At the 21st Congress of the European Society of Veterinary and Comparative Nutrition (ESVCN), held in Cirencester, the Pet Food Manufacturers’ Association (PFMA) hosted a seminar on 23 September: ‘Pet Food Exposed; Behind the Scenes of the Pet Food Industry’.
Well attended by over 70 veterinary professionals and animal nutrition experts, the event showcased five presentations, by members of the PFMA and the European Pet Food Industry (FEDIAF).
Topics included the nutritional needs of senior pets, new industry guidelines for manufacturing raw pet food, an overview of feedingstuffs for particular nutritional purposes, otherwise known as ‘PARNUTS’, and the work to standardise the predictive equations to determine energy density in pet food.
Andrew Miller, Chairman of the PFMA Veterinary & Nutrition Group, chaired the event, and the lively Q&A session afterwards, which highlighted the breadth of PFMA and FEDIAF’s work.
Sarah Hormozi, PFMA Science & Education Manager explained: “This special event gave us the opportunity to explain how the industry operates and contributes to the science behind pet nutrition. Our members produce complete and complementary pet food, in various formats such as dry, wet and raw products. All of these products are subject to the same strict legislation and made in line with industry guidelines. Production of prepared pet food benefits from a growing body of research and scientific evidence and the ESVCN Congress is a great example of this.”
Seminar presentations are now available at: www.pfma.org.uk/presentations
PFMA Educational resources can be found on www.pfma.org.uk/resources-and-downloads
Notes to Editor:
PFMA is the principal trade body representing the UK pet food industry, our 70 members account for over 90% of the UK pet food market. Members manufacture foods for a variety of pet species including cats, dogs, small animals, birds and fish. PFMA also represents manufacturers of wild bird feed. For more information on the pet food industry, including the latest facts and figures, legislation etc please visit www.pfma.org.uk