Pet Food Potential for Pulses Explored

VANCOUVER - Mar 2/05 - SNS -- The pet food potential for field peas and fababeans has been explored by Alberta Agriculture, which believes these pulses can find a role in that industry.

The study by -- funded by Alberta Crop Industry Development Fund, Champion Pet Foods Ltd., and Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development -- believes pet food manufacturers can use these ingredients to capitalize on the fact pet owners like to impose their own notions about healthy foods and values on their pets.

The fact there are no genetically modified varieties of peas, lentils and dry beans grown in North America gives these pulses a marketing advantage over soybeans and canola. Using pulses for protein in pet food also keys in on consumer anxiety over Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in ruminant animals.

Pulse Canada and the Saskatchewan Pulse Growers report that in the study four varieties of field pea and one zero-tannin fababean variety were tested at three different inclusion rates.

Palatability, digestibility and market acceptance tests conducted on fifteen formulations proved both crops were acceptable in dog food diets.

Both field pea and zero-tannin fababean are economically competitive in price and non-price attributes with ingredients such as soybean meal and various meat meals that are currently being used in pet food formulations.

Champion Petfoods estimates that potentially 30% of its pet food could comprise pulses in the future. Adoption of pulses as an ingredient by pet food manufacturers could be a major growth opportunity for the pulse industry. Effective market development will lead to increased demand and acreage of these crops.