What are animal by-products in feed?
When we read the ingredient labels of the food our dogs or cats eat, we often come across generic terms that make it difficult for us to know exactly what they contain.
One of these generic terms that we often come across are the so-called Animal by-products, but… What are they?
Each country has its own legislation, so we must look at where the feed is produced and find out the legislation in that country.
We would also like to add that the fact that a feed says it contains Animal By-Products does not mean that it uses all the permitted by-products, therefore there will be brands that do not, but there will also be brands that do use them.
In addition, we must bear in mind that not all by-products are "bad" since salmon oil (very beneficial for the skin and hair of our dogs and cats) and broth, among others, are considered Animal By-Products, but normally if a feed contains them they are listed separately as "Animal By-Products".
Feeds Made in Spain:
In Spain, we must go to SANDACH (Animal By-Products Not Intended for Human Consumption), which determines that the raw materials that can be used for both raw pet food and processed food and chewable accessories for dogs are, in all cases, certain category 3 materials:
In the case of raw feeding:
- Carcasses* and parts of slaughtered animals or bodies of killed game animals suitable but not intended for human consumption for commercial reasons.
- Carcasses* and parts of animals that are unfit but do not show signs of communicable diseases.
- Poultry heads from animals declared fit following ante-mortem inspection.
*The channels are “The body of bovine animals after being slaughtered, bled, skinned, without viscera, except for the kidneys, the head separated at the level of the occipito-atloid joint, extremities cut at the level of the carpo-metacarpal and tarso-metatarsal joints, with tail, without genitals and udders in females, except calves.”
For processed foods and chewable accessories (feed, snacks, chewables...):
- Carcasses* and parts of slaughtered animals or bodies or parts of game animals that are suitable for human consumption but are not intended for this purpose for commercial reasons.
- Carcasses* and the following parts of animals slaughtered in a slaughterhouse fit for human consumption following ante-mortem inspection or the bodies and the following parts of game animals killed for human consumption in accordance with Community legislation:
- Channels* or bodies and parts of animals declared unfit for human consumption in accordance with Community legislation but which do not show signs of disease transmissible to humans or animals.
- Poultry heads.
- Hides, including trimmings and split hides, horns and feet, including phalanges and carpal and metacarpal bones and tarsal and metatarsal bones, of animals other than ruminants requiring diagnostic testing for TSE and ruminants that have undergone such testing with negative results.
- Bristles and feathers.
- Poultry by-products and lagomorphs slaughtered on farms that do not show signs of communicable disease.
- Blood of animals without signs of a transmissible disease obtained from animals which do not require diagnostic tests for TSEs or which have been subjected to such tests with negative results, slaughtered in a slaughterhouse after having been considered fit following an ante-mortem inspection in accordance with Community legislation.
- By-products generated in the production of products intended for human consumption, including defatted bones, pork rinds and centrifugation or separation sludge resulting from the production of dairy products.
- Products of animal origin or food products containing them that are not intended for human consumption for commercial reasons, manufacturing or packaging defects, or other defects that do not pose a risk to health.
- Pet food and feed of animal origin or containing animal by-products or derived products that are not intended for that purpose for commercial reasons, manufacturing or packaging defects, or other defects that do not pose a risk to health.
- Aquatic animals and parts thereof, except marine mammals, which do not show signs of communicable disease.
- Animal by-products of aquatic animals from establishments or plants that manufacture products for human consumption.
- Molluscan shells with soft tissue or meat, incubator by-products, eggs and egg by-products including shells from animals that do not show signs of communicable disease.
- Day-old chicks slaughtered for commercial reasons with no signs of communicable disease.
- Aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates, except species pathogenic to humans.
- Animals and their parts of the orders Rodentia and Lagomorpha other than those in categories 1 and 2.
- Blood, placenta, wool, feathers, hair, horns, hoof, nail or claw trimmings, and raw milk from live animals that do not show signs of disease that can be transmitted through these products.
*The channels are “The body of bovine animals after being slaughtered, bled, skinned, without viscera, except for the kidneys, the head separated at the level of the occipito-atloid joint, extremities cut at the level of the carpo-metacarpal and tarso-metatarsal joints, with tail, without genitals and udders in females, except calves.”
IMPORTANT!
In the case of pet food imported or produced from imported materials, it may be derived from Category 1 materials consisting of by-products derived from animals subjected to illegal treatment (Article 8(c) of Regulation (EC) No 1069/2009).
That is to say, even if the feed is manufactured here, if the animal flour they use is manufactured in another country, the by-products used to manufacture that flour will be governed by the legislation of that country and not by Spanish legislation.
**He SANDACH You can find the entire document in PDF format at the following link «SANDACH«.
Feeds made in the USA
In the US Department of Health and Human Services You can find information on the legislation that regulates the production of pet food.
Also in the following link Dog Food Advisor They give you a summary of animal by-products (Meat Meal) that are authorized in the manufacture of feed, such as:
- Dead animals hit by cars on the roads,
- Dead zoo animals
- Farm animals killed by different circumstances,
- Dead pets from clinics and kennels,
- Grease and leftovers from restaurants,
- Expired cooked meats and by-products from supermarkets,
- Material confiscated from slaughterhouses,
A feed will be of higher quality if it specifies all the products it contains and does not use generalizations such as animal by-products.***Each country has its own legislation, so we will continue to investigate and as we find the different regulations we will update this article.
