Nutrition Lab

Welcome to the Nutrition Lab

Pet nutrition. Here at Ainsworth it's our top priority. In fact, for more than 75 years the sole focus of the Lang family has been to provide the healthiest and safest pet food and treats for your pets and ours. We believe that our singular focus and independent approach to animal nutrition allows us to leverage the best information from available pet science and utilize it in ways that allow us to continually produce nutritious products.

Next: Our Nutrition Philosophy

Our Nutrition Philosophy

A True Commitment: From the moment George Ainsworth Lang made his first bag of dog food in 1933, our sole focus has been on providing safe and nutritious food for pets. Today, as America's oldest family-owned and operated pet food company, pets continue to be our sole focus. And because we are privately owned, we don't have to answer to Wall Street or some big holding corporation. We only answer to ourselves and the pet parents we serve. And we intend to keep it that way.

Independently Nimble: Because we have an independent mindset, we can have a greater focus on delivering the best pet nutrition available. While there has been much good research done on canine and feline nutrition, many large companies aren't flexible enough to be able to institute these findings. We can. And we do. Every day. Because at the end of every day we know that pet food is the only source of nutrition our pets are getting. And we know we have to get it right.

Ingredients Matter: At Ainsworth, we have an "every ingredient for a purpose philosophy." We use only the highest-quality ingredients that we know meet a specific need for a pet or pet parent. We also focus on the effect our ingredients have on animal performance. In some cases, it could be as simple as your pet's enthusiasm over one of our brands, or it could have a deeper meaning like improved skin and coat or better digestion. No matter what ingredients we use, you can be sure we can trace each and every one of them through our entire supply and manufacturing chain to ensure the pet foods we make are safe.

Previous: Welcome to the Nutrition Lab Next: Meet Our Team

Ainsworth Nutrition Lab Team

At A Glance: We've assembled a group of some of the brightest, most passionate and compassionate people in the industry. People who care as much about your pets as they do their own. Working together without the big corporate politics or pretenses, our team can roll up their sleeves and focus on getting the job done, getting it done right, and at the end of the day, making a nutritionally sound pet food we are proud to put our name on.

Tom
Ruben
Rudy

Previous: Our Nutrition Philosophy Next: Where We Stand

Where We Stand

We know there are a lot of hot button topics out there on pet food ingredients and pet nutrition. We'll let you know where we stand as a company based on proven nutritional science.

Corn as the enemy: There is a lot of debate around corn. But nutrition is all about balance. And every ingredient has some pros and cons. Some people believe corn allergies are an issue. That may be so in a few dogs or cats, but that's not the case for all of them. While rice is highly digestible, you can also use corn to make a product with good digestibility. In addition, when we make any of our products with corn we balance it with other ingredients to ensure proper digestion. By making a variety of products some with corn and some without, consumers have a much larger range to choose from, making it easier to find a product that meets their specific needs.

The real story behind ethoxyquin: Ethoxyquin is an antioxidant — and a very effective one. Like any other preservative that's used in high levels, there's always a question mark around what side effects it has. At Ainsworth, we believe that ethoxyquin is safe when used in a manner consistent with regulations. That being said, it is an artificial preservative and there are other ways to prevent the premature oxidation of food. All pet food needs to have ingredients that will slow down oxidation so that when you get the food home the fats and oils are in their best state. Ethoxyquin achieves this the best. But there are natural preservatives out there like mixed tocopherols, which we do use in our Ainsworth Specialty Brands.

Are all by-products created the same? In an AAFCO publication, they define the difference between poultry meal and by-products meal is that poultry meal comes from the flesh, meat and bone, while by-product meal could contain intestines, feet and heads, which is pretty disgusting and why by-products have gotten a bad rap. Unfortunately, some people consider chicken fat and hearts and livers by products. But these are good ingredients. So, no, all by-products are not created equal. The use of "by-products " is really all about the nutritional value and balancing ingredients for healthy nutrition.

Are there really euthanized animals in some commonly used protein ingredients? First of all, that's not legal. There are strict ingredient regulations that need to be met. At Ainsworth, we go even further to guarantee the safety of our ingredients. We develop relationships with our suppliers. We visit their facilities to view their procedures to ensure our safety standards are being met. We check all ingredients as they come in. We check key attributes to ensure we have the right ingredient. It's these safety checks that allow us, and our consumers, to have a level of confidence that everything is being done correctly.

Previous: Meet Our Team Next: Consumer Advocacy

Consumer Advocacy

At Ainsworth Pet Nutrition, we understand the challenges facing pet parents today. After all, we're pet parents, too. That's why pet food safety is our number one priority.

It's because of this commitment to pet food safety that we have the Ainsworth Pet Nutrition Triple Check System, which allows us to guarantee the safety of our products from the moment we purchase ingredients to the time we ship our products out the door.

In the unlikely event we do receive a report from a concerned pet parent, you can be sure we investigate it thoroughly. Our first step is to go back and recheck everything, starting with our production records to confirm raw material and finished product specifications were met. This process takes about 24 hours. We then work with the pet parent to obtain a sample of the food for further analyses based on the specifics of the adverse reaction reported. If a sample of the food is not available from the pet parent, we will pull samples we've retained from the same batch for analysis. The analysis of the sample is then performed both by internal Ainsworth laboratory technicians as well as by third-party laboratory facilities. Typically, it takes about 15 days to perform all of the complex, yet necessary internal and external testing and analysis.

Previous: Where We Stand

Tom

Job Title:: Lead R&D Manager
Degree:: Ph.D., Biochemical Engineering

"I travel a lot, but when I get home, I'm up to my ears in animals." Next

I have a doctorate in biochemistry from Purdue. My area of expertise is agricultural biochemistry crop science, so that's a very good background to understand the nutritional information of ingredients that are used in pet foods. I worked at Procter & Gamble in a number of roles as well as for a company that made premium juice and a company that makes Jack Daniel's. Every step of the way, my goal was to create premium, quality products for consumers.

After working on high-quality human foods and beverages for years, I received a call about the job here at Ainsworth Pet Nutrition. When the recruiter asked, "Have you ever considered pet food?" I chuckled. But since I love animals, I thought it was definitely worth considering. Then I came to Meadville where I met the Lang family and they sold me. I was taken with the whole challenge of making complete nutritious foods that appeal to the pets, as well as the pet parent.

I think at the end of the day, pet parents are like any other parents. They're afraid they will do the wrong thing. Going forward, I would like to see some of the fear removed behind some of the ingredients in pet food. Sure, some of our products will have ingredients that people don't agree with, but we're not going to dance around the issue and say we don't use them when it makes good nutritional sense. We'll tell people why we know they are good and we'll tell them the reasons. After all, we have 75 years of proven experience to back that up. People need to recognize that most ingredients in pet food are the same as in human food. There's nothing in pet food that isn't approved by the federal government. The funny thing is, you can't say that about people food. The government is actually stricter with pet food. What you can say about pet food is strictly defined and pretty transparent. At Ainsworth, I know we're making really good, safe products that are not only good for the animal, but also appeal to the pet parent too. And that's very satisfying.

The other satisfying thing? Going home to my own animals. I travel a lot, but when I get home, I'm up to my ears in animals. I have a cat that shows up at two or three in the morning and chews on my hair and tells me about the week. I have another one that likes to groom my mustache. Then there are my three dogs. How can you not want to do what's right for them? And working at Ainsworth, I get a chance to do that every day.

Ruben

Job Title:: Principal Food Scientist
Degree:: MS., Food Science at the University of Hohenheiim, Stuttgart, Germany

My background is in food processing with strong management skills. I'm multi-cultural, so I can work in any part of the world. For years, I worked for Nestlé in Germany making baby food. Something that is close to baby food is canned pet food. For me, the same responsibilities I had making safe food for babies is the same one I have for pets. At Ainsworth, I'm the principal food scientist in charge of the development of cat formulas. It's my job to bring cat products from the idea stage to the testing stage to the factory and production stage.

I came to work for Ainsworth because they're a family-owned company that really cares about pets. In addition to that, they care about the people. I never had that before. People really talk to you — it's like a big brother or father talking to you. You immediately get this energy that you want to do more than you normally would. Here, they're really hungry for new ideas and new ways to develop safe pet foods. And because Ainsworth isn't as big as some companies, we all know each other and we work really well together.

I think one of the biggest pet problems pet parents are facing today is obesity. Much like their human counterparts, many pets are obese. I think sometimes people overfeed to compensate for leaving their animals at home all day by themselves. Then they overfeed to alleviate that guilt. I'm hoping with education we can address that. For me, the other thing that pet parents face is the sourcing ingredients from overseas. That's the big plus about this company. We use local farmers to supply most of our ingredients. For me, it's really important to know that we're using ingredients that aren't going to harm the pet.

Working at Ainsworth, for me, is a really great experience. It's like family. Our connections go beyond work. We have dinners together. Share recipes. You can't get that in a big company. It's different here — and that's nice.

Rudy

Job Title:: Vice President, Research & Development
Degree:: M.S., Chemical Engineering

My background in the pet food industry is a little unconventional. I'm a chemical engineer by training — biochemical engineering — which is all about making the best use of the knowledge and information that exists and applying it. I found my way into the food industry and, from there, the pet food industry was a natural transition.

When I started my pet food career with Mars making Kal Kan, I learned that making dry dog food is very similar to making cereal for humans and making canned foods is similar to making spaghetti sauce or beef stew. From a technical point of view and a processing point of view, they're the same. When I migrated to product development, things became interesting. I learned that the regulations around nutritional requirements for pet food are stricter for pets than humans. With humans, you don't need to worry about their food being completely balanced. They can supplement with other foods. But with pet food, it's the only source of nutrition they're getting, so the responsibility is increased. You have to make sure you get it right.

That's part of the reason I came to work with Ainsworth Pet Nutrition. After working at some larger companies, coming here, I am much closer to making a difference. Here my team doesn't have to worry about impressing management. Instead, it feels like we're all in this together, and everyone here is focused on getting the job done right. It's very refreshing to experience that. And since this is a small company, I get to work with everyone directly, from purchasing to production to marketing. It makes it easy to go to the source to get what you need in order to make a good, nutritional pet food. As a pet parent myself, that's extremely important to me.

I grew up with cats, but I've had Shelties for a long time, which I adopted from shelters. Shelties are very unique, smart and loyal to their immediate families. They are fun to be with. I had one that could understand at a four- to five-year-old human level. I had one Sheltie, Lexie, that loved to walk. Every time someone mentioned the word "walk," the dog would go crazy, so I took to spelling it. The dog quickly caught on, so I took to spelling it backwards. Still the dog caught on. Shelties are amazing pets, and they're just part of the reason I love what I do.