Poultry By-Products in Dog Food

The term "by-products" refers to a source of animal protein that can include parts that you wouldn't necessarily think of eating. In poultry by-products, this includes beaks, bones, feet and other parts of poultry that can be cleaned, ground and processed into an edible form. According to A+ Flint River Ranch, by-products are often made of animal proteins that have been deemed unfit for consumption by humans. This type of protein is often found in lower quality, inexpensive animal foods and sometimes higher quality foods.

  1. Identifying Poultry By-Products

    • According to the Dog Food Project, animal protein by-products aren't always clearly noted by nutritional labels. Instead, and in accordance with U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations, poultry by-products may appear as "meat byproducts" or "animal protein." Additionally, by-products may appear on a nutritional label as "rendered meat," according to A+ Flint River Ranch. Given this, it may be difficult to identify the actual source of animal protein and the meat can come from different types of animals, including dogs and cats.

    Meat By-Products vs. Poultry Meal

    • Dog food that is labeled as containing "poultry meal," "chicken meal" or "turkey meal" contains animal meat and skin and sometimes bones. In contrast to by-products, animal meal doesn't contain questionable parts of the animal, like beaks and feet, according to the Dog Food Project. Animal meal has had much of the original moisture removed; however, in the wet food form, it retains most of this moisture. Because it has this kind of versatility, animal meal like poultry meal can be incorporated into higher quality brands of canned and dry foods.

    The Problem With Poultry By-Products

    • Unlike sources of animal protein that come from meat, skin and bones, poultry by-products are made from inferior parts of the animal. A+ Flint River Ranch explains that by-product meat is made from animals that are determined by U.S. FDA standards as "unfit for human consumption." This can mean that the animal from which the meat was extracted was sick, injured or harbored disease. This means the meat used in poultry by-products is the same meat that you, as a human being, would not be able to purchase because it is considered unhealthy.

    What to Look for When Reading a Nutritional Label

    • When shopping for dog food, it's important to read the nutritional label and identify higher quality sources of animal protein. According to the Dog Food Project, meat in dog food should be specifically named for the animal it represents. For example, rather than a generic "animal protein," you should look for "chicken" or "chicken meal." In addition, Canidae recommends you choose a dog food that lists meat as one of the first few ingredients, which means it contains a rich source of animal protein that can include its "meal" form.