A new Petfood Forum pre-con will benefit both newcomers and seasoned professionals alike and offer an overview of two of the most essential areas of dry pet food: production and safety. The event, Petfood Essentials, will take place on August 19, 2020, the day prior to the commencement of Petfood Forum.
Petfood Essentials will benefit pet food professionals looking to brush up on their skills as well as those looking to establish networking connections in an intimate and focused educational setting.
“Petfood Essentials is designed to help people newer to the pet food industry, or those who want to learn about other areas outside of their own functions, gain a strong foundation in the core elements and stages of dry pet food production and safety,” said Debbie Phillips-Donaldson, editor-in-chief of Petfood Industry.
Interactive educational sessions
Starting with ingredients, then moving to dry kibble processing to packaging and stages in between, top industry experts will help attendees understand the key steps and functions of each stage of product development and production — plus the all-important aspects of quality, safety and testing.
Each session of the Petfood Forum pre-con event will provide an interactive, informal environment for learning what professionals need to know about pet food production and safety. Plus, attendees will be able to network with other pet food professionals and interact with leading industry suppliers offering products and services in each of the following topic areas.
- Ingredient selection and sourcing, Serge Boutet, agrologist and animal nutrition expert, SB Nutrinnov Consultants
- Batching, mixing, grinding and milling, Charles Stark, Ph.D., associate professor of feed technology, Department of Grain Science and Industry, Kansas State University
- Preconditioning and extrusion, Ron Tribelhorn, food process engineer, former section head for Procter & Gamble/Iams Pet Food Co.
- Coating, cooling and drying, Griffiths G. Atungulu, Ph.D., associate professor and agricultural/food engineer, Department of Food Science, University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture
- Packaging, William (Scott) Whiteside, Ph.D., Food, Nutrition and Packaging Sciences Department, Clemson University
- Quality, safety and other testing, Michele Sayles, Ph.D., executive director of food safety and quality, Diamond Pet Food
