By Carrie Hyde, The Spaw Pet Life Coach | December 18, 2021

The shocking truth is that the vast majority of pet foods use incredibly low-quality meat sources in their recipes. In fact, much of the meat in pet food is only considered meat by the broadest definitions available. This “meat” isn’t something you’d ever want to eat, nor would the USDA let you eat it.

So, what kind of meat do most pet foods use? And more importantly, how do you make sure the food you’re feeding contains real, fresh meat and not meat-like sludge filled with chemicals? Below, we’ll tell you everything you need to know (and never wanted to know) about the types of meat used in pet food and how to identify quality meat you can feel good about feeding to your best friend.

Classifications of Meat and Poultry Found In Pet Food

The first indication of meat quality is found on the ingredients list. Different notations are used depending on how the meat was processed and what specific animal parts and chemicals it contains.

Animal Digest

At the lowest end of the quality spectrum is animal digest. This ingredient typically only appears as a meat source in the cheapest grocery store pet foods. However, animal digest is often used as a flavoring agent in higher-quality foods. In this case, it will be listed on the package only as “flavor,” such as “chicken flavor” or “natural flavors.”

Animal digest is produced via the chemical or enzymatic hydrolysis of animal tissue. This tissue is exposed to high heat and acids or enzymes, which help break it down into highly concentrated gelatinous peptides.

Dog food companies like to claim that this ingredient is nutrient-dense and not harmful to pets. This is true, but only in the very rare case that the meat used in the process was fresh, free from chemical and waste contaminants, and made mostly from muscle and organ meat.

Far more often, animal digest used in pet foods comes from sources that are not USDA inspected because they are not fit for human consumption. These sources include things like dead, dying, diseased, and disabled livestock (the four-Ds), deceased zoo animals, roadkill, and euthanized pets. Often, these carcasses are processed with flea collars, antibiotic patches, and other chemical and plastic waste.

By-Products

Less stomach-turning, but often equally low quality, are animal by-products. This is another ingredient you’re only likely to find in cheaper pet foods.

An animal by-product is any part of the slaughtered animal that is not used for the primary reason that animal was processed. In most cases, by-products include organs, blood, bone, and fatty tissue.

If “by-product” is listed in the ingredients, then the food likely contains fresh by-products from livestock processed for human consumption. But if the ingredient is listed as “by-product meal” it is impossible to say how quality the meat is.

Meals are processed at high temperatures which means suppliers can use “adulterated meat” not fit for human consumption. This includes the four-Ds. If the source of the meat is not named (ie “chicken,” “beef”) then low-quality anonymous meats, like dead zoo animals and roadkill, can also be included.

Meat Meals

Meat meals are one of the more confusing ingredients you’ll find on a dog food label. That’s because some meat meals contain quality ingredients and plenty of nutrients. Others are downright disgusting and not something any dog should be eating. Unfortunately, telling the difference between the two isn’t easy.

Meat meals are made from the muscle, organs, and fat of mammals and poultry (poultry meals also contain bone). If this meat comes from healthy, USDA inspected animals, then the result is a quality, nutrient-dense powder. If it comes from non-USDA inspected meats and those not fit for human consumption, then all bets are off.

Like by-product meals, low-quality meat meals are made from the four-Ds, expired supermarket meat, dead zoo animals, and other questionable sources.

The lowest quality meals are those that don’t come from a specific species (“meat meal” vs “turkey meal”) or are listed as “meat and bone meal.”

Meat

The final meat type you are likely to see on a pet food ingredient list is true muscle meat.

This ingredient is always named (ie “chicken,” “beef,” “lamb”) and is made from the muscle meat and skin from that animal (and the bone for poultry). The ratio of muscle meat to skin and bone can vary depending on the supplier. Compared to the other terrifying terms we’ve looked at, simple meat ingredients sound like the most likely to be quality additions to pet food. But unfortunately, it isn’t that simple. Like many of the examples above, muscle meat used in pet foods can be high-quality or very low-quality, depending on where it comes from.

Where “Meat” In Pet Food Comes From

There is no way to tell the difference between fresh, quality chicken meat and bottom-of-the-barrel, are-you-sure-that’s-even-meat chicken meat by looking at the ingredients list on your pet’s food.

To find out, you’ll have to do a deep dive into where the meat in your pet food came from and how it was processed.

USDA Inspected Meat

The golden standard for quality meat is meat that has been USDA inspected and certified. Every piece of meat that has ever made its way from the grocery store to your plate has been USDA certified. The same cannot be said about the meat that goes into pet food.

This is because the USDA does not have jurisdiction over pet food manufacturing. This is controlled by the FDA. This is unfortunate because the USDA has much stricter standards on what meat is safe for animal consumption.

For example, the USDA maintains that carcasses contaminated by poisons are not fit for human or animal consumption. The FDA disagrees. They are happy to let livestock killed by poisonous chemicals be processed into pet food.

The only way you can know for sure that the meat in your pet’s food is USDA certified is if the packaging says, “USDA inspected meat.” This is not the same as “meat from a USDA inspected facility,” as you will see below.

Meat from USDA Inspected Facilities

Most of the meat in pet food comes from USDA inspected slaughterhouses. These facilities process meat for human consumption. They sell the by-products and meat unfit for humans to animal feed manufacturers.

This means that most of the meat in pet foods comes from USDA inspected facilities but is not USDA certified. And, in fact, this meat is likely to have been deemed “unfit for human consumption” by the USDA, which is how it ended up in your pet’s food instead of on your plate.

To make matters worse, when meat is deemed unfit for human consumption, it must legally be denatured to prevent it from being packaged and sold to people.

Denatured Meat

So, how does one denature meat? Here are some of the popular ways:

• By adding artificial food dye
• By adding crude carbolic acid (considered a poisonous substance)
• By treating it with diesel oil
• By treating it with phenolic disinfectant (considered “quite toxic” to humans)
• By adding charcoal
• By treating it with tannic acid (harmful if swallowed)
• By treating it with a mixture of citronella oil and detergent

Because the FDA has incredibly lax standards for what chemicals can be present in meat destined for animal feed, this denatured meat is often used in dog and cat food. In fact, denatured meat, by-products, and meals from USDA inspected facilities make up a shocking percentage of the total meat used by the pet food industry. In case you’re wondering, no, pet food companies do not have to list the chemicals used during the denaturing process on their ingredients list.

Mechanically Separated Meat

Another way pet food manufacturers get cheap meat is through a process called mechanical separation (MS). This process removes trace amounts of meat from leftover bones using a high-pressure sieve. The “meat” that is produced from the process resembles a gray paste and is often dyed pink for aesthetic purposes.

Mechanically separated beef is not fit for human consumption due to the risk of spreading mad cow disease. If this meat is processed at a USDA inspected facility, it is denatured and passed on to animal feed manufacturers. Mechanically separated mutton, pork, and poultry can be used in both human and pet foods.

Numerous studies have found that the amino acid absorbability in MS meat is lower than in fresh and rendered meats. This is true despite the fact that all essential amino acids for pets are detectable at AAFCO approved levels in these products. This means that a recipe containing high amounts of MS meat can be certified by AAFCO while not actually delivering enough of the basic nutrients your pet needs to survive. The other concern with MS meats is that they spoil more quickly than other types of meat, even when processed into kibble form. While research indicates that MS meat contains no more bacteria than fresh meat, studies have shown that markers for spoilage are much higher in MS-meat-containing diets than typical diets after six months.

How to Find Pet Food with Quality Meat Ingredients

Starting to wonder what kind of dark secrets are hiding in your pet’s pet food? We don’t blame you! Unfortunately, it can be very difficult to know for sure what type of meat was used in the creation of your pet’s food. But there are some tricks you can use to avoid pet foods that are advertised as high quality but are actually filled with cheap, low-quality meat.

Check the Marketing Terms

The first things you need to be aware of in your search for a better pet food are marketing terms that are meant to confuse you. These are some of the most common terms used to advertise meat sources in pet food:

• Antibiotic-free – Technically, all animals meant for human consumption must be antibiotic-free at the time of slaughter. But this says nothing about if they were raised using antibiotics. This marketing term only tells you that the food probably does not contain the four Ds. Instead, look for the term “no added antibiotics.”
• Hormone-free – Similar to antibiotics, slaughtered animals must be weaned off artificial hormones before slaughter, so this term is pointless. Look for the term “no added hormones,” instead.
• Human grade ingredients – This sounds promising but, sadly, “human-grade” is not a real designation. To carry any weight, the meat must be described as “human edible” or “fit for human consumption.”
• Manufactured in the US – Most pet food sold in the US is manufactured here. But this term says nothing about where the meat is sourced or what the quality is. Look for pet foods with meats that are “sourced in the US.”
• USDA inspected facility – As we covered above, this term doesn’t tell you anything about the quality of the meat. The term “USDA inspected meat” is the one you want to look for.

Check the Price

Another way to get a good idea of the quality of meat used in a food is to look at the price.

Now, this doesn’t always work. There are plenty of greedy pet food companies out there that will markup their food despite a low manufacturing cost. These are often the foods that come with a lot of empty marketing terms.

But one sure sign a food has cheap meat in it is a low price tag. So what constitutes a cheap price? Let’s start with all grocery store-brand foods. If you can buy your pet’s food alongside yours, you can bet it is filled with cheap meat-like substances.

And, yes, this is true of those “fresh,” refrigerated pet foods you see at grocery stores, too. Even some of those expensive custom-delivered pet meal services use less than quality meats (despite the price). If you’re serious about feeding your dog or cat quality meat, go to your local pet supply store to buy their food. Once there, don’t just reach for the most expensive food, though. Instead, read the label and check for marketing terms as well as red flags in the ingredients list.

Bottom Line on “Meat” In Pet Food

Assuring your companion animal is eating only quality meat is not an easy task if you are feeding a commercial diet.

Your best bet is to look for foods that contain terms like “made with meat fit for human consumption” and “made with only USDA inspected meats.” But dry kibble foods that fit these specifications are hard to find. Raw and raw dehydrated foods are typically higher quality simply because they don’t include any heat-treated ingredients and the form makes it harder to hide added colors and dyes.

If you want to stick to dry kibble, canned, or fresh commercial food, your best bet is to call the manufacturer and ask them directly what types of meat they use and where it comes from.

Sources:

Budd, A. (2021, December 14). Meat In Pet Foods: Is It Really Meat? Dogs Naturally. https://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/meat-in-pet-foods-is-it-really-meat/

Byproducts. (n.d.). AAFCO. https://talkspetfood.aafco.org/byproducts

Meineri, G., Candellone, A., Tassone, S., Peiretti, P. G., Longato, E., Pattono, D., Russo, N., Pagani, E., & Prola, L. (2021). Effects of “fresh mechanically deboned meat” inclusion on nutritional value, palatability, shelf-life microbiological risk and digestibility in dry dog food. PLOS ONE, 16(4), e0250351. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0250351

Tjernsbekk, M. T., Tauson, A. H., Kraugerud, O. F., & Ahlstrøm, Ø. (2017). Raw mechanically separated chicken meat and salmon protein hydrolysate as protein sources in extruded dog food: effect on protein and amino acid digestibility. Journal of Animal Physiology and Animal Nutrition, 101(5), e323–e331. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpn.12608

Tjernsbekk, M. T., Tauson, A. H., Matthiesen, C. F., & Ahlstrøm, Ø. (2016). Protein and amino acid bioavailability of extruded dog food with protein meals of different quality using growing mink (Neovison vison) as a model12. Journal of Animal Science, 94(9), 3796–3804. https://doi.org/10.2527/jas.2016-0526

What is Mechanically Separated Meat. (2019, June 17). USDA. https://ask.usda.gov/s/article/What-is-Mechanically-Separated-Meat-MSM

By Carrie Hyde, The Spaw Pet Life Coach | December 18, 2021

Written for The Spaw by Sara Seitz, Professional Freelance Writer and Novelist with Pen and Post Carrie Hyde is the founder, owner, and Pet Life Coach of The Spaw in Tustin, CA. Carrie’s extensive experience and understanding of pet nutrition and coaching enabled her to create The Spawdcast, a podcast dedicated to educating pet parents and pet industry professionals on ALL the options available to their pets. Her mission is to open pet-owner’s eyes to the questions they may not even know to ask, to shine a light on the many myths that have been part of pet care for decades, and to offer whole solutions for their pets. Carrie Hyde is a certified pet nutritionist with the goal of helping pet parents & pet professionals with a new understanding of how to care for pets in a “whole and natural” way.