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"Food for Thought"
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VACUUM INFUSION SYSTEM
The Firstmate manufacturing process provides healthy, nutritionally balanced food for your
animal companion. Whether your pet is highly active or naturally laid back, the range of
Firstmate products accommodate your pet's nutritional requirements.
At it's own production facility in Chilliwack, British Columbia, Firstmate quality control and
production managers constantly monitor the production process, ensuring that all aspects of
manufacturing maintain the strict quality guidelines provided not only by internal Firstmate
standards, but also those standards as set out by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
Firstmate's unique "gentle manufacturing" process is just that, gentle. At Firstmate we realize
the absolute need for proper cooking of all ingredients, especially those derived from animal
proteins. We realize that improper cooking has the potential to introduce an environment
where harmful bacteria may proliferate.For that reason the Canadian Food Inspection
Agency works with Firstmate to ensure that proper temperatures are maintained during the
cooking process and recorded. At these cooking temperatures harmful bacteria such as
salmonella are destroyed. Firstmate recognizes that improper handling and undercooking of
raw ingredients has the potential to be harmful to your animal companions. Firstmate follows
strict government guidelines and maintains procedures to eliminate these risks.
At the same time, we at Firstmate realize that high heat cooking not only destroys harmful
bacteria, but also destroys good, digestion aiding bacteria. For that reason we have installed
as part of our process, a wonderful machine that allows us to place active enzymes and
probiotics into the dry kibble under cool temperatures and within our "gentle manufacturing"
process. After properly cooking and drying our pet food, the kibbles are "infused" with a
mixture of cool chicken fat or fish oil as well as active enzymes, probiotics, and heat sensitive
vitamins such as vitamin C and especially vitamin E.
 Firstmate's
manufacturing methods ensure that your pet receives not only safe
forms of animal proteins and carbohydrates, but also enzymes such
as protease, cellulase, amylase, and the probiotics as found in nature.
Our process of infusion makes certain that these necessary ingredients
are present within the dry kibble. Firstmate recognized that traditionally
high temperatures used by conventional manufacturers destroy useful
enzymes, and so opted for the revolutionary method of vacuum infusion.
We have found that this system adds so much more to the nutritional
characteristics of Firstmate.
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ANTIOXIDANTS IN PET FOODS
Brad Hicks B.Sc.,M.Sc., DVM, RPBio.
Executive Vice President
Antioxidants are added to food including pet foods to prevent oxygen reacting with fats, oils, fat-soluble micronutrients and pigments. Without antioxidants there would be rapid deterioration of the food through a process known as peroxidation. This decomposition of the food results in off flavours, texture changes, malodours, colour and nutrient loss as well as the production of harmful byproducts.
Antioxidants are categorized as synthetic and natural. The most common synthetic antioxidants are ethoxyquin and butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and butylated hydrotoluene (BHT). These are very effective antioxidants with an effectiveness of about 7 times that of natural antioxidants such as mixed tocopherols.
A five-year study to investigate any negative effects of ethoxyquin found no deleterious effects. Despite these findings consumer pressure has resulted in the use of natural antioxidants rapidly becoming the industry standard.
Vitamins C and E are the most commonly used antioxidants. There are actually 8 different forms of vitamin E and collectively they are referred to as mixed tocopherols.
The difficulty with natural antioxidants is they are more expensive and more easily broken down. This relatively short protective life of natural antioxidants means shorter shelf life for pet foods unless they are protected from oxidation. The use of higher concentrations of natural antioxidants and using impervious packaging allow for extended shelf life without the use of synthetic antioxidants.
FIRSTMATE products are preserved with natural antioxidants and packaged in high barrier efficient packaging to preserve the natural goodness of the food.
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GLUCOSAMINE a Chondroprotective Agent
Brad Hicks B.Sc.,M.Sc., DVM, RPBio.
Executive Vice President
Glucosamine belongs to a group of compounds that are generally grouped
as neutraceuticals. Neutraceuticals are substances, which are processed
in a purified or extracted form and administered orally to patients
to provide agents required for normal body structure and function
and administered with the intent of improving the health and well
being of animals. Glucosamine is a neutraceutical, which is further
classified as a chondroprotective agent (CPAs). CPAs are compounds,
which protect and maintain the integrity of cartilage and other connective
tissues and fluids associated with joints.
Studies have shown that the additions of CPAs to the diet avert and
reverse damaged osteoarthritic joints. Decreased joint pain and greater
mobility result from the protective and restorative properties of
CPAs.
Cartilage in healthy joints consists of an extracellular matrix composed
of collagen and proteoglycans. These tissues are responsible for the
cartilages ability to withstand compression and they supply the lubricant
to give cartilage and joints their slippery nature. Any change in
the matrix, such as degradation of collagen or the proteoglycans,
is felt to be the initial step in the development of osteoarthritis.
The synovial membrane is responsible for the normal production and
turnover of synovial fluid. The action of most CPAs is directed towards
either the hyaline cartilage or the synovial membrane or fluid.
Glucosamine has shown considerable promise in the earlier stages of
osteoarthritis by helping to protect and regenerate connective tissue
and joint cartilage. However, if an arthritic joint has advanced degeneration
and no joint cartilage remains the use of CPAs is very unlikely to
have any beneficial affect.
FIRSTMATE products contain the CPA, glucosamine to help repair the
natural wear and tear that occurs in joints keeping joints functioning
properly. |
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WHY BLUEBERRIES?
Brad Hicks B.Sc.,M.Sc., DVM, RPBio.
Executive Vice President
Firstmate Pet Foods
 The USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging in Boston has developed an assay called ORAC
(oxygen radical absorbance capacity), which qualifies the antioxidant capacity of foods. Fresh
blueberries have a high level of ORAC, 2400 per 100 grams. (As a comparison, five servings of
some fruits and vegetables in a typical North American diet score around 1600)
In a US Department of Agriculture (USDA) laboratory at Tuft's University in Boston, Massachusetts,
researchers found that blueberries rank #1 in antioxidant activity when compared to 40 common
fresh fruits and vegetables.
What are antioxidants?
Antioxidants help neutralize harmful by-products called "free radicals" that can lead to cancer
and other age-related diseases. These molecules battle cell and DNA damage involved in cancer,
heart disease, diabetes, and perhaps brain degeneration. Anthocyanin (the pigment that makes
blueberries blue) is thought to be responsible for this major health benefit.
Health Benefits of Blueberries
Blueberries are packed with the antioxidant pigment Anthocyanin. These antioxidants in blueberries
neutralize free radicals which can damage cells and tissues. Tissue damage can, in turn, lead to
cataracts, glaucoma, varicose veins, hemorrhoids, peptic ulcers, heart disease and cancer. The
blue-red pigments found in blueberries (Anthocyanins), improve the integrity of support structures
in the veins and entire vascular system. Anthocyanins have been shown to enhance the effects of
vitamin C and improve capillary integrity. Their mode of action is to prevent free-radical damage,
inhibit enzymes which can cause tissue damage and directly cross-linking with collagen fibers to
form a more stable tissue matrix. This increased integrity of the tissue matrix is one of the major
beneficial effects attributed to blueberries.
Improved Vision
Blueberry extracts have been shown in numerous studies to improve nighttime visual acuity and promote
quicker adjustment to darkness and faster restoration of visual acuity after exposure to glare
Blueberries and the Brain
Blueberries help protect the brain from oxidative stress and may reduce the effects of age-related
conditions such as dementia. Researchers found that diets rich in blueberries significantly improved
both the learning capacity and motor skills of aging rats, making them mentally equivalent to much
younger rats.
Researchers have also found that after 8 weeks of feeding laboratory rats blueberries (2% blueberry diet),
they saw a reversal of age-related declines in the rats' ability to find their way through the Morris
water maze, a measure of the animals spatial learning ability and memory.
In the rats given the blueberry-containing diet, several Anthocyanins were found in the cerebellum,
cortex, hippocampus or striatum, but not in the controls. These findings confirm that the blueberries
beneficial pigments can cross the blood brain barrier and localize in various brain regions important
for learning and memory. Further analyses showed that the more blueberry Anthocyanin compounds found
in a rat's cortex, the better the rat did in the Morris water maze test, suggesting that the beneficial
actions of blueberries' pigments work directly on brain tissue and are dose dependant.
Protection Against Cancer
In addition to their powerful Anthocyanins, blueberries contain another antioxidant compound called
ellagic acid, which blocks metabolic pathways that can lead to cancer. In a study of 1,271 elderly
people in New Jersey, those who ate the most strawberries (another berry that contains ellagic acid)
were three times less likely to develop cancer than those who ate few or no strawberries. In addition
to containing ellagic acid, blueberries are high in the soluble fiber pectin, which has been shown to
lower cholesterol and to prevent bile acid from being transformed into a potentially cancer-causing
form.
Laboratory studies have shown that phenolic compounds in blueberries can inhibit colon cancer cell
proliferation and induce apoptosis (cell death) in cancerous cells.
Additional Benefits
Blueberries also promote urinary tract health. Blueberries contain the same compounds found in
cranberries that help prevent or eliminate urinary tract infections. In order for bacteria to cause
disease, they must first adhere to the mucosal lining of the urethra and bladder. Components found in
blueberries reduce the ability of E. coli, the bacteria that is the most common cause of urinary tract
infections, to adhere to the lining of the urinary tract thus decreasing the ability of these bacteria
to cause infections.
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