect is still ongoing, Nickerson says, but she speculates that it could eventually lead to new ways to use these ions to ward off Salmonella infections."
Later in 2013, Nickerson will go into space on the SpaceXDragon ship, bringing Salmonella with her to infect a nematode.
“Recognizing that the spaceflight environment imparts a unique signal capable of modifying Salmonella virulence, we will use this same principle in an effort to enhance the protective immune response of the recombinant attenuated Salmonella vaccine strain,” Nickerson says.

Euromonitor offers report on other petfood market in Norway

The market for other pet food, including bird food, fish food and small animal food, in Norway remained stable in 2011, with provisional estimates that growth will decrease in 2012 and fall through 2017, according to a new Euromonitor International report.
The report, Other Pet Food in Norway, provides data on the size and shape of the other pet food market in Norway, including retail sales data from 2008-12 and market forecasts to 2017. The report also identifies leading brands and provides a strategic analysis of factors influencing the market, such as new products, distribution and pricing.
The full report on the market for other petfood in Norway can be purchased online.