When looking at the ingredient list on your pet’s food bag, you may notice the word “meal” used once or several times. Meal is usually listed as meat meal, chicken meal, lamb meal, or fish meal. “Meal” is defined by the FDA as:
the rendered product from mammal tissues, exclusive of any added blood, hair, horn, hide trimmings, manure, stomach and rumen contents.
The rendering process grinds, boils, and dries the meal, and what is leftover is rich in proteins and minerals; however, the FDA also warns:
In addition to the processing, it could also contain parts of animals one would not think of as ‘meat.
What to look for while reading “meal” as an ingredient is a named meat source. Many low-grade pet foods only specify “meat meal” as an ingredient. This means that the meal contains several different rendered animal parts and are likely from poor quality meat sources that are not human grade. Instead, make sure that meal has a named meat source. For example, if your food has lamb meal, chicken meal, or fish meal, that means the meal is from these specific animals and not a mixture of many. The Association of American Feed Control Officials defines fish meal as the following:
The clean, dried, ground tissue of undecomposed whole fish or fish cuttings, either or both, with or without the extraction of part of the oil.
It is better for pet food to have a whole meat source as the first ingredient, but there are still quality foods that use named meal sources as their first ingredients. Named meal sources are considered safe by many, but some pet food owners are more comfortable feeding a whole meat source instead. Many pet foods combine whole meat sources with meal sources as secondary ingredients.
The most important thing to remember when looking at meal as an ingredient is to make sure it is a named meal and not just “meat meal”. When reading any pet food ingredient list, it is best to do some research first if you have any questions about what the food contains. Being educated on meal and other ingredients will ensure that your pet is consuming a healthy diet!
Do you read your pet’s food labels? What type of “meal” is in their food?
This article was written by Modern Pet Saving’s contributor Melissa. She has a master’s degree in creative writing, owns several pets and runs her own online pet magazine. To learn more about this author check out the contributor profile page.
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