Lynn P. Weber, Toxicology Graduate Chair and Professor at the Veterinary Biomedical Sciences of the University of Saskatchewan, will be presenting the talk “Plant Proteins in Pet Food” at the 12th Plant Protein Ingredients Summit to be held in Saskatoon, May 29-31, 2019.
Prof. Weber will talk about trends for use in pet foods, nutritional concerns of the regulatory bodies (FDA and AAFCO) and what needs to be done moving forward.
“I will outline the nutritional deficiencies in plant proteins and the current alarm raised by the FDA about grain-free dog foods causing heart failure. I will make some hypotheses as to why this might be happening and evidence for it, but at the moment, a lot more research is needed before the FDA will remove the warning and pet foods can become solely plant-based“.
She also believes a large investment must be made to improve our understanding of dog and especially cat nutrition in order to increase the utilization of plant proteins in pet foods. “This will take many years and multiple studies to build a body of knowledge to counter the current FDA warning“, she concluded.
Professor Lynn Weber obtained her degree from the University of British Columbia, followed by postdoctoral positions at the University of Calgary and Oklahoma State University before obtaining a faculty position at the Western College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, SK, Canada where she is a Professor and Chair of the Toxicology Graduate Program.
For the past decade, Weber’s research program has included a large focus on dog and cat nutrition. Weber’s pet nutrition program has been driven by industrial partnerships seeking novel formulations for pet foods.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
About the 12th Plant Protein Ingredients Summit
The 12th Plant Protein Ingredients Summit 2019 will focus on:
- New Plant Protein Ingredients
- Novel Plant Protein Process Technologies
- New Plant Protein Applications
Shifting Gears will be more and more important to meet concerns over future food and nutritional security related to protein supply & demand is rapidly rising on the global and European agenda of governments, industries, and agricultural value chains in view of stabilizing crop yields and a fastly growing population.
Growing more plant protein in Canada and North-America is very important from a sustainability, climate and self-sufficiency point of view. The demand for plant protein ingredients is increasing and there are many economic opportunities. Consumers are also seeking more healthy and sustainable diets and they are increasing their plant-based foods intake. And how can we meet the protein needs of 9 billion people in a sustainable, healthy & environmentally friendly way? How can the food industry tap into growing consumer appetites new foods, tastes & plant-based foods? What is the actual potential for plant protein ingredients to move into the mainstream & gain scale to make a larger commercial impact?
Which processing technologies are needed to improve the texture, taste and nutrition of plant protein ingredients? Is there a need for a global protein research agenda? When so, what are the key elements and how can industry and government across the national borders work together. More info