PSVI-28 Palatability and Scent Detection of Oxidation Levels in Poultry Meal

Abstract

Pet food made from fresh and rendered high quality meat products are considered safe and nutritious products. Currently the main assessment of meat freshness and fat products is based on peroxide values (PV), quantifying secondary oxidation products such as aldehydes, ketones, and alcohols. Research on how rancidity or peroxidation affects the health/safety of pets has not been adequately investigated. Exploring how Labrador retrievers interact with PV associated aromas, the goal was to observe any correlations in canine aromatic preference to differing poultry meal PV levels. A pilot study was conducted to gather preliminary data and screen 60 Labrador Retrievers (30 male/30 female) for those best suited for this novel aromatic palatability approach. 10 Labrador Retrievers (5 male/5 female) were hand selected from the original group of 60, according to their willingness to interact repeatedly with the aromatic boxes designed to prevent consumption while allowing interaction with varied PV poultry meal aromas. Many dogs lost interest quickly when they learned they could not get to the inside contents of the boxes, making the pilot study a crucial step in the preliminary selection process. First approach was recorded for both trials as well as time spent interacting. Time spent at each box was converted to ratios and both were statistically analyzed. Data falling outside 2 standard deviations from the mean were deemed outliers and excluded from analysis. Ratio analysis examined over both trials pointed to a higher peroxide value (PV) preference, when paired with sample 1, especially sample 5. PV levels 2, 4, and 5 showed significantly higher (p=< 0.05) interaction times and 6 neared significance (P = 0.08), compared to PV level 1. Further exploration could compare all PV levels to one another, determining if a specific threshold or range of preference exists within the 6 levels we examined in this study.