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March
2005
Top Pet Food Makers Eye Market
For Aging Dogs
The increasing popularity of dogs as pets in Japan means that there are
more varieties of dogs and more owners with older dogs. That, in turn, has
created a growing market for healthy pet foods and dietary supplements.
Leading makers of dog foods are now strengthening their lineups with this
expanding market in mind. Nisshin Pet Food Inc. will begin mail-order
sales of a new line of dog food in April that will be the first pet food
to integrate the anti-aging substance coenzyme Q10. The company has
prepared a lineup of nine food choices that are specially formulated for
dogs of different types, ages and health. At a price of 2,000 yen per
kilogram, the product costs 30% more than even high-end regular dog food.
But in addition to incorporating CoQ10 in amounts of 10mg per 100g, the
container will be stamped with the production date so consumers know that
the product is fresh. Nisshin Pet Food aims for sales of 200 million yen
in the first year. Meanwhile, Unicharm PetCare Corp. is branching out into
the dietary supplement business with a product designed to strengthen the
bones of dogs and maintain healthy skin and fur. The company will target
marketing at owners of older dogs that have been alive for seven years or
more, trumpeting the ability of the supplement to fortify the pelvis and
joints. Sold as a one-a-day tablet, the company is selling the supplement
in a bottle of 50 tablets for 1,030 yen.
(The Nikkei Business Daily, March 28, 2005)
Govt
Panel Expected To Call For Easing BSE Testing Rule March 28
The prion subcommittee of the Food Safety Commission is expected to
reconfirm on March 28 its call to ease the current rule requiring tests
for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease, on all
cattle whose meat is sold in Japan, government officials said Friday. The
subcommittee will likely submit its recommendations to the commission by
March 31, after which the public will be asked for its opinion on the
matter. The commission will then present its proposals on revising the
food safety standards to the Agriculture and Health ministries in April.
(The Nihon Keizai Shimbun, March 18, 2005)
January
2004
The
government will seek tighter
international inspections for Mad Cow Disease. The intergovernmental
organization, known as the OIE, is responsible for monitoring contagious
diseases among livestock. Japan requires BSE screening for all domestic
cattle slated for shipment as part of one of the world's most stringent
inspection programs. But international standards require that the U.S.,
which annually ships 35 million head of cattle, inspect only about 500.
The U.S. government screens around 20,000 head of cattle. During the
organization's general meeting in May, the Japanese government will tout
the effectiveness of its comprehensive screening initiative and call for
an increase in minimum sample standards. Officials are also expected to
seek inspections for cattle less than two years old, which are considered
to be safe under international standards. Among the nine cases of BSE
discovered in Japan, two were from cattle younger than two years old.
(January 12, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun)
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