Pet owners have increasing concerns about the nutrition of their pets, and they desire foods and treats that are safe, traceable, and of high nutritive value. To meet these high expectations, detailed chemical composition characterization of ingredients well beyond that provided by proximate analysis will be required, as will information about host physiology and metabolism. Use of faster and more precise analytical methodology and novel technologies that have the potential to improve pet food safety and quality will be implemented. In vitro and in vivo assays will continue to be used as screening tools to evaluate nutrient quality and adequacy in novel ingredients prior to their use in animal diets. The use of molecular and high-throughput technologies allows implementation of noninvasive studies in dogs and cats to investigate the impact of dietary interventions by using systems biology approaches. These approaches may further improve the health and longevity of pets.
Keywords: companion animal; food safety; metabolomics; nutrient digestibility; nutrigenomics.