DUAL TEXTURED ANIMAL FOOD PRODUCT AND METHODS OF MANUFACTURE THEREOF

1 . A dual-texture animal food product comprising:

an outer portion having a first texture with a hardness factor of about 3-10 Newtons, the outer portion comprising at least one cereal grain and a legume at about 75-85% by weight and animal-based protein at about 5-10% by weight, the outer portion comprising a moisture content of about 8-12% by weight of the outer portion; and

an inner portion having a second texture with a hardness factor of about 1-7 Newtons, the inner portion comprising animal-derived grease with lactic acid at about 3% by weight and meat at about 3% or more by weight, the inner portion having a moisture content of about 11-18% by weight of the inner portion;

wherein the inner portion is partially surrounded by the outer portion, and

wherein the hardness factor associated with the inner portion is less than the hardness factor associated with the outer portion.

2 . The animal food product of claim 1 having animal-derived grease with lactic acid applied to an external surface of the animal food product.

3 . The animal food product of claim 1 wherein the outer portion has a hardness factor of about 3.5-7 Newtons.

4 . The animal food product of claim 3 wherein the outer portion has a hardness factor of about 5.5 Newtons.

5 . The animal food product of claim 1 wherein the inner portion has a hardness factor of about 1.5-7 Newtons.

6 . The animal food product of claim 5 wherein the inner portion has a hardness factor of about 4.5 Newtons.

7 . The animal food product of claim 1 wherein the outer portion comprises a moisture content at about 10-12% by weight of the outer portion.

8 . The animal food product of claim 7 wherein the outer portion comprises a moisture content at about 12% by weight of the outer portion.

9 . The animal food product of claim 1 wherein the inner portion comprises a moisture content of about 15-17% by weight of the inner portion.

10 . The animal food product of claim 9 wherein the inner portion comprises a moisture content of about 16% by weight of the inner portion.

11 . The animal food product of claim 1 wherein the cereal grain is at least one of corn, whole corn, wheat, whole wheat, or wheat middlings.

12 . The animal food product of claim 1 wherein the legume is soybean or soybean meal.

13 . The animal food product of claim 1 wherein the meat is beef.

14 . The animal food product of claim 1 wherein the outer portion comprises at least one of vitamins, a mineral, a flavoring, and a preservative.

15 . The animal food product of claim 1 wherein the inner portion comprises at least one of a cereal grain, a legume, a humectant, an acid, a vitamin, and a flavoring.

16 . The animal food product of claim 1 wherein the animal food product is shelf stable.

17 . A shelf-stable, dual-texture pet food product comprising:

an outer portion co-extruded around an inner portion, the inner portion in contact with and partially surrounded by the outer portion;

the inner portion having a soft texture with a hardness factor in a range of about 1-7 Newtons, the inner portion comprising animal meat at about 3% by weight or more, animal-derived grease with lactic acid, starch, and plant-derived protein; and

the outer portion having a hard texture with a hardness factor in a range of about 3-10 Newtons, the outer portion comprising starch and plant-derived protein;

wherein the hardness factor of the inner portion is less than the hardness factor of the outer portion.

18 . The shelf-stable, dual-texture pet food product of claim 17 wherein the starch is provided by corn.

19 . The dual-texture pet food product of claim 17 wherein the plant-derived protein is provided by at least one of wheat, whole wheat, wheat middlings, soybean, or soybean meal.

20 . The dual-texture pet food product of claim 17 wherein the inner portion comprises at least one of an acid other than lactic acid, a humectant, vitamins, a mineral, and a preservative.

21 . The dual-texture pet food product of claim 17 wherein the ratio between the hardness factor of the inner portion and the hardness factor of the outer portion is in a range of about 1:1.1 to 1:2.5.

22 . The dual-texture pet food product of claim 17 wherein the outer portion has a moisture content in a range of about 8-12 wt %.

23 . The dual-texture pet food product of claim 17 wherein the inner portion has a moisture content in a range of about 15-17 wt %.

24 . A process for manufacturing a dual-textured pet food product, the process comprising:

forming in a first extruder, a first dough comprising animal meat, a plant-based starch, plant-based protein, animal-derived grease with lactic acid, and a humectant;

forming in a second extruder a second dough comprising at least one cereal grain, meal provided by a legume, and animal-derived protein;

co-extruding the first dough with a second dough to form a co-extrudate, the co-extrudate comprising an inner portion of the first dough and an outer portion of the second dough;

cutting the co-extrudate into pieces of the dual-textured pet food product;

wherein the outer portion has a first texture with a hardness factor of about 3-10 Newtons and the inner portion has a second texture with a hardness factor of about 1-7 Newtons; and

wherein the hardness factor of the inner portion is less than the hardness factor of the outer portion.

25 . The process of claim 24 wherein the first extruder is a twin-screw extruder.

26 . The process of claim 24 wherein the second extruder is a single screw extruder having a manifold, further comprising using the manifold to wrap the second dough around the first dough prior to co-extruding the first dough and the second dough to form the co-extrudate.

27 . The process of claim 24 and further comprising air-drying the pieces of the dual-texture pet food product.

28 . The process of claim 24 further comprising packaging the pieces of the dual-texture pet food product in commercial packaging, wherein the inner portion and the outer portion substantially retain their moisture content after packaging.

29 . The process of claim 24 wherein the plant-based starch is provided by cereal grain.

30 . The process of claim 29 wherein the cereal grain is corn.

31 . The process of claim 24 wherein the plant-based protein is provided by a cereal grain or a legume.

32 . The process of claim 31 wherein the cereal grain is selected from at least one of wheat, whole wheat, or wheat middlings.

33 . The process of claim 31 wherein the legume is soybean or soybean meal.