Canned pet food

Abstract

There is disclosed a pet food containing a significant proportion of synthetic cheese or meat chunks which are formed from cereal products. The pet food is a canned product and the cereal chunks are stabilized against disintegration and agglomeration during retorting in the canning process by the incorporation of a minor amount of glycerol monostearate in the cereal chunks. The cereal chunks are prepared by mixing a hard or red wheat flour or farina with a minor amount of the glycerol monostearate, a minor amount of fat, a trace to minor amount of a flavoring agent, such as cheese, natural cheese flavor, fish or meat products, and trace to minor amounts of a coloring agent. The mixture is blended with sufficient water to form a moldable mixture which is extruded and chopped or pelleted into molded chunks that can be added directly to the pet food during its manufacture or that can be dried to a storage stable product for subsequent addition to a pet food. The pet food is prepared by blending an aqueous broth, from 15 to about 60 weight percent of a meat having from 20 to about 100 percent fish, from 0 to about 10 weight percent of a high-protein containing cereal meal, and from about 3 to 10 weight percent of the aforedescribed flavored cereal chunks, calculated on their dry weight. The pet food can contain, as optional ingredients, vitamins and vegetables. The pet food is thereafter canned using conventional canning and retorting procedures.