Pet Food Recall

Straight Up · Beer please

Pet Food Recall

entre new · Et tu, Brute?

Buttercup wrote:
That will be interesting to see. I don't know how the pet food industry operates, but in the food industry there are several different steps that manufacturers are to take before approving product for use. As an example, I work for ABC company that makes chicken soup mix. The chicken soup mix contains 10 ingredients. When each of those ingredients arrives at our manufacturing plant, they need to be quality tested and approved before using them. Then and only then can the chicken soup mix be made. Additionally, once the chicken soup mix is made, it has to be quality tested before being shipped out.

Now, if we were to get a bad ingredient from one of our suppliers which resulted in Bread getting sick from eating the chicken soup, technically WE would be liable for damages to Bread, because we allowed bad chicken soup mix to be distributed. However, the supplier of the bad ingredient would be subject to legal action by us for providing it to us, even though we took proper steps in protecting the integrity of our product. That's the way it's supposed to work, anyway.
Again, I don't know how the pet food industry works, and I don't know if the normal quality analysis procedures for pet food would detect the presence of the rat poison chemical.

Interesting to know how that works. I never really thought about it before.

entre new · Et tu, Brute?

Buttercup wrote:
In some cases, food manufacturers process food in ways other than for direct human consumption. For instance, one of the things that my company does is use chemical (actually, enzyme) digestion on protein to create flavors. While the parts used are not for direct human consumption, they are perfectly fine for that purpose as the product integrity is changed through processing. k:
To create flavors? Once the flavors are created, how would they be used?

Buttercup · Monkey Proof is Beautiful yet hideous

entre new wrote:

Buttercup wrote:
In some cases, food manufacturers process food in ways other than for direct human consumption. For instance, one of the things that my company does is use chemical (actually, enzyme) digestion on protein to create flavors. While the parts used are not for direct human consumption, they are perfectly fine for that purpose as the product integrity is changed through processing. k:
To create flavors? Once the flavors are created, how would they be used?

They have a very wide variety of applications. You're a vegetarian, so you probably wouldn't see any meat protein flavors in anything that you eat, but if you take a look at a can of chicken noodle soup, or a jar of beef gravy, or almost anything that is seasoned or flavored, you'll probably see "natural flavors" (or "natural and artifical flavors," which is not the same thing) listed on the ingredient statement. Think of these flavors as highly concentrated bouillon, except made from the actual protein source instead of other ingredients. The enzymes used in creating the flavors are naturally occurring, so the end product (flavor) can still be considered natural.

Sweet (fruit, etc.) flavors are derived somewhat differently and are often colorless.

When we have young visitors (i.e., employees' children), I love to put different sweet-type flavors into slightly sweetened water and have them try to guess what the flavors are - sometimes I'll put a little green food coloring into a peach flavor, for example, or purple into an apple flavor, things like that. It gets them thinking outside the box.

entre new · Et tu, Brute?

Aha, so that's why vegetarians are supposed to watch out for natural flavorings.

How are the sweet flavors derived?

Buttercup · Monkey Proof is Beautiful yet hideous

entre new wrote:
Aha, so that's why vegetarians are supposed to watch out for natural flavorings.

How are the sweet flavors derived?

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I don't know why vegetarians should watch out for natural flavors, a natural flavor isn't necessarily a meat based product. A natural flavor can be extracted from just about anything. In the post above I was speaking strictly about meat based natural flavors. If an item (soup, vegetables, sauce, etc.) is labeled vegetarian, it can contain natural flavors (i.e. natural carrot flavor or natural onion flavor for example), but not meat based natural flavors.

Often, listing every single flavor on a label makes the ingredient statement very cumbersome, which is why there could be one or five natural flavors lumped into that category on the label (which is completely within the parameter of labeling laws). Some retailers, though, will put more specific information on the label as a marketing tool.

As for sweet flavors, the process is similar to that of savory but I'm unable to articulate the specifics for fear of revealing proprietary information.

The thing that always amazes me about flavor chemists is that they're able to create anything. I needed a lobster flavor for a bisque once, and while the first one was good, it wasn't exactly what I needed. I told the chemist that it needed to have more tomalley flavor (that green stuff inside a lobster body) and less shell flavor, and he just said, "oh, ok - sure" and was able to do it.

entre new · Et tu, Brute?

Buttercup wrote: I don't know why vegetarians should watch out for natural flavors, a natural flavor isn't necessarily a meat based product. A natural flavor can be extracted from just about anything. In the post above I was speaking strictly about meat based natural flavors. If an item (soup, vegetables, sauce, etc.) is labeled vegetarian, it can contain natural flavors (i.e. natural carrot flavor or natural onion flavor for example), but not meat based natural flavors.

Often, listing every single flavor on a label makes the ingredient statement very cumbersome, which is why there could be one or five natural flavors lumped into that category on the label (which is completely within the parameter of labeling laws). Some retailers, though, will put more specific information on the label as a marketing tool.

As for sweet flavors, the process is similar to that of savory but I'm unable to articulate the specifics for fear of revealing proprietary information.

The thing that always amazes me about flavor chemists is that they're able to create anything. I needed a lobster flavor for a bisque once, and while the first one was good, it wasn't exactly what I needed. I told the chemist that it needed to have more tomalley flavor (that green stuff inside a lobster body) and less shell flavor, and he just said, "oh, ok - sure" and was able to do it.
Okay, I get it. I see that just about anything can be listed under natural flavors. I'm wondering about these flavors which are derived using enzymes though, as vegetarians are always told to avoid enzymes (with the assumption that they come from cows, as when cheese if made). But is there such a thing as synthatic enzymes?

I'm amazed that flavor chemist can do that too. As I've said sbout your job, it seems as though you'd have to have some kind of innate gift for it, as it hardly seems like something that could be taught.If it can be taught, I'd sure like to know how.

Buttercup · Monkey Proof is Beautiful yet hideous

No, you misunderstood me - not anything can be listed as natural flavors. Any kind of natural flavor (whether meat, vegetable, fruit, etc.) can be listed under "natural flavors" IF it is, in fact, a natural flavor. If there's natural chicken flavor, natural carrot flavor, and natural garlic flavor in a can of soup, instead of listing everything individually on the label, the manufacturer may choose to just list "natural flavors."

Not all enzymes come from animals - as an example, papain, which is a very common enzyme, is derived from papaya. Bromelain, another common enzyme, is derived from pineapple.

A good flavor chemist is worth his weight in gold, haha. In the lobster example I gave above, if the flavor chemist didn't know what I meant by tomalley, then we'd have to get a lobster and cook it so he could taste it and make the appropriate changes in his flavor. I have great admiration for them and their talents. Their job relies very heavily on knowledge of chemistry. My job on the other hand, uses a good deal of chemistry but relies heavily on knowledge of and exposure to different tastes, sensations, textures, etc. A lot of it is innate, I can taste anything from a restaurant or retail shelf (or in someone's home, haha) and re-create it at home or at work. Chemistry and technique (knife skills, things like that) are learned.

If there's a college nearby that offers a food science or culinary program, take a basic continuing ed class just for fun. Or you can just ask me questions, I won't charge you tuition. smile

entre new · Et tu, Brute?

Okay, I think I understand about natural flavorings. But it does seem to me that it can cover a very broad range of ingredients, and I guess that's why any vegetarian website I read advises everyone to write to the manufacturer of the product before making any assumptions on what it might be. Like you'd think microwave popcorn wouldn't have any animal-dervied ingredients, but it supposedly does.

I would love to know more about food, but I have to many other classes I need to take so I guess I'll just ask you.

Buttercup · Monkey Proof is Beautiful yet hideous

It's always a good idea to call and ask a manufacturer if you're not sure about the content. However, I cannot stress enough that if there are natural flavors on a label, they must be 100% natural. I am going to check, though, and see if it's a requirement for manufacturers to break out any meat derived natural flavors and list them separately. My company does, but that's mainly because I don't want any of our customers coming back to me if their retail label is wrong, haha.

You have brought up an interesting comment on microwave popcorn, I wasn't aware that animal products are used unless it's in a dairy (butter or cheese) flavored popcorn. I'llhave to look into that.

And yes, feel free to ask me. If I don't know the answer, I have plenty of resources that are a phone call away. smile

-- Edited by Buttercup at 23:04, 2007-03-30

-- Edited by Buttercup at 23:05, 2007-03-30

entre new · Et tu, Brute?

Buttercup wrote:
And yes, feel free to ask me. If I don't know the answer, I have plenty of resources that are a phone call away.
Cool. Thanks!