GB2027577A - Meat-containing animal biscuit or kibble - Google Patents

Abstract

A meat-containing animal biscuit or kibble, in the form of dry, solid, pieces is formed by combining uncooked farinaceous material and finely cut flakes of uncooked meat or meat by-product to form a pasty dough, forming the dough into discrete pieces and baking the pieces to less than 18% moisture by weight. The meat or meat by-product may be beef liver or spleen. Soybean or soy oil, cottonseed or corn oil may be present.

Description

SPECIFICATION Meat-containing animal biscuit or kibble This invention relates to a pet-food product and to a method of making the same. More particularly, it relates to a dry, solid, biscuit or kibble having the high degree of palatability associated with meaty products and having high nutritional and caloric value and the ability to be stored and marketed in substantially nonrefrigerated condition without the need for hermetically sealed packages. The product can be in the form of kibble but is preferably provided in greater than bite-size, for example in the form of large, molded bone-shaped pieces, having a uniformly palatable taste throughout, that is, the biscuit is as palatable when bitten into as when first taken into the pet's mouth. The product does not become mushy when served with liquid but retains its dry, solid characteristics and retains its meaty characteristic.

Dog and cat foods are commonly prepared as either meal-type rations or canned-type rations and are commonly formulated from a combination of proteinaceous and farinaceous materials. The proteinaceous material is derived from either vegetable protein sources or from meat and/or meat by-products, and nutritional supplements are often added. Meal-type animal foods have a dry, cereal-like texture and iow moisture content, typically about 10%. They usually have a very high nutritional and caloric value providing a complete balanced diet for the animal, and excellent storage characteristics, thus permitting the use of relatively inexpensive packaging techniques.

However, the palatability of many dry meal-type animal foods is poor and, in many cases, the animal will not eat them at all in dry form, necessitating the addition of liquids prior to their consumption. Liquid addition can cause the products to become mushy and on that basis could be rejected by the animal.

Canned-type animal foods having a meat-like texture and high-moisture content are generally received quite favorably by animals, apparently due in part to their meaty texture, consistency and aroma. However, the elevated moisture content of such products requires thermal processing in sealed containers to obtain a commercially sterile product, thereby adding considerably to product costs. Furthermore, once such a can is opened, it must be quickly consumed since the product is quite conducive to supporting microbiological growth and hence will deteriorate very rapidly unless stored under refrigeration.

In addition to the two foregoing general types of animal foods, intermediate moisture products, having a moisture content in the range of about 1 5%-30%, have also been made available. In order to avoid microbiological decomposition, such products must be specially processed, e.g. by thorough pasturization, and/or by being packaged in hermetically sealed containers and commercially sterilized, or maintained in a frozen or refrigerated state. Another approach is to disperse an aqueous phase of water soluble solids uniformly throughout the product, the soluble solids being principally sugar at a level high enough to exert a bacteriostatic effect sufficient to stabilize the animal food. Such a product is illustrated by H. M. Burgess patent 3,202,514.

The high sugar content of such products is not palatable to all animals. nar is it nutritionally sound.

Thus, there has not been provided an animal food product which has the high palatability associated with the meaty texture of canned food and the convenience and high nutritional value associated with meal-type foods. The present invention provides such a product in the form of dry, solid pieces having high palatability throughout. The present product incorporates meat or meat by-product which is in a particular form, specifically uncooked meat or meat byproduct in the form of finely cut flakes. This is combined with uncooked farinaceous materials, such as wheat, and blended to form a pasty dough which is formed into discrete pieces. The pieces are baked at a temperature sufficiently high, e.g.

3500--6000F, to a moisture content of less than 18% by weight to provide a hard, solid outer surface which does not become mushy when immersed- in water or other liquid. The resultant product is hard and solid, yet meaty in taste. With the simple addition of an antioxidant and an antimycotic agent, the product can be packaged using relatively inexpensive techniques and stored without spoilage.

It is'particularly important that the biscuit be formed of uncooked (that is other than as a result of the baking step) meat or meat by-product which es in the form of finely cut flakes, preferably having its largest dimension in the range of 15/1000 inch to 250/1000 inch. The flakes must then be blended with a farinaceous material, such as wheat, serving as an adhesive to form a pasty dough, preferably without adding water. In addition, one can add a small amount of a source of edible oil, such as soy oil or soybeans, which not only adds protein but also serves to bring out the meaty flavor and helps with molded pieces in release of the product from the mold. One can also add other ingredients such as ground corn, for example in the form of flour, to add additional flavor and aroina to the biscuit.The following ranges of ingredients, wherein percentages are by weight, are suitable.

Finely cut flakes of uncooked meat or meat by-product 525% Ground uncooked wheat 4093% Ground corn S20% Source of edible oil, calculated as oil 215% The components are blended to form a pasty dough. To obtain molded biscuits, the dough is fed into a pair of opposing plates defining cavities in the desired shape, such as bones, and then molded therein. The molded pieces are then baked under time and temperature conditions sufficient to form the desired dry, solid, molded product. For example, the pieces can be baked at a temperature of about 3500--6000F for five minute to an hour, conveniently in a continuous oven to reduce moisture content to less than 18% by weight, preferably to a range between 8% and 18%.The high temperatures used in the baking step are particularly important to achieving a dry solid surface that resists mushing. Whereas the prior art has found that palatibility suffers when such high temperatures are used (e.g. U.S. Patent No.

3,1 19,691), products of the present invention have a high degree of palatibility perhaps as a result of combining such a high temperature in the baking step with the use of finely cut flakes of meat or meat by-product.

The product has high palatability throughout.

Accordingly, large size pieces can be provided, greater than bite-size (4 centimeters long or larger) which can be bitten into by the animal without loss of palatability.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring now to the product in more detail, of central importance is the nature of the meat or meat by-product component. As above indicated, it must be uncooked and in the form of finely cut flakes. This is to be contrasted with meat or meat by-propuct which is comminuted by grinding or other such process. The meat or meat by-product can be cut into flakes by processing through a cutting screen wherein pieces are fed by a revolving impeller into contact with sharp vertical knives separated one from another by a distance which provides the preferred size range of 15/1000 inch to 250/1000 inch. Such processing equipment is commercially available, for example, as sold under the trademark "Comitrol" by Urschel Laboratories, Incorporated, Valpa ra iso, Indiana.

Such processing is distinct from conventional comminuting apparatus which grinds, crushes, hammers, mashes, tears or rips.

The meat or meat by-product is fed fresh or frozen in small pieces (generally five or six inches or smaller when fresh and two to three inches or smaller when frozen). The output can then be blended directly with various farinaceous and vegetable proteinaceous material without the addition of water.

As meat, one can use any boneless beef, pork, veal, lamb, poultry or fish, either fresh or frozen.

Thus, the term "meat" is understood to apply not .only to the flesh of cattle, swine, sheep and goats, but also to horses, whales, and other mammals, poultry and fish. The term "meat by-products" refers to those non-rendered parts of the carcasses of slaughtered animals, including but not restricted to mammals, poultry and the like, and including such constituents as liver, kidney, heart, spleen, tongue, trimmings, lungs and skins, embraced by the term "meat by-product" in the Definition of Feed Ingredients published by the Association of American Feed Control Officials, Inc.

It is important that the meat or meat byproduct be subjected to a pure cutting action as above referred to rather than to grinding, crushing, hammering, mashing, tearing or ripping. It is the division into finely cut flakes, together with the adhesiveness of the farinaceous material, which provides the unique characteristics giving rise to the resultant high palatability properties of the product.

After the meat or meat by-product is cut into fine flakes, it is blended with the other ingredients, principally with farinaceous material. By "farinaceous material" is meant those foodstuffs containing a preponderance of starch and/or starch-like material. Examples are cereal grains and meals or flours obtained upon grinding cereal grains such as corn, oats, wheat, milo, barley, rice and the various milling by-products of the cereal grains, such as wheat feed flour, wheat middlings, wheat mixed feed, wheat shorts, wheat red dog, oat groats, hominy feed, and any other such material. Also included as sources of farinaceous ingredients are the tuberous foodstuffs such as - potatoes, tapioca, or the like.Preferably, the farinaceous material is glutenous such as wheat and serves as an adhesive for the dough, the gluten component providing a tenaceous elastic protein that gives cohesiveness to the dough and enhances the elasticity of the mixture. In addition to wheat, corn flour is an advantageous, inexpensive source of flavoring and aroma which enhances the flavor imparted to the product by the meat or meat by-product. The corn flour also prpvides additional protein and serves as an additional source of edible oil.

In addition to the farinaceous material there is added a source of edible oil to enhance the baking of the biscuit and to aid in releasing the molded dough from the die. One could use soybean oil, cottonseed oil, corn oil, or other vegetable oil, or one can use a source of such oil such as soybeans which release oil during the molding process. Soy oil or soybeans are preferred as bringing out the flavor of the meat or meat by-product as well as serving as a releasing agent for the molded product.

In addition to the foregoing ingredients, one can advantageously add effective amounts of an antioxidant as normally used in the food industry.

For example, one can utilize butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), ethoxyquin, or the like, in an amount sufficient to effect the desired antioxidant properties in the product, generally less than 1.0% by weight of the product. In addition to an antioxidant, one may also use an effective amount of an antimycotic as a preservative and mold inhibitor. Examples of such materials include the edible benzoates or propionates, such as sodium benzoate and calcium propionate, as well as sorbate salts, such as potassium sorbate, in an amount sufficient to prevent mold and bacterial growth within the product, generally less than 1.0% by weight of the product. Salt can be added, e.g.

about 0.54% as a natural source of chlorine, to bring out the flavor of the finished product and to aid in preserving the product Up to 20% animal fat can be added, if desired. Additives such as vitamins, minerals and coloring matter may be added at the blending stage although as a result of using the meat or meat by-product and farinaceous and proteinaceous material referred to above, such supplementation is not necessary with the present product.

The ingredients can be blended to a pasty dough, placed into the cavities of a mold and pressed into the desired shape. The shaped product is then placed on the conveyor belt of a continuous oven and passed through a heating zone at 3500--6000F. for a time sufficient to reduce the moisture content to less than 18% by weight, preferably to a range of between 8%-i 8%. The product is then cooled and packaged in ordinary non-hermetically sealed packaging, The following specific examples, in which all percentages are by weight, will further illustrate the invention: EXAMPLE 1 The following ingredients are blended to form a pasty dough:: Ingredients Percent by Weight Finely cut flakes of uncooked beef spleen 12.8 Ground uncooked wheat 63.8 Ground soybean (defatted) meal 17.0 Corn flour 4.3 Salt 2.0 BHT and BHA (50 /0 each) .08 Potassium sorbate .08 The uncooked beef spleen is fed into a Comitrol 2100 meat processing machine equipped with a cutting head in which the separation of the vertical blades is 90/1000 inch to yield cut flakes of the meat by-product 90/1000 inch in their largest dimension. The wheat is ground in a Prater Pav 1 OC rotary centrifugal mill with a 2 mm. screen.

The soybean meal is ground through a 30/1000 inch screen in the Comitrol. The above ingredients are then placed in a mixer and blended to a pasty dough which is placed into a mold and shaped into bones about 4 inches long. The bones are then baked in a continuous oven at 5000F for 17 minutes to yield dry solid molded pieces having a moisture content of less than 1 8 weight percent and having high palatability throughout.

EXAMPLE 2 The following ingredients are blended to form a pasty dough: Ingredients Percent by Weight Finely cut flakes of uncooked beef liver 15.0 Ground wheat 49.9 Corn oil 2.0 Soybean meal 5.0 Corn flour 12.5 Milo 15.0 BHT and BHA (50% each) .06 Potassium sorbate .06 The beef liver is ground through a 30/100 inch screen in a Comitrol 2100 meat processor. The wheat and milo are ground in a Prater Pav 1 OC centrifugal mill with a 2mm. screen. The soybean meal is ground through the 30/100 screen of the Comitrol. The ingredients are placed in the mixer and blended into a pasty dough. After mixing thoroughly, a moisture run on the product is found to be between 32% and 33%. The product is placed in a mold and shaped into bones which are then baked in a continuous oven at 5000for 17 minutes to yield a high palatability product having a moisture content of less than 18%.

EXAMPLES 3, 4 and 5 The procedure of Example 1 can be repeated substituting horse meat, deboned chicken and deboned fish, respectively, for the beef spleen.

Claims (20)

1. A pet-food product in the form of dry, solid, pieces having high palatability throughout, comprising the combination, baked to less than 18% moisture by weight, of substantial quantities of uncooked farinaceous material and finely cut flakes of uncooked meat or meat by-product.

2. The product of claim 1 including a source of edible oil in said combination.

3. The product of claim 2 in which said source of edible oil is selected from soybeans and soy oil.

4. The product of claim 1 in which said pieces are of a size substantially greater than bite-size.

5. The product of claim 4 in which said pieces are at least 4 centimeters long.

6. The product of claim 1 in which said flakes are no more than 1/4 inch in their largest dimensions.

7. The product of claim 6 in which said flakes have their longest dimensions in the range of 15/1000 inch to 250/1000 inch.

8. The productof claim 1 in which said farinaceous material is wheat.

9. The product of claim 1 in which said meat or meat by-product comprises beef liver.

10. The product of claim 1 in which said meat or meat by-product comprises beef spleen.

11. The product of claim 1 in which said combination has the following ingredients in the percentage-by-weight amounts indicated, exclusive of moisture: Finely cut flakes of uncooked meat or meat by-product 525% Ground uncooked wheat 4093% Ground corn 0-20% Source of edible oil, calculated as oil 2-1 5%

12. The method of making a pet food product, comprising: blending a combination of substantial quantities of uncooked farinaceous material and finely cut flakes of uncooked meat or meat byproduct to form a pasty dough; forming said dough into discrete pieces; and baking said pieces to less than 1 8% moisture by weight to form dry, solid pieces of said pet food.

13. The method of claim 12 in which said baking step is conducted at about 3500--6000F.

14. The method of claim 12 in which said combination includes a source of edible oil.

1 5. The method of claim 14 in which said source of edible oil is selected from soybeans and soy oil.

16. The method of claim 12 in which said pieces are of a size substantially greater than bitesize.

17. The method of claim 16 in which said pieces are at least 4 centimeters long.

18. The method of claim 12 in which said flakes are no more than 1/4 inch in their largest dimension.

19. The method of claim 1 8 in which said flakes have their largest dimension in the range of 15/100 inch to 250/100 inch.

20. A method as claimed in any one of claims 10 to 1 9 in which said pieces-are baked to a ranqe of between 8% and 18% moisture by weight.

20. The method of claim 12 in which said farinaceous material is wheat.

21. The method of claim 12 in which said meat or meat by-product comprises beef liver.

22. The method of claim 12 in which meat or meat by-product comprises beef spleen.

23. The method of claim 12 in which said combination has the following ingredients in the percentage-by-weight amounts indicated, exclusive of moisture: Finely cut flakes of uncooked meat or meat by-product 525% Ground uncooked wheat 4093% Ground corn 0-20% Source of edible oil, calculated as oil 215% New claims or amendments to claims filed on 30 Oct 1979.

Superseded claims 1-23.

New or amended claims:

1. A pet-food product in the form of dry pieces, each having a hard, solid outer surface and high palatability throughout, comprising a combination, baked to less than 1 8% moisture by weight, of the following ingredients, on a dry weight basis: Finely cut flakes of uncooked meat or meat by-product 525% Ground uncooked farinaceous material 4093% Ground corn 0-20% Source of edible oil, calculated as 2-1 5% oil

2. A pet food product as claimed in claim 1 in which said source of edible oil is selected from soybeans and soy oil.

3. A pet food product as claimed in claim 1 or 2 in which said pieces are at least 4 centimeters long.

4. A pet food product as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3 in which said flakes are no more than 1/4 inch in their largest dimensions.

5. A pet food product as claimed in claim 4 in which said flakes have their longest dimensions in the range of 15/1000 inch to 250/1000 inch.

6. A pet food product as claimed in any preceding claim in which said farinaceous material is wheat

7. A pet food product as claimed in any preceding claim in which said meat or meat byproduct comprises beef liver.

8. A pet food product as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6 in which said meat or meat byproduct comprises beef spleen.

9. A pet food product as claimed in any preceding claim in which said combination has been baked to a range of between 8% and 18% moisture by weight.

10. A method of making a pet food product, comprising: blending the following ingredients on a dry weight basis: finely cut flakes of uncooked meat or meat by-product 5-25% ground uncooked wheat 4093% ground corn 0-20% source of edible oil, calculated as oil 2-1 5% to form a pasty dough; forming said dough into discrete pieces; and baking said pieces at a temperature of at least 3500F to less than 18% by weight to form dry pieces of said pet food, each having a hard, solid outer surface, and high palatability throughout.

11. A method as claimed in claim 10 in which said baking step is conducted at 3500 to 6000F.

12. A method as claimed in claim 12 or 13 in which said combination includes a source of edible oil.

13. A method as claimed in claim 12 in which said source of edible oil is selected from soybeans and soy oil.

14. A method as claimed in any one of claims 10 to 13 in which said pieces are at least 4 centimeters long.

15. A method as claimed in any one of claims 10 to 14 in which said flakes are no more than 1/4 inch in their largest dimension.

16. A method as claimed in claim 1 5 in which said flakes have their largest dimension in the range of 15/1000 inch to 250/1000 inch.

17. A method as claimed in any one of claims 10 to 16 in which said farinaceous material is wheat.

18. A method as claimed in any one of claims 10 to 17 in which said meat or meat by-product comprises beef liver.

19. A method as claimed in any one of claims 10 to 17 in which said meat or meat by-product comprises beef spleen.