The Raw Materials

The Raw Materials – High Quality, Low-Ash Animal Proteins, No Vegetable Substitutes…
All of the technology and commitment in the world cannot compensate for poor quality ingredients. For this reason, our teams source ingredients from well-known suppliers of human foods for chicken and various nonindustrial growers and cooperatives in Italy. Some ingredients are sourced from other European Union countries like France and Denmark due to lack of availability in Italy, whole dehydrated egg and herring for example. We insist that the original sources of ingredients are inspected as fit for human consumption. No compromises and no excuses in this regard. Italians are very picky about what they eat and this applies to pet food as well..

Farmina N&D is the only major pet food company in the world to have proactively filed a "Pledge to Quality and Origin" with Truth About Pet Food.

Protein
Farmina Pet Foods utilizes protein from true wild boar, chicken, herring, codfish and eggs. The fresh and dehydrated chicken in N&D is sourced exclusively from Italian chickens that are slaughtered only a few hours from our plants. Our boar is harvested in the hills of Tuscany and Umbria and our fish taken from the clean, cold waters of Scandinavia. Our fish ingredients are never preserved with ethoxyquin. Naturox is used.
 
We will not use the concentrated sources of vegetable protein that have become so common in dog and cat foods, even high-end foods. Our protein is from animal sources and ranges from 92% of total protein to as high as 97%. We also formulate our foods with low ash and controlled levels of calcium and phosphorous. Protein quality is of paramount importance, as cheaper sources with high bone content cause ash levels to rise to what we consider unsafe levels. High ash may interfere with nutrient absorption, is linked to skin and coat problems and has the potential to damage kidney function in the long-term. In some formulas, we use small amounts of naturally derived animal-based protein concentrates to balance the formulas to perfection.

Fats
Fats represent a primary source of energy for dogs and cats. The choice of lipids to be used is of fundamental importance also to the goals of appetizing and to the contribution of all the essential fat acids for a correct nutrition.
The fat from chicken, the oil from fish, the vegetable oils, among which those contained in the flax seed, allow furnishing the animals the required essential fat acids.
Furthermore, the percentage of fatty acids omega-3 type and fatty acids omega-6 type, is held in the proper ratio, thanks to the balanced mix of raw materials bearer of lipids.
All this allows for control of inflammation and maintenance in good condition of the skin and fur.
Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), in fact, play an important role in the maintenance of skin function, maintaining more stable all membranes, thus ensuring greater elasticity to skin protecting it from aging.

Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are another important source of Energy for dogs and cats. In particular carbohydrates provide readily available Energy.
The digestibility and availability of carbohydrates of our foods derive from the raw materials use, as first class rice and corn, OGM free, and from technological processes and controls which they are subject.
Treatment with twin-screw extruders, as the ones used by us, allows to enhance maximum digestibility and availability of these important nutrients.
In terms of controls, important are all activities developed to ensure the absence of mycotoxins and aflatoxins.

Fibers: modulators of digestion and assimilation
In a balanced food, the correct intake of fiber plays an important role in the regulation of intestinal transit of food ingested.
Farmina products utilizes as an important source of fiber beet pulp, which promotes the formation of good stool consistency. The beet pulp contributes to keep the intestine in good health, also thanks to the action of fatty acids, also thanks to the action of short-chain fatty acids produced by their fermentation by the intestinal microflora, representing a primary energy source for the intestinal villi.
Similarly, the use of substances in Farmina products bearers of fructo-oligosaccarides (FOS), can produce beneficial effects in the intestine, promoting the development of lactic flora, an antagonist of the pathogen.
The presence of yeast, and extracts, rich in mannanoligodaccharides (MOS), in addition to the contribution of direct B vitamins and natural substances with antioxidant, amino acid and peptides easily and completely assimilated, promotes beneficial action on the intestine due to the exclusion of bowel bacteria and the selective removal of potential toxins. Furthermore, yeasts and extracts, strongly activate the immune system specificity.
Farmina pays particular attention to the mix of fiber products for certain species, races and classes of animals. For example, for those who show special predisposition to constipation or the tendency to gain weight, the product is enriched of pea fiber and cellulose powder. These fibers help reduce enteric problems, promote intestinal peristalsis, and at the same time, help to give a correct sense of satiety in the animal.
The seeds of psyllium, when added, are a natural laxative, and thanks to their content of natural mucilage, determine an increase and softening of the fecal mass.

Vitamins, minerals and substances with targeted effect
Vitamins are essential for proper nutrition because they are the most important driver of biochemical reactions in the body.
Vitamin deficiencies occur in some cases so specific and obvious, in others in a more silent or with a state of general weakening of the subject.
Daily intake of the appropriate amounts of vitamins is important to help the dog and cat towards a smooth operation of all vital functions.
Farmina products, vitamin supplementation is also complete and balanced according to the physiological and developmental stage of the animal.
The application in post extrusion is a further guarantee for the preservation in time of the vitamins included in the food (System Long Life Vitamins).
Similarly, great care and attention is given to the inclusion of mineral through the addition of macrominerals and oligoelements opportunely balanced for each species and category of dogs and cats.
As above, because Farmina attaches great importance to a holistic approach to feeding our four-legged friends, paying close attention to those nutrients which play a requested focused action, and that together with all other components present in competing a global welfare of the animal.
To support the welfare of the joints, especially for food designated to large animals and particular breeds, or animals in old age, Farmina products are fortified with glucosamine and chondroitin.
Taurine helps regulate the osmosis cells and supports cardiac function: its inclusion along with that of L-carnitine in food is exceptionally well designed to increase the mobilization of metabolic body fat storage and preserving lean muscle mass.
Methionine, lysine, cystine are amino acids and the inclusion of which has the task to help increase the biological value of protein in Farmina food products, to respond better to specific amino acid requirements of different species and animal categories.
 Beta-carotene and lutein are two carotenoids with characteristics of pro-vitamins that accompany and enrich the vitamin supplementation in many Farmina products.
Lastly, natural plant extracts from grapes and green tea, enhance the antioxidant action.