Patent ID: 6904870

Claim:
A chewable product capable of enhancing dental hygiene in a pet, comprising a body having a continuous phase and a discontinuous phase that are so constructed and arranged that a force required to penetrate the chewable product is greater than an anticipated bite force expected to be exerted by the pet during a normal biting event wherein the discontinuous phase is composed of compositions meeting one of a criteria selected from the group consisting of: micro-occlusions/microscopic parties of all non-reactive/insoluble organic/biological substances with melting points and/or glass transition points above room temperature and as well those with melting and/or glass transition points below room temperature that are not soluble in the continuous phase; occlusions/particles of all non-reactive/insoluble organic/biological substances with melting points and/or glass transition points above room temperature and as well those with melting and/or glass transition points below room temperature that are not soluble in the continuous phase; non-active inorganic substances that are compatible with and do not react or significantly interact with the substances present in the continuous phase; carbohydrates and/or derivatives of carbohydrates including saccharides, sugars, polysaccharides, starches; derivatives of starches, inulin, polyfructans, polydextrans; polymers of naturally occurring hexose, pentose and heptose sugars and their derivatives; cellulose and polymers derived from cellulose; amino-polysaceharides and polymers derived from them; oligiosaccharides, polysaceharides of and derivatives of polysaccharides of microbial origin; polyols; sugar alcohols, polymers of sugar alcohols, mineral oxides, inorganic and organic oxides, phosphates, sulphates, carbonates; other insoluble salts or covalently bonded inorganic substances; polymers of or mixtures/complexes and combinations of all of the aforementioned inorganic and organic substances; aluminosilicates, silicates, inorganic substances common in soils, clays, minerals, metals and substances derived from metals, bone, cartilage, oils, fats, gases, petroleum derivatives and petroleum based polymers; micro-occlusions/particles of microbial origin, intact non-viable microbes, dry intact non-viable microbes, the shells and cell wall material derived from dead microbes, material of microbial origin, micro-occlusions/particles of plant origin, material of plant origin, micro-occlusions/particles of animal origin, material of animal origin; such polymers and substances of biological origin as are present as components of both the continuous phase and the discontinuous phase, being present in the discontinuous phase in a different state to their state in the continuous phase.