State of the Art Research

The 60,000+ square-foot research facility at our world headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, houses state-of-the-art equipment for conducting research in molecular biology, genomics, immunology, cell physiology, food processing, and food and aroma chemistry. It is just one of our many research facilities.

Purina research scientists and collaborators can be found around the globe. We have scientists devoted to pet food research in Switzerland, France and at three centres in the US.

At these centres, veterinarians, nutritionists and other scientists work together to develop and analyse new concepts in carefully designed feeding studies with dogs and cats. The beneficial impact of controlled caloric intake on obesity and body condition management and intestinal health are examples of some of our research areas. They also collaborate with veterinarians and other scientists at universities and research institutes throughout Europe, North and South America, and Australia.

Our research and development efforts don't stop with innovative nutrition. The effects of various processing variables are evaluated for their impact on product appearance, dog and cat acceptance, and nutritional quality. Innovative production and packaging processes are evaluated at our packaging laboratories to ensure that they positively affect the pet food products being produced.

Using specially designed protocols, different temperature and humidity levels are applied to simulate extremes that might occur during product transportation or storage. Further, shelf-life tests are conducted to ensure product palatability and nutritional efficacy are not adversely affected.

Together, these scientific professionals apply new ways of thinking to bring you innovative diets that are truly breakthroughs in pet nutrition. In fact, thanks to our leading edge research and development, Purina was:

• the first to use low molecular weight protein to help nutritionally manage canine food allergies
• the first to formulate a high protein, low carbohydrate diet that works with a cat's unique metabolism to dramatically reduce insulin requirements in some diabetic cats
• the first to incorporate medium-chain triglycerides in canine diets as a readily digested and utilised energy source
• the first to use high protein levels to sustain lean body mass during weight loss

Nestlé Research Centre – Lausanne, Switzerland

Nestlé has the biggest private facility for fundamental research on food, nutrition, and the link to health in the world. This is the Nestlé Research Centre in Lausanne, Switzerland. The Nestlé Research Centre provides basic science across all product categories and is focused on Nutrition and Health and Well-being.

The Nestlé Research Centre is a ‘window to the future’ of cutting edge research and technology. The Nestlé Research Centre is staffed by over 300 scientists of 45 different nationalities and includes biologists, chemists, physicists, medical doctors, veterinarians, mathematicians, pharmacists, sensory analysts, nutritionists, toxicologists, and engineers. Over 250 scientific publications every year testify to our scientific excellence.