Many of my nutrition clients are initially confused about what exactly the ingredients in their dog’s food are made from. One set of ingredients that are particularly confusing are the following:

• meat meal,

• meat and bone meal,

• animal byproduct meal,

• poultry meal,

• poultry byproduct meal.

Each of these “meals” are produced from either mammals such as cattle, goat, sheep, pig or other mammals or poultry like chicken or turkey. Depending on the “meal” type, it contains different parts of the animal’s carcass. The Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) defines the species and parts of the carcass used in each of these ingredients. See http://talkspetfood.aafco.org/whatisinpetfood for the definitions.

While each of these ingredients is made from different animals and parts of them, what is common is that they are all rendered products.

Rendering process

Rendering is a physical and chemical process that involves heating the raw materials to temperatures up to 146 degrees Celsius to extract moisture and separate fat. It is one of the oldest forms of recycling the waste products, by-products and moralities of food animal farming. The primary raw materials for renderers are offal not consumed by humans including intestines, heads, bone, blood, and other body parts. Additional material for rendering operations come from condemned or fallen animals. In North America, many rendering plants are “integrated” with meat processing facilities to capture the by-products of their processing.

The finished product from rendering allows for safe storage and handling of animal products.

Is meat and bone meal, animal byproduct meal, or poultry byproduct meal good for dogs?

Here are some considerations when reading a pet food label containing these ingredients.

1. Nutrient availability

Due the excessive heat treatment of raw materials in the rendering process, nutrient availability can be hampered and essential amino acids can be diluted.

In particular, the amino acid lysine is highly reactive when heated to 100 degrees Celsius for several hours. When heat treated in this way lysine can react with sugars and produce Maillard reaction products. These products have no nutritive value for dogs and links between these products and degenerative diseases have been made. Lysine’s involvement in a Maillard reaction significantly reduces its bioavailability. The amount of lysine that is nutritionally available to a dog in their pet food depends on the fraction that has undergone a Maillard reaction during the manufacturing process. For example, various analysis of meat and bone meal have shown total lysine ranges from 22% – 36.5% and the percentage of reactive lysine (not nutritionally available to the dog) ranges from 17.4% – 32.6%.

This means that despite the protein / amino acid percentages listed on the pet food label, its digestibility (nutrient availability to the dog) is highly variable.
See also https://www.fullstride.com.au/blog/should-i-feed-my-dog-raw-or-cooked-meat for other nutrients affected by heating.

2. Balance of nutrients

To counter the loss of nutrients from the manufacturing process, excessive amounts of meal products or other ingredients may be included in pet foods to meet minimum standards. However, due to the variability of nutrient loss (see above for amino acid dilution), excessive amounts of an ingredient may result in nutrient imbalances.

3. Control of ingredients

Depending on the specific “meal” ingredient, the source of the raw material is not specified. See, for example, the AAFCO definition for meat meal.

“Unlike meat and “meat by-products,” this ingredient may be from mammals other than cattle, pigs, sheep or goats without further description.” (Sourced from http://talkspetfood.aafco.org/whatisinpetfood 9/4/2017)

Personally, I want to know the source of meat or indeed any food I feed my dogs. I also want to control the quality of the ingredients I include in my dog’s food.

Now you know a little more about the definitions of some of the “meals” on your pet’s food label, I hope you feel more confident making an informed decision about their diet. For assistance understanding pet food labels or designing a nutritious, balanced diet for your dog, please feel free to give me a call or contact me here .

Until next time, enjoy your dogs.

Sources:

Meeker, D. L., & Meisinger, J. L. (2015). COMPANION ANIMALS SYMPOSIUM: Rendered ingredients significantly influence sustainability, quality, and safety of pet food. Journal of animal science, 93(3), 835-847.

Mekonnen, T., Mussone, P., & Bressler, D. (2016). Valorization of rendering industry wastes and co-products for industrial chemicals, materials and energy: review. Critical reviews in biotechnology, 36(1), 120-131.

van Rooijen, C., Bosch, G., van der Poel, A. F., Wierenga, P. A., Alexander, L., & Hendriks, W. H. (2013). The Maillard reaction and pet food processing: effects on nutritive value and pet health. Nutrition research reviews, 26(02), 130-148.