Carmel Color in Pet Food

Dry

Some owners of dogs and cats carefully read ingredient labels on packages. Manufacturers of pet food have responded to those customers who are concerned with synthetic colors. Some dry pet food manufacturers choose caramel color to reduce the use of synthetics. Caramel color alone can replace a combination of three certified colors - FD&C Red # 40, FD&C Yellow # 6, and FD&C Blue # 2 - which blended together make brown. The result is a product with a cleaner label and a meaty appearance at an equivalent cost to synthetic colors. Using caramel to replace synthetics also solves a. common problem in digestion that occurs when the body absorbs red colors, leaving the blue and yellow to show a "green effect" in pet stools.

The following is test data on an extruder in an external pilot plant:

Kibble ingredient formula for extruder operating at 113 kgs /hour:

46.5% Wheat
23.0 Poultry meal by-product
10.5 Wheat middlings
19.0 Soybean meal
1.0 Salt

100.0%

A) Control; no color

B) DDW # 605 powder added at 3% level in formula

C) DDW # 640 powder added at 5% level in formula

The caramels in the photo above replaced added synthetic colors injected into the extruder at the following rates:

FD&C Red # 40 - 38.4 grams /minute at concentration 2.27 kgs / 190 liters of water

FD&C Yellow # 6 -135 grams /minute at concentration 2.27 kgs / 190 liters of water

FD&C Blue # 2 - 74.1 grams /minute at concentration 2.27 kgs / 190 liters of water

Market price assumptions:
$32.30 /kg Red # 40
$21.50 /kg Yellow # 6
$75.00 /kg Blue # 2
$ 2.20 /kg DDW # 605 powder

Wet (Canned)

Caramel color standardizes batch-to-batch variation. Most of
the beef-flavored and liver-flavored pet products packaged in fi,
cans contain liquid caramel color. Without caramel color added,
the meat and by-products would appear more gray. A liquid
caramel with low viscosity works best. Caramel is heat-stable at
standard retort processing temperatures.

For the most economical choice, many processors use DDW # 050 (or # 055) double-strength which, as the darkest type, requires the least volume. Other processors use a red-tone caramel like DDW # 201, # 202, or # 203. Within any one class of caramel color, there is an inverse relationship between color
intensity (darkness) and hue (redness). For a balance, we also recommend DDW # 241, # 250 or # 252.

Gravy

A few companies have introduced beef or chicken gravy for the owner to pour over (or stir with) dry pet food. We recommend DDW # 201 liquid for its high hue.

Some premium dry pet food products contain a dust coating on the kibble that includes powdered caramel color with other ingredients. We recommend DDW # 600, # 640, or # 602 powders.

Semi-moist

Semi-moist pet products often resemble raw ground beef in appearance. Processors can achieve this by adding DDW # 602 powder and FD&C Red # 40 or a natural red color. If a redder caramel is needed, try DDW # 640 or # 643.

Treats /Snacks

Bakers can obtain an appealing reddish-brown tone in a dog biscuit by applying DDW # 610 powder or DDW # 201 liquid at 1% to 2% of dough weight.

Pet food processors apply caramel color in a variety of other treats such as bones, bacon chews, rawhide, and jerky sticks. Caramel serves as a key ingredient in a beef coating. Caramel is water-soluble and versatile. D.D. Wiliamson's liquid and powdered products in solution range from pale yellow to reddish-brown to medium-brown to nearly black.

D. D. Williamson, 1901 Payne Street, Louisville, KY 40206. Tel: 502-895-2438; Fax: 502-895-7381.