Hill's Pet Nutrition issued US patent for exopolysaccharide containing food

Nevin Barich

Nevin Barich

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia , October 31, 2013 () – According to news reporting originating from Alexandria, Virginia, by VerticalNews journalists, a patent by the inventors Cheuk, Wai (San Marcos, CA); Khoo, Christina (Lawrence, KS), filed on March 17, 2008, was published online on October 22, 2013.

The assignee for this patent, patent number 8563029, is Hill's Pet Nutrition, Inc. (Topeka, KS).

Reporters obtained the following quote from the background information supplied by the inventors: "All mammals require a healthy diet and proper digestion for continued growth and ordinary well being. However, gastrointestinal distress interferes with the ordinary digestion of food. Some of these problems can be quite serious and demand serious medical attention such as Crohn's disease; irritable bowel syndrome, other chronic conditions and the like. Others are of a less serious condition and can be essentially self-limiting such as food borne virus, intestinal flu and the like. Almost all gastrointestinal disorders are accompanied by diarrhea, a loose watery stool which can be extremely unpleasant to the mammal harboring the condition or to a pet owner who must clean up after the pet evacuates, particularly if on a chronic basis.

"It has also been found that some pet foods tend to create or exacerbate a diarrhea condition. For example, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,280,779 issued Aug. 28, 2001, diarrhea can be a significant problem with pets consuming a 'chunks and gravy' diet. In particular, the presence of significant quantities of gum in a 'chunks and gravy' diet, primarily chemically modified starches or gums, but even, to a lesser extent, ordinary natural starches and gums has been associated with diarrhea in pets."

In addition to obtaining background information on this patent, VerticalNews editors also obtained the inventors' summary information for this patent: "This invention is directed to compositions and methods for preventing or reducing diarrhea in a mammal.

"Briefly, therefore, this invention is directed, in part, to a method for preventing or reducing diarrhea in a mammal. The method comprises administering a therapeutically effective amount of a microbial exopolysaccharide to a mammal in need thereof.

"In one contemplated embodiment, the microbial exopolysaccharide is selected from the group consisting of rhamsan, curdlan, xanthan gum, scleroglucan, PS-10 gum, PS-21 gum, PS-53 gum, polysaccharides from Alcaligenes sp., PS-7 gum, gellan gum, curdlan, bacterial alginate, dextran, pullulan, baker's yeast glycan, bacterial cellulose, 6-deoxy-hexose-containing polysaccharides and combinations thereof.

"In another contemplated embodiment, the microbial exopolysaccharide is administered orally in the diet of a human.

"In another contemplated embodiment, the microbial exopolysaccharide is administered orally in the diet of a companion animal.

"This invention also is directed to a pharmaceutical composition useful in preventing or reducing diarrhea in a mammal. The composition comprises a therapeutically effective amount of a microbial exopolysaccharide and a pharmaceutical carrier.

"This invention also is directed to a composition for animal consumption wherein the composition comprises at least one food component; and at least about 0.1% of a microbial exopolysaccharide (based on the dry weight of the composition).

"This invention also is directed to a method for preventing or reducing diarrhea in an animal. The method comprises feeding the animal a composition comprising at least one food component; and at least about 0.1% of a microbial exopolysaccharide (based on the dry weight of the composition).

"This invention also is directed to an animal treat, wherein the treat comprises a microbial exopolysaccharide.

"This invention also is directed to an animal toy, wherein the toy comprises a microbial exopolysaccharide.

"This invention also is directed to a wet food composition suitable for ingestion by a dog or cat and having at least one food component and a diarrhea preventing or diarrhea reducing amount of a microbial exopolysaccharide, preferably a microbial exopolysaccharide comprising a gellan gum.

"Further benefits of Applicants' invention will be apparent to one skilled in the art from reading this patent."

For more information, see this patent: Cheuk, Wai; Khoo, Christina. Exopolysaccharide Containing Food. U.S. Patent Number 8563029, filed March 17, 2008, and published online on October 22, 2013. Patent URL: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=88&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=4365&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=20131022.PD.&OS=ISD/20131022&RS=ISD/20131022

Keywords for this news article include: Hill's Pet Nutrition Inc.

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