Finding the right ingredients to support health and wellness claims

October 18 2022 - Blog

Health claims are one of the most important trends in the pet food industry. This was apparent to our innovation manager Geert van der Velden at Superzoo in Las Vegas, as he writes in his recent blog. Health claims on pet food packaging provide many opportunities for manufacturers to help pet parents make the right choices. After all, pet food, snacks, and treats with the right ingredients are essential to ensure that cats and dogs get the right nutrition for their age, condition, and breed.

Pet health claims can relate to many different aspects, from supporting a healthy digestion, for example, to targeting specific health issues. Health claims may also relate to the needs associated with a pet’s age, condition, and breed. Pet food manufacturers can select specific ingredients to make health claims for meeting those needs.

The five most popular health claims

In our white paper, ‘Finding the right ingredients to support health and wellness claims’, we look at the ingredients that can be used to meet the most popular health claims. According to a recent survey amongst almost 1,400 consumers in North America, these are defined as:

1. Healthy digestion (58%) – which can be aided using a mix of prebiotics, probiotics, and postbiotics, including natural dietary fibers, as well as high-quality proteins.
2. Muscle, joint & bone health (52%) – which can be achieved using collagen, collagen peptides, and long-chain omega-3 fatty acids.
3. Skin/coat care (49%) – which can benefit from collagen, long-chain omega-3 fatty acids, and astaxanthin.
4. Immune system support (46%) – which benefits from achieving a healthy digestion (see claim 1), spray-dried animal plasma, long-chain omega-3 fatty acids, and astaxanthin.
5. Heart/cardiovascular health (40%) – which can benefit from long-chain omega-3 fatty acids, beta-glucans, astaxanthin, and taurine as a supplement.

White paper on health and wellness claims

Are you interested in learning more about finding the right ingredients to support health and wellness claims for pet food? Our white paper explains all you need to know about which ingredients to use.

Download the white paper health and well-being claims