Patent Publication Number: US-2002006455-A1

Title: Baby food selection system and method

Description:
[0001] This patent application derives priority from U.S. patent application No. 09/613,166, filed Jul. 10, 2000, which derives priority from International Application No. PCT/US99/25531, filed Oct. 29, 1999, which derives priority from U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/123,449, filed Mar. 9, 1999 and from U.S. patent application No. 09/245,057, filed Feb. 4, 1999, which derives priority from U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/106,888, filed Nov. 3, 1998.  
       TECHNICAL FIELD  
       [0002] The present invention relates to selection of food in sealed, olfactory-isolating containers and, in particular, to a system and method that facilitate food type and/or flavor selection by animals, such as pets, human infants, and human adults, based on olfactory cues that are external to the containers and that may be optionally associated with visual cues or objects.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003] Food types are presented herein only by way of example to pet or infant foods, although adult human food types such as wines or pasta sauces are also considered. Some types of animal or pet food are available in a variety of textures, flavors, or ingredients. Canned cat food, for example, may include poultry, fish, or beef and may be juicy, ground, sliced, shredded, or chunky. This variety makes it easier for the owners of the animals to find particular foods that the animals will eat. Unfortunately, some animals, such as cats or human infants, are notoriously finicky and may choose not to eat certain foods at all. Some animals will, however, joyfully devour one type of food on any given day but refuse to eat the same type of food the next day or the next week. This finicky behavior poses a serious expense problem for the owners of spoiled pets, as well as for the owners of old or sickly pets, which must be encouraged to eat sufficient amounts to keep them healthy. Unfortunately, the labels on conventional animal food and baby food containers are adapted to attract the attention of the animal owner or parent and not the animal or baby, respectively. Similarly, the labels of sauces, wines, and other adult food types sold in sealed containers, such as cans, bottles, or jars, rely largely on visual information to attract a potential purchaser. Accordingly, a method or a system that permits animals or infants to make their own food choices would be desirable. Furthermore, a method or a system that presents consumers with additional information, preferably on the product labels, about a sealed food product prior to purchase would be advantageous to consumers.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0004] An object of the present invention is to provide olfactory information corresponding to a sealed food product to aid a potential purchaser or food consumer in making a product or meal selection, respectively.  
       [0005] Another object of the present invention is to provide a method and/or system to facilitate meal selection by animals or infants.  
       [0006] A preferred embodiment of the present invention employs a scent area integrated into or attached to a food label. The scent area preferably contains the scent and/or taste of the contents within the food container. The scent area may also be covered with a peel-off type cover to preserve the freshness of the scent area during shipping and storage. Animals can sniff or lick the scent areas of an assortment of food containers and show a preference for a meal selection. Alternatively, animals or infants can be presented with food-scented cards, game pieces, or toys to make a meal selection based on the olfactory information and/or associated visual cues.  
       [0007] In a further embodiment, a row, column, or array of spaced-apart scent areas, a set of scented cards or icons, or a set of scented toys can be presented to a pet or infant prior to purchasing the food product, and through sniff and/or taste a pet or infant can indicate which types or flavors of food the animal or infant prefers. The pet owner or parent could then use the preference indications to purchase preferred food types and/or flavors.  
       [0008] Additional objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments thereof, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
     [0009]FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of a pet food can having a distinctive scent area indicative of the contents within the can.  
     [0010]FIGS. 2A, 2B,  2 C, and  2 D are side elevation views of examples of a set of three-dimensional scented toys suitable for presenting to a pet to facilitate meal selection.  
     [0011]FIGS. 3A, 3B,  3 C, and  3 D are side elevation views of examples of a set of three-dimensional scented toys suitable for presenting to an infant to facilitate meal selection.  
     [0012]FIG. 4 is a plan view of an embodiment of a sampler strip containing scent areas for a variety of pet food flavors.  
     [0013]FIG. 5 is a plan view of an embodiment of a columnar sampler strip containing scent areas for a variety of pet food flavors.  
     [0014]FIG. 6 is a side elevation view of a sampler strip of sample cells containing food samples.  
     [0015]FIG. 7 is a plan view of the sampler strip shown in FIG. 6. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
     [0016]FIG. 1 shows a side elevation view of a food container  10 , such a can, bottle, or jar, supporting a label  12  of the present invention. Containers  10  are typically manufactured from materials such as metal, plastic, or glass and are sealed such that the odors of the food products within containers  10  do not readily permeate through containers  10 . Therefore, the odors of the food products are olfactorily isolated within containers  10 , or olfactorily inhibited by containers  10 , and typically cannot be detected by a pet, infant, or product purchaser. The food products comprise dry or wet food types. Such food types include, but are not limited to, pet foods such as cat food, baby foods, soups, sauces, herbs, wines, and cheeses.  
     [0017] With reference to FIG. 1, label  12  is preferably manufactured from porous paper substrates or other materials used for conventional labels or “scratch and sniff” substrates that are preferably adapted to be adhered to container  10  by a nontoxic and odorless adhesive. Label  12  supports a patch or scent area  14  that is integrated into label  12  or attached to an exterior surface of label  12 . In one example for a can of cat food, label  12  has dimensions of about 1″ high by 8″ long, and scent area  14  has dimensions of up to 1″ high to 2″ to 4″ long. Skilled persons will appreciate that the sizes of labels  12  and scent areas  14  can be adjusted to conform to the sizes of containers  10  and can be adapted to the sizes of the animals to which the scent areas  14  are to be directed. Skilled persons will also appreciate that scent areas  14  can be applied directly onto containers  10  or can be directly incorporated into certain types of plastic containers  10 .  
     [0018] In one embodiment, scent area  14  comprises an absorbent nontoxic material, such as paper that has been dipped into or brushed with a scent-producing element, such as ingredients similar to those packaged within container  10 . The scent area  14  is then attached to label  12  with a nontoxic, odorless adhesive, such as Elmers® glue. Alternatively, the material used to form scent area  14  may be dipped into or brushed with one or more scent-producing elements such as an oil extract of the main ingredient or a natural or synthetic compound, solution, or mixture that smells or tastes like one or more of the ingredients packaged within container  10 . For example, edible, non-toxic liquid scents that could be used to scent or flavor the food product can be used to scent or flavor scent areas  14 . Such scenting agents are known in the art and may be commercially available from Yorann Oils, Inc. of Lansing, Michigan. Although scent area  14  is shown as rectangular, skilled persons will appreciate that scent area  14  may be formed in a variety of other shapes, such as circular, elliptical, or triangular. Skilled persons will also appreciate that smells or tastes applied to, or incorporated into, scent areas  14  are preferably nontoxic and have a long shelf life.  
     [0019] In a preferred embodiment, scent area  14  is covered by a protective coating that can be scratched off or a peel-off cover  16  that may, for example, be attached to label  12  with a nontoxic, odorless adhesive around three or four sides of perimeter  18  of scent area  14 . Cover  16  is employed to keep fresh the scent or taste of scent area  14  during shipping and storage of food container  10 . Cover  16  may also include a tab to make cover  16  easier to peel off label  12 .  
     [0020] Additionally or alternatively, scent area  14  may incorporate a version or variation of “scratch and sniff” technology. For example, scent area  14  may be styled after the scent activatible sheets disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,640,931 of Markham where scent area  14  may include one or more consecutively layered sheets of material, or scent area  14  may cover all or only a portion of label  12  where the application of the scent-producing agent is integrated with the label printing process. The microencapsulated scent-producing elements can be rolled or pressed onto labels  12  in a thin film. Microcapsules may be made from a wide variety of materials including, but not limited to, gelatin or synthetic polymeric materials. Microcapsules in a variety of sizes and compositions for scent and flavor release applications are available commercially from several sources, including Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company (3M) in St. Paul, Minn. The composition and thickness of the microcapsule coating may be adjusted to provide desirable fragrance release based on pressure, friction, or other factors.  
     [0021] Another method may be to simply coat label  12  with a liquid solution containing scent-producing elements and then apply a sealing or protective coating over them. One method of applying scent-producing elements to label  12  utilizes the method commercialized by Sandy Alexander, Inc. of Clifton, N.J. This scenting technology is marketed under the trademark “SCENTIFIC™” and employs a press varnish that may be directly applied to printing presses to enable the combination of high-quality color printing and scenting within an in-line operation. This process produces a label  12  with an integrated scent area  14  and permits labels  12  to be manufactured without an additional step. According to this process, the intensity of the scent can be controlled, and the image printed on the sheet material does not have to be distorted or broken up to release the scent. Furthermore, this process allows application in defined spot areas and can allow multiple scents on a single sheet. Finally, according to this process, the scent release is activatible a number of times by a pet owner, parent, or potential purchaser and enables further control of the intensity and control of the duration of the scent. The SCENTIFIC™ process requires no special substrate or paper so conventional substrates for labels  12  are suitable, and the process costs much less that the 3M Scratch and Sniff process.  
     [0022] Skilled persons will recognize that, regardless of the scent delivery system, the scent intensity released corresponding to the food ingredient(s) within food container  10  should be well above the scent identification threshold for pets, infants, or consumers. Skilled persons will also appreciate that the scent intensity of the labels should be relatively little noticeable, and preferably unnoticeable, when scent areas  14  are not activated or their respective containers  10  are dormantly sitting on shelves. Depending on the balance between dormant and activated scent intensity, special superscented scent areas  14  can be manufactured and marketed toward pet owners of old or sick animals that typically have much higher scent identification thresholds than younger or healthy animals. Typically, the larger the surface of sheet material scratched or rubbed, the higher the intensity of the scent. Also, as mentioned above, the intensity may be initially controlled by the intensity of the scent used in the in-line operation. Similarly, the greater the frequency the sheet material is scratched for a particular olfaction trial, the greater the duration of the scent. Other representative, nontoxic scent or flavor delivery technologies are discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,983,404 of Raman et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,039,243 of O&#39;Brien, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,018,974 of Carnahan et al.  
     [0023] In an alternative embodiment, label  12  also includes a distinctive symbol area  20  that includes one or more distinctive symbols or patterns  22  having backgrounds  24  with distinctive patterns, colors, or intensity contrasts. Symbols  22 , backgrounds  24 , and their respective patterns, colors, or contrasts are preferably designed to provide visual recognition clues to an animal or infant to aid the animal in associating particular symbols  22  and colors with particular scents or tastes. Symbol areas  20  may be distinct from scent areas  14  as shown in FIG. 1, or symbol areas  20  can overlap or overlay scent areas  14 . Symbol areas  20 , symbols  22 , and backgrounds  24  are described in greater detail with reference to FIG. 4.  
     [0024] In a preferred embodiment, multiple food containers  10  having different ingredients (and/or similar food types with different flavors or scents) are positioned side-by-side with their respective scent areas  14  facing in the same direction. If scent areas  14  have covers  16 , the covers are peeled off. Alternatively or additionally, if scent areas  14  are scratch-activated, then they are scratched with a coin, fingernail, or other convenient scratching tool. An animal or pet will approach the containers  10  and sniff or lick the scent areas  14  until the animal indicates by pawing, pushing, attending, or vocalizing at a selected container, or indicating by other recognizable means which container the animal prefers to be opened for its next meal. Then the selected container  10  can be opened and its contents fed to the animal. Skilled persons will appreciate that this method allows nonverbal animals, such as pets or infants, to express a meal preference on a meal-to-meal basis. Pet owners or parents might otherwise have to open several food containers to determine what food the pet or infant is willing to eat at a given meal since these animals cannot verbally communicate a preference.  
     [0025] Skilled persons will also recognize that training an animal to make its own meal selections in this fashion may take numerous trials before the animal learns that a scent area  14  and/or a container  10  selection is indicative of meal selection. Conventional animal training techniques can also be employed to teach the animal a specific meal-indicating behavior such as pawing a container  10 . Animal training techniques and particularly cat training techniques are described in “Show Biz Tricks for Cats” by Anne Gordon. Pawing a container is a simple variation of standard tricks, such as shaking, waving, or ringing a bell. The rewards to motivate the desired behavior can be any commercially available treats, favorite foods, or scent selection treats of one embodiment of the present invention. For example, such scent selection treats can be of the Whisker Licken∝s® type, but made to specifically include scenting elements that correspond to the scents and flavors of the ingredients of particular packaged food products such as wet canned cat food. Once the meal indicating behavior for an animal is developed, the animal can then be taught to associate the particular scent areas  14  with the corresponding food ingredients. This association could be facilitated by employing scent selection treats as described above.  
     [0026] In an alternative embodiment, scent areas  14  can form portions of sauce packets having ingredients for flavoring wet or dry cat food with scents or tastes that correspond to the scent-producing agents. The ingredients in the sauce package may be wet or dry or even powdered ingredients that can be mixed with water or added directly to a cat food to enhance the cat food&#39;s flavor or scent appeal.  
     [0027] Once the animal learns the association between scent areas  14  and the contents of the following meal, the animal may eventually make a secondary association between symbol area  20  and the contents of container  10 . Eventually, the meal selection process will become very quick. Skilled persons will appreciate that a human infant will also quickly grasp the scent recognition technique and will display similar or different understandable meal selection cues and will readily progress onto visual recognition cues. Additionally, cards or game pieces containing scent areas  14  can be presented to an animal or an infant to allow the animal or infant to choose a food by selecting a food-scented card or game piece. The cards or game pieces can resemble labels  12  and can be scented in accordance with the techniques presented above or as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,487,585 of Goldwasser.  
     [0028] Alternatively, with reference to FIGS. 2A, 2B,  2 C, and  2 D (collectively FIG. 2) and FIGS. 3A, 3B,  3 C, and  3 D (collectively FIG. 3), three-dimensional toys  25  or  27 , scented to resemble the scents of the food contents of containers  10 , can be presented to pets or infants. For example, cats can be presented with toy mice  25   a , chicks  25   b , rabbits  25   c , snakes  25   a , etc. (collectively toys  25 ) as shown in FIG. 2 that are respectively scented with smells corresponding to beef, chicken, pork, or fish flavored food products in containers  10 . On the other hand, infants can, for example, be presented with toy bananas  27   a , carrots  27   b , turkey  27   c , apples  27   d , etc. (collectively toys  27 ) as shown in FIG. 3 that are respectively scented with smells corresponding to food products containing the corresponding food substances in containers  10 . Other typical baby foods or baby toys may include, but are not limited to, fruits such as pears, peaches, prunes, or strawberries; vegetables such as green beans, peas, or corn; or cereals. Toys  25  and  27  may optionally be suited for teething as well, and additionally or alternatively may be impregnated with flavors that correspond to the flavors of the baby food products. Although it is preferable that symbols  22  or toys  25  or  27  have some visual association with the food type in container  10  (especially as an educational tool for infants), skilled persons will appreciate that the game pieces or toys  25  or  27  do not need to have any true visual correlation. Each food type can be represented by a different toy  25  or  27 , and each food flavor variation can be represented by a distinctive odor and, optionally, a distinctive color. The distinctive color can alternatively be associated with a distinctive food texture or style such as chunky or pate-like. In addition, toys  25  or  27  are preferably shaped or sized to make swallowing difficult. Toys  25  or  27  can be made from materials that are chemically inert in the animal&#39;s digestive system and preferably exhibit moderate hardness, resilient deformability, large tensile strength, and resistance to shearing. Toys  25  or  27  can alternatively or additionally be covered with a natural or synthetic fur that is treated with the scenting agent.  
     [0029] Additionally or alternatively, toys  25  and  27  may be provided with different toy textures to indicate different food textures. For example, smooth surfaces can represent pureed or “first” foods, ridged or grainy surfaces can represent strained foods, and orange peel-type bumpy textures can represent more chunky foods. Skilled persons will appreciate that numerous surface textures and correspondences to food textures are possible.  
     [0030] Toys  25  or  27  can be scented with odors corresponding to the contents of containers  10  with treatments as described above or with scent areas  14  placed inside toys  25  or  27  as in the manner described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,640,931 of Markham. Toys of the type described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,813,366 of Mauldin, Jr. may similarly be employed with scent areas or scent selection treats as described above.  
     [0031] Additionally or alternatively, toys  25  or  27  may comprise a nylon substrate impregnated with a scenting element by immersing toys  25  or  27  in an aqueous solution containing the scenting element and subjecting toys  25  or  27  to prolonged contact with the solution. The solution is absorbed by the nylon substrate. The odor (and optional flavor) components can be released by twisting or roughing up the toy or when the animal chews on the toy. Examples of such odor-impregnating techniques are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,871,334 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,674,444, both of Axelrod. In another embodiment, the scent-producing elements and optional flavor components can be added to and uniformly distributed throughout a polyurethane toy during the initial formulation of the polyurethane. This process is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,513,014 of Edwards.  
     [0032]FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of a sampler strip  40  having multiple scent areas  14 ,  14   a ,  14   b ,  14   c , and  14   d  (collectively  14 ). Scent areas  14   a ,  14   b ,  14   c , and  14   d  are, for example, scented or flavored with fish, poultry, beef, and pork, respectively. Each scent area  14  is preferably accompanied with a respective symbol area  20   a ,  20   b ,  20   c , or  20   d  (collectively  20 ). Scent areas  14  can be covered with respective individual peel-off covers  16   a ,  16   b ,  16   c ,  16   d  (collectively  16 ), a single cover film (not shown) that covers the entire length of strip  40 , or uncovered. Symbol areas  20  contain respective symbols  22   a ,  22   b ,  22   c , and  22   d , such as a fish, chicken, cow, or pig, that are respectively indicative of the scents or flavors of scent areas  14   a ,  14   b ,  14   c , and  14   d . Alternatively, symbols  22  are more simplistic geometric figures, such as circles, rectangles, triangles, and stars, that may be more discretely recognizable by particular animals. The symbols  22  and respective backgrounds  24   a ,  24   b ,  24   c , and  24   d  in the symbol areas  20  preferably have distinctive colors. Skilled persons will appreciate that symbols  22  may be repeated with different internal solid or background colors to indicate perhaps a food style such as stewed, chunky, minced, pate, sliced, or juicy. For example, rectangles are used to represent fish, triangles to represent chicken, circles to represent beef, and stars to represent pork. Blue rectangles are used to represent salmon, green rectangles to represent tuna, and white rectangles to represent whitefish. Furthermore, a dotted background  24   a  indicates minced food, a slanted-lined background  24   b  indicates sliced food, a horizontal background  24   c  indicates chunky, a solid color background  24   d  indicates pate, and vertical lines indicate stewed.  
     [0033] In addition to the examples provided above, skilled persons will appreciate the nearly limitless number of symbol, color, pattern, contrast, and background combinations that are available to specifically identify a food type, flavor, and style symbolically. These combinations can be adapted to the visual acuities of particular animal species. Cats, for example, recognize luminance-based patterns more readily than they recognize colors. Alternatively, these combinations can be adapted for the particular age of the end user or purchaser or be adapted for their language or culture.  
     [0034] Skilled persons will appreciate that even if a particular animal never learns to associate the symbols  22  with the contents of food container  10 , to bypass the scent selection process, the symbols  22  may make it easier for pet owners to locate desired food containers  10  on a crowded supermarket shelf. Skilled persons will also appreciate that the icons and colors can be accompanied by words (to aid the human purchasers), but the symbols  22  can be more readily recognizable even at a distance.  
     [0035] Since strips  40  may contain tens of scent areas  14 , strips  40  may be designed with fold lines  50  so that strips can be folded for ease of transport. For example, fold lines  50  can be placed after every third or fifth scent area  14 . Sample strips are also preferably less expensive than the food products and containers  10  and are preferably reusable.  
     [0036]FIG. 5 shows an alternative embodiment of a sampler strip  60  arranged as a column of scent areas  14  ( 14   e - 14   i ) and symbol areas  20  ( 20   e - 20   i ). An advantage of sampler strip  60  is that individual peel-off covers  16   e ,  16   f ,  16   g ,  16   h , and  16   i  are easily replaced by a single elongated film cover  62  that sequentially exposes each scent area  14  as it is peeled off.  
     [0037]FIG. 6 shows a side elevation view of a sampler strip  70  that contains small self-contained sample cells  74  of food types and/or styles, and FIG. 7 shows a plan view of sampler strip  70  shown in FIG. 6. With reference to FIG. 6, sampler strip  70  is preferably a plastic container  80  having a plurality of sample cells  74 . Sample cells  74  are preferably small, shallow, jam-package-like containers of food samples preferably attached in a row or column. Sample cells  74  include an interior space defined by an aperture and one or more contiguous exterior walls that can be planar or curved. Each interior space is adapted to contain about ½ teaspoon to 3 tablespoons of a different food product. Skilled persons will appreciate that the size of the sample cells  74  can be adjusted to be larger or smaller based on the size of the prospective animal testers. A film cover  76  is removably secured across the aperture to maintain the sample food products in their individual sample cells. Film cover  76  preferably comprises an elongated piece of a film type material that sequentially exposes the contents of each sample cell  74 . In addition, sampler strip  70  and cover  76  can be crimped between each sample cell  74  so that an animal can be exposed to the contents of one sample cell  74  at a time, if desirable. Sample cells  74  may also be associated with symbols  22  and colors and/or word descriptions  20   j ,  20   k , and 20 m that are similar to or different from those previously discussed. An example of such packaging containers is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,375,701 of Hustad et al. and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,695,798 of Rozzano.  
     [0038] An advantage of sampler strips  40 ,  60 , or  70  is that they can be taken home and presented to animals before purchases of food containers  10  are made. A pet owner can gauge by a pet&#39;s reaction to the various scent areas  14  or sample cells  74  which flavors to purchase on a future shopping expedition. Alternatively, sets of food-scented cards, game pieces, or toys can be given away or sold separately so that prospective food product purchasers can make purchasing decisions by an infant&#39;s or pet&#39;s preference for the scented items prior to shopping.  
     [0039] Although aspects of the present invention are described above largely in connection with pets, such as felines or canines, skilled persons will appreciate that the meal selection techniques in accordance with the present invention can be affected by other domesticated or trainable animals, particularly carnivorous or omnivorous mammals, such as ferrets, pigs, or monkeys. These or other suitable pets all have sophisticated olfactory and memory systems and capabilities amenable to meal selection in accordance with the present invention. Certain pet birds and reptiles also have sufficient olfactory and memory capabilities to respond to the meal selection techniques described herein.  
     [0040] Skilled persons will also appreciate that the invention system will work just as well or even better for human babies, who cannot verbalize their food preferences, and particularly for infants who cannot yet understand flavor-designating words, such as “apple” or “pear,” and who cannot yet correlate such words with the flavors or food products they represent. Furthermore, the scent-oriented labeling technique can be advantageous even for adult humans who may be trying to decide between different types or flavors of wine, soup, chili, or tomato sauce. Scent areas  14  would provide olfactory information to the potential purchasers of such products, and the olfactory information could be at least as important as the other information provided on the labels. The scent oriented labeling technique would also be particularly advantageous for blind people who cannot read the labels.  
     [0041] Skilled persons will also appreciate that the food scenting elements on scent areas  14  should resemble as closely as possible the scents of the food products within the respective containers  10  to avoid misleading pets, infants, or product purchasers as to the contents of containers  10 .  
     [0042] In one embodiment, a set of cat food products in containers  10  (aluminum cans) includes subsets of products having different textures, such as ground, sliced, and shredded products. Each subset of products includes a variety of products from different flavor groups, such as such as mammal, poultry, or seafood, or combinations thereof. In addition, each flavor group of products may include a variety of products having specific flavor and scent types. For example, products from the mammal group may have types including beef, lamb, of pork; products from the poultry group may have types including chicken or turkey; and products from the seafood group may have types including shrimp or fish, such as salmon, tuna, whitefish, or combinations thereof. The contents of exemplary particular product types are provided below in Example I. The contents are listed in order by amount.  
     EXAMPLE I  
     Canned Cat Food  
     [0043] A. Ground Products  
     [0044] 1. Ground Beef Product  
     [0045] Ingredients: Water sufficient to process, beef, wheat middlings, dried whey, salt, steamed bone meal, guar gum, caramel color, sodium tripolyphosphate, potassium chloride, carrageenan, taurine, iron oxide, vitamin supplements (E, A, B12, D3), zinc sulfate, thiamin mononitrate, niacin, manganese sulfate, riboflavin supplement, calcium pantothenate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, biotin, folic acid, potassium iodide.  
     [0046] 2. Ground Chicken Product  
     [0047] Ingredients: Water sufficient for processing, chicken, wheat middlings, dried whey, salt, steamed bone meal, guar gum, titanium dioxide, sodium tripolyphosphate, potassium chloride, choline chloride, carrageenan, taurine, vitamin supplements (E, A, B12, D3), zinc sulfate, thiamin mononitrate, sodium nitrite, niacin, manganese sulfate, riboflavin supplement, calcium pantothenate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, biotin, folic acid, potassium iodide.  
     [0048] 3. Ground Seafood Product  
     [0049] Ingredients: Water sufficient to process, fish, wheat middlings, steamed bone meal, dried whey, salt, guar gum, sodium tripolyphosphate, potassium chloride, shrimp, crab, titanium dioxide, carrageenan, choline chloride, taurine, vitamin supplements (E, A, B12, D3), zinc sulfate, sodium nitrite, thiamin mononitrate, niacin, manganese sulfate, riboflavin supplement, calcium pantothenate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, biotin, folic acid, potassium iodide.  
     [0050] 4. Ground Salmon Product  
     [0051] Ingredients: Water sufficient for processing, salmon, wheat middlings, fish, steamed bone meal, dried whey, salt, guar gum, sodium tripolyphosphate, titanium dioxide, potassium chloride, carrageenan, choline chloride, sodium nitrite, vitamin supplements (E, A, B12, D3), zinc sulfate, thiamin mononitrate, niacin, manganese sulfate, riboflavin supplement, calcium pantothenate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, biotin, folic acid, potassium iodide.  
     [0052] B. Sliced Products  
     [0053] 1. Sliced Beef Product  
     [0054] Ingredients: Water sufficient for processing, beef, wheat gluten, wheat flour, soy protein concentrate, high fructose corn syrup, modified starch, salt, steamed bone meal, guar gum, choline chloride, taurine, vitamin supplements (E, A, B12, D3), zinc sulfate, thiamin mononitrate, niacin, manganese sulfate, riboflavin supplement, calcium pantothenate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, biotin, folic acid, potassium iodide.  
     [0055] 2. Sliced Chicken Product  
     [0056] Ingredients: Water sufficient for processing, chicken, soy protein concentrate, wheat gluten, wheat flour, modified starch, soy flour, guar gum, salt, choline chloride, titanium dioxide, taurine, vitamin supplements (E, A, B12, D3), zinc sulfate, thiamin mononitrate, niacin, manganese sulfate, riboflavin supplement, calcium pantothenate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, biotin, folic acid, potassium iodide.  
     [0057] C. Shredded Products  
     [0058] 1. Shredded Turkey Product  
     [0059] Ingredients: Water sufficient for processing, turkey, wheat gluten, wheat flour, soy protein concentrate, modified food starch, guar gum, steamed bone meal, salt, choline chloride, potassium chloride, titanium dioxide, taurine, vitamin supplements (E, A, B12, D3), zinc sulfate, thiamine mononitrate, niacin, manganese sulfate, riboflavin supplement, calcium pantothenate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, biotin, folic acid, potassium iodide.  
     [0060] 2. Shredded Chicken Product  
     [0061] Ingredients: Water sufficient for processing, chicken, wheat gluten, wheat flour, soy protein concentrate, modified food starch, steamed bone meal, guar gum, salt, titanium dioxide, , choline chloride, potassium chloride, taurine, vitamin supplements (E, A, B12, D3), zinc sulfate, thiamine mononitrate, niacin, manganese sulfate, riboflavin supplement, calcium pantothenate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, biotin, folic acid, potassium iodide.  
     [0062] 3. Shredded Salmon Product  
     [0063] Ingredients: Water sufficient for processing, salmon, wheat gluten, wheat flour, soy protein concentrate, modified food starch, titanium dioxide, guar gum, salt, steamed bone meal, choline chloride, potassium chloride, taurine, vitamin supplements (E, A, B12, D3), zinc sulfate, thiamine mononitrate, niacin, manganese sulfate, riboflavin supplement, calcium pantothenate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, biotin, folic acid, potassium iodide, iron oxide, sodium nitrite.  
     [0064] Skilled persons will recognize that the food products contain largely overlapping ingredients regardless of food texture, group, or flavor. In some circumstances, only a few ingredients or the relative amounts of the ingredients differ between products. Because feline and canine olfactory systems are extremely sensitive, such animals may be able to detect the odor differences between such food products, e.g. between the chicken products (A2, B2, and C2) presented above. Thus, in one embodiment, the scent-producing elements on labels  12  are adapted to resemble the scents of the respective food products in containers  10  as much as possible. This scent equivalence embodiment will minimize trial and error in familiarizing an animal with the meal selection process. This scent equivalence process will also be advantageous for product selection based on prepurchase sampler strips  40  and  60 .  
     [0065] Scenting and flavoring agents are widely available. A simple search of the Food Ingredients Online—Buyer&#39;s Guide revealed over 70 companies that provide flavors and fragrances for pet food. Although some of the compositions of these scenting agents are proprietary, through simple experimentation a skilled person could select one or more process-compatible scenting elements to represent each particular food product.  
     [0066] Alternatively, to address incompatibilities with particular scent delivery systems such as the scratch and sniff or SCENTIFIC™ processes, labels  12  can utilize scent-producing elements that may not be identical to the aromas of the products. Such scent-producing elements include, edible nontoxic oils, oil extracts of one or more of the main ingredients or a natural or synthetic compounds, solutions, or mixtures that smell or taste like the main ingredients to enhance the scent differences between the labels  12 . Furthermore, scent-producing agents that are already proven to be compatible with these scent delivery systems can be combined to resemble the scents of the respective food products to the extent possible. A skilled person will also appreciate that the scent-producing agent need not even resemble the scents that emanate from the respective food products, so long as each species of label  12  has a distinctive scent. Thus, a one-to-one scent area-to-food product relationship can be established with the scent-producing agents that have already been proven with these scent release systems since some system-compatible meat product scents may be difficult to reproduce accurately. For example with reference to Example I, labels  12  for the ground beef product (A 1 ) can be treated with a leather scent; labels  12  for the ground chicken product (A 2 ) can be represented with a chicken scent; labels  12  for the ground seafood product (A 3 ) can be represented with a ocean breeze scent; and labels  12  for the ground salmon product (A 4 ) can be represented with a rose scent.  
     [0067] Although this embodiment might decrease an animals initial preference correlation between sampler strips  40  and  60  and the respective food products, the emphasis on the discreteness of the scents between respective labels  12  would be likely to increase an animal&#39;s meal selection learning curve, especially in view of the higher scent identification thresholds of old or ailing animals and the scent similarities between the food products in Example I. The animals will quickly learn to identify a particular scent on a label  12  with a particular food product despite differences between the odor of the scenting agents and the aroma of the food product. Skilled persons will appreciate, however, that these scent-producing elements could also be added to the respective food products to increase the aroma similarity between the products and the labels, if desirable.  
     [0068] Sandy Alexander, Inc. has already proven the use of chicken, roast, and leather scents in their SCENTIFIC™ process, which has also proven a wide variety of floral, fruity, herbal, and woodsy, scents as well. Some scents currently available for use in the SCENTIFIC™ process include anise, apple, arnica, balm mint, banana, basil, black pine, caraway, carnation, chamomile, chicken, cheese, cherry, Chinese ceder wood, chocolate, Christmas, cinnamon, coconut, coffee, cypress, dill weed, eucalyptus, fir, fleurier, florogenia, forest ground, fresh baked bread, ginger bread, green apple, green bean, green spruce, hay flower, hazel, honey, hyacinth, incense, jacilia, jasmine, juniper, keymi, lavender, leather, lemon, lilac, lotus, mandarin, mango, maracuja, marjoram, May-flower, menthol, mixed alpine herbs, mixed kitchen, mugol, northern birch, ocean breeze, orange, orchid, ozone pine, peach, pear, petunias, pine, pinewood, pink pepper, pizza, plum, roast, rose, raspberry, rosemary, sandalwood, sea breeze, Siberian spruce, spring, spruce pine, strawberry, thyme, tobacco, tomato, valerian, vanilla, violet, waffle, white bread, and wild woodberry.  
     [0069] The 3M scratch and sniff process has also employed chicken, beef, hamburger, bacon, chili, hot dog, and anchovy scents, as well as floral, fruity, herbal, woodsy, and other scents. Some scents currently available for use in the 3M process include alfalfa, almond, anchovy, apple, apple pie, baby powder, bacon, bakery, banana, band-aid, bayberry, beef, blueberry, bubble gum, butter, butter pecan, butterscotch, cantaloupe, caramel, carnation, carrot, ceder, cheese, cherry, cherry pie, chicken, chili, chocolate, cinnamon, clove, coconut, cola, corn, cotton candy, cucumber, custard, daffodil, diesel fuel, dill pickle, eucalyptus, frankincense, french fries, fresh bread, gardenia, garlic, gasoline, general floral, geranium, ginger, ginger bread, grape, grapefruit, hamburger, hay, honey, honeydew, honeysuckle, hot dog, hyacinth, jelly bean, kerosine, lawn, leather, lemon, licorice, lilac, lily, lime, mango, maple, marshmallow, melon, menthol, mildew, mint, mothballs, musk, new car, onion, orange, orange blossom, orchid, oregano, peach, peanut, peanut butter, pear, peppermint, perfume, pine, pineapple, pizza, plum, popcorn, potato chip, pretzel, pudding, pumpkin pie, raspberry, root beer, rose, rubber tire, soap, spaghetti, spearmint, strawberry, tea, tomato, tulip, vanilla, violet, watermelon, and wintergreen.  
     [0070] In yet another embodiment, the scent areas of labels  12  are treated with one or more secondary scent-producing elements that are discrete from the odors emanating from or associated with the respective food products. The secondary scent-producing agent may be associated with a different aspect of the respective food products, such as texture.  
     [0071] For example, with reference to Example I, labels  12  indicative of ground food products are additionally treated with a floral scent such as lavender; labels  12  indicative of sliced food products are additionally treated with a herbal scent such as vanilla; and labels  12  indicative of shredded food products are additionally treated with a fruity scent such as apple. These scents have all been proven in both the SCENTIFIC™ and scratch and sniff processes. A skilled person will recognize that this scent scheme is a single example and that a wide variety of scent schemes are possible. Although the addition of a secondary scenting agent may slow the initial learning phase of an animal in the meal selection process, the animals will quickly learn to identify a particular secondary scent on a label  12  with a particular food texture as well as associate the primary scent with the food flavor. This embodiment may be particularly advantageous for old or ailing animals when there are only slight ingredient differences between food products having different textures.  
     [0072] Skilled persons will appreciate that the secondary scent-producing element may be integrated with the primary flavor-related scent-producing agent, applied next to it, or be applied to a separate secondary scent area different from scent area. Skilled persons will also appreciate that secondary scenting agents can be incorporated into toys and sampler strips  40 ,  60 , and  70 , as wells as labels  12 .  
     [0073] It will be obvious to those having skill in the art that many changes may be made to the details of the above-described embodiments of this invention without departing from the underlying principles thereof. The scope of the present invention should, therefore, be determined only by the following claims.