How Is Pet Food Made?

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How Is Pet Food Made?

Visão Júnior Magazine explains:

We visited a factory that makes food for dogs and cats, and we'll explain everything!

The gates of PetMaxi, in Ferreira do Zêzere, open onto a world where everything is so big that we feel as small as ants. This factory produces the kibble that cats and dogs love so much. Each pet food has its own recipe: for young or older animals, large or small breeds, and so on. To make it, around 100 different ingredients are used, but there are seven that are found in most recipes: rice, corn, wheat, flaxseed, barley, eggs, and meat or fish.

Every day, trucks arrive at the factory carrying cereals, while eggs, meat, and fish are delivered only on specific days because they are fresh products that cannot be stored for long. But how do all these ingredients become tiny kibbles?

QUALITY TESTING:

The preparation of pet food begins in the laboratory. All incoming raw materials must be analyzed to ensure they are suitable for pets. The first step is to collect a sample from each truckload; if the ingredients meet quality standards, they are then unloaded.

This factory can produce up to two thousand bags of pet food per hour.

In another room filled with computers and screens, the recipe to be produced is selected, and the necessary cereals and legumes are ground into flour.

EACH INGREDIENT IN ITS OWN CONTAINER:

At this stage, you'll see bags much bigger than you—almost two metres tall! They are taken to a storage area where each raw material is placed in its own silo. It's like pouring rice into one jar at home, peas into another, and so on.

“EXTRUSION” – WHAT A BIG WORD!

The flour then goes to the extruder, a machine that uses steam to cook it and form a firm dough. The starch found in cereals works like the baking powder used in cakes: it helps the flour expand, cook, and gain the texture of the kibble you're used to seeing in pet food bags.

As the mixture passes through this machine, it is also shaped into little balls and fish-shaped pieces.

LOOK AT THAT WARM KIBBLE!

From the extruder, the moist kibble travels through pipes to a dryer. Here, still warm, the kibble slides along a conveyor belt to the next stage.

… TIME TO PACK:

Depending on orders, the kibble is packed into the bags you see in stores. But this is the stage where machines cannot do everything! Workers are needed to ensure the bags are opened correctly and the kibble doesn't spill everywhere.

THE FINAL TOUCH:

In another machine, the kibble is mixed while poultry fat is sprayed onto it. This coating gives the kibble its shine. Finally, the kibble cools down as it travels along another conveyor belt to a storage area.

AND OFF THE KIBBLE GOES AROUND THE WORLD!

As soon as an order arrives, a forklift loads the giant trucks that head back onto the road. Once loaded, it's time to deliver the products!

DID YOU KNOW...?

- If you want to know which ingredients are in your pet's kibble, read the label on the back of the bag. The ingredients listed first are present in the highest quantities!
- Food for puppies and kittens should contain more fat and protein, which come from meat or fish. That's why these recipes contain fewer cereals. Adult pet food should contain more fibre, so it usually includes more cereals to help maintain healthy digestion.
- Cat kibble must be drier and crunchier because cats like to chew each piece carefully. Dogs, on the other hand, often gulp down their food in seconds, so their kibble doesn't need to be quite as crunchy.

Text: Catarina Gonçalves
Photos: Marcos Borga
Magazine: Júnior, April 2022