ARTICLE FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE November 2025 101 The pet food industry is providing more sophisticated end products to our pets with more complex formulations containing many sensitive ingredients which support different stressful processes. To ensure healthy and palatable pet food products, manufacturers must use safe and non-oxidized ingredients. Even a single oxidized or poorly stabilized ingredient will generate fat pro-oxidation chain rapidly affecting the quality and stability of the final product.1 The pet food industry is significantly using high amounts of Processed Animal Proteins (PAP) and fats which can represent 20% to more than 50% of total formulations. However, these raw materials are highly susceptible to fat oxidation due to their fatty acids profile and the pro-oxidation stress of the rendering processes. The rendering industry transforms slaughterhouse by-products into high quality PAPs and fats, each with a distinctive fatty acid profile depending on the animal species. Animal by-products with higher levels of unsaturated fatty acids, such as those from poultry or fish, are more susceptible to oxidation.2 This is because unsaturated fatty acids, especially polyunsaturated ones, have double bonds that are more reactive, leading to faster degradation and rancidity. Fat oxidation degrades nutritional value, reduces palatability3 shortens shelf life and can generate diseases in pets.4 Poultry PAP and fat are mainly used in pet food recipes for their nutritional value. However, their high linoleic acid content makes them particularly vulnerable to oxidation. To counteract this, the rendering industry applies antioxidant solutions both before and after the cooking and separation phases, at multiple points throughout the process. This is the only way to achieve 3, 6, or even 12 months PAP shelf life as required by the pet food industry to accommodate long storage periods or overseas shipments. Until now, the rendering industry in the EU has primarily used synthetic antioxidant molecules applied both before and after the cooking process. Occasionally, synthetic antioxidants are “Poultry Processed Animal Proteins (PAP) and fat are mainly used in pet food recipes for their nutritional value. However, their high linoleic acid content makes them particularly vulnerable to oxidation. To counteract this, the rendering industry applies antioxidant solutions both before and after the cooking and separation phases, at multiple points throughout the process. This is the only way to achieve 3, 6, or even 12 months PAP shelf life as required by the pet food industry to accommodate long storage periods or overseas shipments.” STABILIZATION OF SENSITIVE POULTRY PROCESSED ANIMAL PROTEINS Frank Clement Principal Technical Service Manager Kemin Nutrisurance Europe
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