CHEW PRODUCT IMPREGNATED WITH CALCIUM

摘要

It has now been discovered that impregnated calcium, preferably precipitated calcium carbonate, may advantageously replace titanium dioxide as a whitening agent for rawhide chew products. Calcium has several desirable properties as a whitening agent compared to titanium dioxide including: 1) readily commercially available forms of calcium are already food grade and do not incur any additional effort to remove harmful impurities; 2) calcium provides nutritive value while titanium dioxide does not; 3) calcium has mild abrasive qualities thereby aiding dental hygiene. Rather than a mere coating, the present invention provides for a chew product which is impregnated with calcium. Therefore the desirable properties imparted by calcium are prolonged because calcium which is impregnated beneath the rawhide surface is not easily removed compared with calcium which is merely coated on the rawhide surface.