Calculation of Gross Energy in Pet Foods: Do We Have the Right Values for Heat of Combustion?
Institute of Physiology, Biochemistry and Animal Nutrition, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Munich, Germany and; * Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition, Leicestershire, UK 3To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: kienzle{at}tiph.vetmed.uni-muenchen.de. KEY WORDS: • symposium • dietary fiber • prepared pet food • heat of combustion • gross energy EXPANDED ABSTRACT In a previous study considerable discrepancies were observed between measured and calculated heat of combustion or gross energy (GE) of pet foods in data from several laboratories (1). Heat of combustion for all nutrients is covered by a range. Picking one value from that range for calculation of gross energy may result in errors. This might be the case for fiber-containing materials in pet foods such as gelling agents, whose nature and form differ somewhat from those typically present in feeds formulated for agricultural animals. There is limited information on the heat of combustion of these materials. The pres
