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Let's start with those guaranteed
analyses. Protein and fat, because they're deemed to be so valuable
nutritionally, are always minimum guarantees. That means, for
instance, if you put down 5.0% as your fat guarantee, you are saying that
a test of a randomly drawn sample of your product will always show at
least 5.0% fat. Moisture and fiber, because their presence
dilutes the more valuable nutrients, are always maximum guarantees. Thus, a
guaranteed fiber analysis of 5.0% on your label means a test of a randomly
drawn sample of your product will always be at or below 5.0% (If
you wish to label your treat as "low fat" or similar, you'll
have to put down both minimum and maximum levels; check with your
state department of ag). |
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Now let's talk about why it's important that
you fix reasonably attainable guarantee levels for your product.
Nearly all states have programs whereby agriculture department agents draw
random samples from products on shelves of farm stores and pet shops and
send them back to their lab for testing. If you've guaranteed
15.0% protein and they find 13.3%, you're in trouble. No, they won't
arrest you. And they're highly unlikely to remove your products from
the shelves based on just one such incident, but things could get a little
inconvenient for you. So you want to set guarantee levels that you
can always achieve. And yet you can't go setting ridiculous
guarantees, say 1.0% minimum protein or 90% maximum fiber, because
shoppers are going to hold up your bag against a competitor's to see which
is more nutritious. So you really need to set guarantee levels that
you can always achieve but that are attractive to the
consumer. |
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This is a good time to talk about analytical
and product variability.
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Just because you had your product tested
once and they found x protein, y fat, z fiber,
that doesn't mean that batch after batch of your product will have
exactly x, y, & z percent of those nutrients. Heck,
if you ask the lab to retest that same sample, they will produce
results a few tenths of a percent different from the first time (if
they're a decent lab). Analytical chemistry is pretty good,
but not perfect. Obviously, the same holds true for the state
ag labs, too (which is why, incidentally, they tolerate small deviations from guarantees). |
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But that variability is minor compared
to your product variability. Oh, the dry powdered or granular
ingredients you use (flour, sugar) should not vary significantly
from batch to batch, but the coarser materials, like raw meat
products, fruits and vegetables will vary considerably in nutrient
content. |
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And that's still nothing compared to the
biggest variables: your cooking time and temperature. Part of
what you're doing when you bake something is driving off some of the
moisture from your batter. And moisture has a complementary
relationship with the other nutrients. Bake a dry cookie,
and you get higher protein, fat and fiber levels. Bake a
mooshy one, and you have less protein, fat and fiber (because
there's more water, there's less "room" for the other
nutrients, so to speak). So try to keep cooking conditions
constant! |
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