Abstract: A food composition, particularly for pets, is prepared by adding and mixing cereal, vegetable protein, animal meal, vegetable by-products and lipid ingredients together and extrusion-cooking the mixture and then passing the extrusion-cooked mixture via a cone member and then a die member to obtain, from the die member, a product wherein a plurality of extrudate band layers form a lamellar structure, after which the lamellar-structure product is cut into pieces to obtain pieces which have a band layer lamellar structure, and then, the pieces are dried. The ingredients are employed and the process is carried out so that the dried product has a protein content of between 14% and 35%, a lipid content of between 2% and 20%, a carbohydrate content of at least 25%, a moisture content of between 2% and 15% and a density of between 0.3 and 0.6 g/cc.

Abstract: A food composition, particularly for pets, is prepared by adding and mixing cereal, vegetable protein extract, animal meal, vegetable by-products and lipid ingredients together and extrusion-cooking the mixture and then discharging the extrusion-cooked mixture via a die to obtain a plurality of extrudate bands and to form the bands into a lamellar structure product having a plurality of band layers, after which the lamellar structure is cut into pieces so that the pieces have a band layer lamellar structure and then, the pieces are dried. The ingredients are employed and the process is carried out so that the dried product has a protein content of between 14% and 35%, a lipid content of between 2% and 20%, a carbohydrate content of at least 25%, a moisture content of between 2% and 15% and a density of between 0.3 and 0.6 g/cc. The die has a die plate and a cone for forming the bands and layered structure.