Why Are Pet Food Trials Needed?
Pet food manufacturers rigorously test their products to ensure it is safe for consumption and nutritionally balanced. Palate Pro’s focus is on assessing the palatability (how yummy the food is) of pet foods: does your pet enjoy the taste of their food? Do they finish their meal or just have a nibble and ignore?
Why is assessing the palatability of pet food products advantageous? Pet food manufacturers may make adjustments to their recipes, change suppliers for ingredients and want to ensure there is no impact (or a positive impact) on the palatability of their product. Alternatively, they may want to compare their product to a different brand to see how it performs, or assess how yummy their brand new product is, before bringing it to the market.
By partnering with real pet owners to test the palatability of pet foods at home, we can provide real world feedback to pet food manufacturers to ensure our pets have food they enjoy!
To safeguard the health of pet participants, our research has been approved by the NSW Department of Primary Industry Secretary’s Animal Care & Ethics Committee and is conducted in compliance with the relevant legislation¹.
SO HOW DOES IT Work?
We run regular trials, commonly over 2 – 4 consecutive days. There is no strict obligation to participate in all trials (though it is encouraged) – you choose what works for you and your pets. When a new trial is planned, you will be contacted to see if you want to participate.
We have several locations at Vet clinics across the Northern Rivers, where you can pick up your food parcels, bowls, weighing scales and trial instructions. There is no cost to you. We do ask that if you choose to opt out of the program at any point, that you return the bowls and scales to us.
We run regular trials, commonly over 2 – 4 consecutive days. There is no strict obligation to participate in all trials (though it is encouraged) – you choose what works for you and your pets. When a new trial is planned, you will be contacted to see if you want to participate.
When the trial commences, it’s as easy as following the trial instructions:
4. Observe your pet and add any relevant observations in the Palate Pro App.
1. At each meal, weigh out the correct food parcel in the assigned bowl to match the required weight for your pet.
3. When the 30 minutes is complete, pick up the bowl, interrupting feeding if necessary. Record the time and details in the Palate Pro App.
2. Set a countdown timer for 30 minutes and place the food bowl down for your pet to eat – start the timer. Record the time and details in the Palate Pro App.
When the trial commences, it’s as easy as following the trial instructions:
1. At each meal, weigh out the correct food parcel in the assigned bowl to match the required weight for your pet.
2. Set a countdown timer for 30 minutes and place the food bowl down for your pet to eat – start the timer. Record the time and details in the Palate Pro App.
3. When the 30 minutes is complete, pick up the bowl, interrupting feeding if necessary. Record the time and details in the Palate Pro App.
4. Observe your pet and add any relevant observations in the Palate Pro App.
Benefits of participating
For each pet trial you successfully participate in, you will receive a gift voucher, and the more trials you enter, the more chances of winning a grand prize of $500! Of course, there is also the benefit of free pet food during the trial!
Beyond this, these trials benefit all our pet dogs and cats. The pet food industry is constantly evolving, and
new and improved food products are consistently being developed. It is essential that these pet foods are
determined to be readily accepted by pets before bringing them to market.
And bringing new and improved pet foods to market benefit pets globally! For example:
Using more environmentally
sustainable ingredients.
• Developing diets tailored for specific chronic diseases.
• Inclusion of novel proteins to minimise intestinal issues.
© by Palate Pro – advancing the future of pet nutrition through real-life feeding trials. Palate Pro is an independent research and testing program.
