Pet Food
Functional Treats & Supplements that enhance pet wellness and vitality
We produce innovative functional pet treats and supplements – biscuits, chews, jerky strips, powders, oils, toppers, and soft chews – that are purposefully designed for targeted health benefits, like longevity, mobility, and gut health, with regulatory compliance and consumer preference.
Pet Food Formulation & R&D Services
Functional Treats & Supplements
Functional treats and supplements encompass a vibrant and rapidly growing product area that serves as a bridge to nutrition and health. They go beyond simple treats to provide functional ingredients based on scientific evidence to help maintain wellness proactively, manage the aging process more effectively than the aging process, and address specific health conditions such as joint support, gut balance, calmness, and immunity. Examples of formats that have derived from this segment include functional biscuits, chewable acts, jerky strips, powders, oils, food toppers, and gummies or soft chews that will contain functional actives like collagen and calming botanicals. [1]
This segment is growing the fastest and continues to expand in the supplement space because consumers are demanding more individualized and preventative care suitable for longevity, mobility, and gut health. Regulatory organizations (AAFCO, FEDIAF, veterinary authorities) guide on claims, safety and labeling, to help ensure transparency for efficacy of products. [2]
At the Food Research Lab, we utilize robust nutritional science, ingredient research, and formulation technology to produce functional treats and supplements that continually deliver on global safety and quality while providing excellent palatability and targeted health benefits.
Scientific and R&D Approach
The Research and Development methodology employed in our products integrates the most current scientific advances and consumer expectations to create functional treats and supplements centered on the health outcomes for the pet:
Targeted formulations:
Products that contains probiotics, omega-3 fatty acids, collagen peptides, botanicals (e.g. turmeric), and numerous bioactives to help achieve targeted health outcomes (e.g. joint support, calming).
Product Innovation:
Guarantees to offer a choice of product forms- including chewables and jerky strips for convenience, powders and oils to facilitate dose adjustment, and soft chews for palatability.
Palatability and acceptability:
Unique and different flavor combinations and textures that promote acceptability across life stages and breed variation of dogs
Safety and shelf-life:
Processed under controlled manufacturing, with tailored shelf-stable products (stable in respect to being free from spoilage and/or pathogens) and stability of relevant bioactives.
Regulatory Compliance:
All products are produced in accordance with the applicable international pet food or supplement (health products) regulatory guidelines to help facilitate veterinarian acceptance and streamline the approval process for the pet supplement market.
Science Engineered:
Conveniently provides scientific development through both in vitro and in vivo, and clinical data to meet the health claims, easy optimization designed for life stage and breed, plus efficacy and safety.
- Functional delivery of supplements into your everyday feeding habits.
- Specific health supports for longevity, joint mobility, digestive balance, stress mitigation, and skin health.
- Highly palatable formats built with real meats, natural flavoring, and soft texture.
- Different product forms to allow for user preference and functional needs.
- It is our practice to extensively quality control for potency and shelf stability, maintaining consistency for our customers.
- A variety of products for configuration for a deduction of life stage or clinical support. [3]
We focus on high-quality, bioavailable ingredients.
- Proteins and hydrolysates for delivering functional support.
- Collagen and glucosamine for joint support.
- Probiotics, prebiotics, and digestive enzymes for gut health.
- Omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants for anti-inflammatory support.
- Botanical extracts that have been shown to support calming and immune-modulating properties with clinical research.
- Natural flavor systems and binders that add texture and palatability to a product. [4] [5]
Functional treats and supplements should be dosed according to the pet’s weight and health needs and are flexible as they offer several feeding options such as:
- Chews, jerky strips, and biscuits offer a tasty self-contained serving.
- Powders, oils, and toppers can be mixed in with the pet’s regular food.
- Gummies and soft chews are beneficial for pets that are more sensitive or older and need gentle supplementation.
- Always taper the addition of supplements over 7-10 days to see if any gastrointestinal complications occur.
- Always have fresh water available while associating supplementation.
- Always consult with a veterinarian as a supplement to help with health precede the use of therapeutic diets to make sure there is no nutrient overlapping. [6]
Targeted Product Formats
| Product Format | Description | Key Benefit |
| Biscuits | Crunchy functional snacks that have a vitamin or botanical functional benefit | Convenient palatable, daily supplementation |
| Chews | Soft or firm chewable treats that are infused with joint, calming, or gut actives | Easy to administer functional health treat. |
| Jerky Strips | Natural textured treats with bioactive ingredients | Highly palatable with the added benefit of chewing behavior |
| Powders | Nutrient blends and actives that can be simply sprinkled or mixed into your pet’s regular meals | Flexible dosing target; ideal for pets with digestive or coat health issues |
| Oils | Concentrated omega-3 and/or botanical extract with oils | Precise dosing and enhanced bioavailability |
| Toppers | Flavor enhancer with probiotics and antioxidants | Increase the palatability of food while providing health benefits |
| Gummies/Soft Chews | Uses gel to incorporate collagen or calming or antioxidant agents | Highly accepted, includes a soft chew and will be beneficial for more sensitive pets |
Life-Stage & Functional Nutrition
Puppies/Kittens
Adults Pet
Senior Pet
Therapeutic Fresh Meals
FRL Service Scope
| Service Area | Description |
| R&D & Innovation | Formulating and reformulating treats and functional supplements with bioavailable actives and a clean-label philosophy |
| Custom Formulation | Creating biscuits, chews, jerky strips, powders, oils, toppers, and gummies aimed at species, breed, or health function |
| Prototype Development | Piloting product texture, flavor consistency, stability, and availability of actives in a pilot-scale |
| Quality & Safety Testing | Testing for microbial load, water activity, oxidative stability, and consistent delivery of dosage |
| Regulatory & Labeling Support | We provide global regulatory guidance for functional treats and supplements, covering AAFCO, FEDIAF, FSSAI, and BIS, including ingredient approval, claim substantiation, labeling compliance, and dossier preparation for market access. |
| Sensory & Palatability Trials | Conduct animal acceptance and palatant effectiveness testing for the various formats of treats |
| Packaging Solutions | Provide recommendations on packaging systems as well moisture and oxygen barrier systems to maintain ingredient integrity and shelf life |
| Scale-Up & Costing | Supports commercial scale production, process validation, and cost for functional treat/chewables. |
Regulatory Landscape for Novel & Emerging Pet Food Formats
Functional treats and supplements for pets are under strict regulatory oversight in all three major markets for their safety, quality, and truthfulness in marketing.
- Global Regulatory Compliance: Functional treats and supplements must comply with regulation to FSSAI (India), FDA/AAFCO (USA), and FEDIAF/EFSA (EU) food safety, ingredient quality, and labeling.
- Health Claims & Scientific Substantiation: Health claims must be scientifically substantiated and approved by respective authorities: FSSAI, FDA, or EFSA; all ingredients should be prominently labelled, their dosage mentioned, and their purpose stated.
- Manufacturing & Quality Standards: Manufactured must follow Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and meet quality benchmarks. (BIS IS 11968:2019 in India, AAFCO in USA, FEDIAF in EU).
- Import/Export & Trade Regulations: Import/export of animal products needs permits, quarantine compliance, and adherence to customs, trade and certification regulations are to be followed: DAHD in India, FDA/USDA in the USA, and EU customs.
- Labelling & Consumer Protection: Correct labelling, ingredient list, nutritional value, expiry, and net weight and compliance with consumer protection and e-commerce laws should be properly followed in all the regions.
Compliance means safety, proper labeling, and access to world markets.
Process flow
Ingredient Preparation
Quality ingredients will be procured for safety assessment (e.g. protein, carbohydrate, binder, and active bioactives) and standardized for compliance and consistency.
Formulation and Blending
The initial step will involve mixing the ingredients together into a homogenous formulation to promote the best presumably uniformity of the nutrient and active ingredient characteristics while protection the desired composition and stability characteristics.
Processing into Product Format:
The product will then be manufactured into the formulation used to deliver the product to the pet (i.e., biscuits, chews, jerky strips, powders, oils) in the form of a manufacturing process such as extrusion, baking, dehydration, molding, etc.; this will optimize the texture and/or size while assisting with the bioactives retention.
Coatings and Actives
Flavors, surface coatings, and any additional functional actives are applied to formulating a palatable product, control the release of contents, or for aesthetics.
Drying, Cooling & Packaging
The completed treats are dried or cooled if needed, filled into packaging resistant to moisture and oxygen, and sealed to maintain freshness and nutritional qualities.
Quality & Shelf-life Testing
Finished products are tested for microbial safety, physical parameters, oxidative stability, accurate doses, shelf-life validation assuring safety, efficacy, and compliance.
Why Choose FRL
- Leading the way in innovative functional pet nutrition.
- Experience across nutritionists, food scientists, veterinarians, and academic researchers.
- Longstanding experience with palatability, safety and regulatory approval.
- Ability to take from small pilot production to full commercialization.
- Customized solutions focused on pet health and pet owner convenience.
Let’s create something Innovative and Delicious together
Food Research Lab strives for excellence in new Food, Beverage and Nutraceutical Product Research and Development by offering cutting edge scientific analysis and expertise.
