by products: why are they bad?

I have learned through TCS that we should stay away from foods that contain by products, but I never really saw an explanation for why that is...
Today someone gave me a can of very cheap food called "Fine Feline" (an aldi brand) and the first ingredient is "chicken by products"
I didn't want to throw away food, so I decided to mix it into the rest of Jake's meal. My parents have told me all about really gross stuff about pet food, things like it's probably made from euthanised or diseased animals...so while I opened the can I couldn't even stand touching the food itself, I felt really disgusted by it because of the stuff I've heard my parents say -they won't have any pet food near the kitchen, and they ask me that I keep all food in Jake's play room. Since I'm not allowed to wash his things at the kitchen sink because they've touched the food, I usually put his food on a paper towel over the plate and then just throw the paper towel after he's finished..They think pet food is that bad. Even though the ingredients of the food I feed Jake on a regular basis (avoderm) list no by products, they don't trust the ingredients..
But, still I'm curious, what are by products and how much of all that is true??

ETA I found this:

"Chicken by-products include head, feet, entrails, lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, liver, stomach, bones, blood, intestines, and any other part of the carcass not fit for human consumption," writes Henry Pasternak in Healing Animals with Nature's Cures.

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I honestly see nothing wrong with eating this stuff.....
Brain, livers, intestines- all stuff humans eat in some cultures...

Here's the AAFCO definition:
"Definition: Meat By-Products are parts of slaughtered animals, not including meat (please note: no muscle meat included). Included are lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, liver, blood, bone, partially defatted low-temperature fatty tissue, and stomach and intestines freed of their contents."


I don't know an awful lot about cat food....most of what I know is about dog food, but I figure they're very similar.

By-products themselves are not a huge problem. Raw-fed pets eat by-products all the time (heart, liver, etc.). The problem with commercial by-products in prepared pet foods is that the industry is not well regulated and there could be anything in there. By-products in a canned food are likely to be higher quality than the by-product meal in a dry food.

If it's a named (chicken, etc.) by-product, this is better than "meat by-products". What kind of meat? Ewww. "Meat and bone meal" is basically all scraps of meat they can find----rotted cow and hog corpses collected from farms, roadkill, chemically euthanized cows/horses, etc., all thrown in a big grinder and dried (I have this first-hand from a rendering plant employee).

ONE modern day by products are NOT dead , dying or diseased for the Majority in the USA..

What a by product is ... it is organs , heads , feet ... the later two are found less in canned food due to processing and the lack of by product MEALS... ie concentrated organs with things like head s and feet

IMHO I would COMPLETELY avoid them in a dry food just not sure what is in it and in what %age... Plus in a dry food they are DRY and organs then may have totally different nutrient values ( the values like the ingrediants are on the bag via the RAW not the Cooked)

Will I feed a wet with by products over one with grains prior to the 5th or latter ingrediant or one with Multiple veggies or one WITH any artificial colors or flavors ... 100% Yes ... In my house the cats prefer the by product ( which do to processing is mostly organs though by sight I know which ones ( due to feeding raw) ) laden foods OVER the ones with grains and veggies ... I NEVER feed artificial colors or flavors

So By products are not bad just not as good as muscle meat that you KNOW what it is

Yep, I don't feed any by-products to my kitties because of that... a Lot of what your parents are saying is actually true - the problem is the way they process it for the PET INDUSTRY, which is through rendering facilities - absolutely positively gross.

Some will say that by-products are organs, bones, head, etc (which by definition is true) - BUT, the way they process it to the pet food companies.... that is the catch. And yes - sick animals and euthanized pets very often make it in as well.

The worst of them all is "meat by-product" and "meat by-product meal"

I do feed organs, but in the food I feed, the organs are Named, i.e.: Lamb heart, lamb liver, lamb kidney, venison heart, venison liver, and so on.

check this thread out, I posted a while back about by-products... http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...ht=by-products

NOTE : Nearly ALL of us eat sick animals... there are NO real safe guard to protect the "human" food chain from Sick animals so YES Pet food contains alot of "sick" animals .. This is true cause YOU and I eat alot of them too... The video s are half way right , things like fetuses are in by products ( for me not a real bother since I have seen wolves eat just born animals ) .. Unfortunately MOST animals are put down with some chemical means

Pets and Even the euthanized animals from most shelters and pounds are Incinerated Ie Cremated PER MOST municipal codes so VERY few if any "pets" would be in pet foods ... Yes at a time not long ago that was NOT the case , Now though that is merely to instill fear ....

I have had Three animals dye in my arms within 30 months at two different clinics .... You have two main choices and one sub choice ... Cremation or it is legal in my area Burial that YOU do yourself .... Cremation you have the choice of public or private ( you get the ashes of your animal back...

Check the municipal codes for animal remains and you will find that out for yourself... Unless someone is BREAKING the law which in most areas that caries a large fine ...

In some areas vets are ALLOWED to Donate euthanized animals to the Vet school or local medical school or In my case the high school... I can tell you THESE animals are also NOT found in your pets food as I did numerous dissection s in high school and college

Originally Posted by carolinalima

check this thread out, I posted a while back about by-products... http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...ht=by-products

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wow that was horrible I can't believe I fed the cheapest purina brand wet food to Jake at first, I'm pretty sure I saw "meat byproduct" in the ingredients
Wow, that is soooo terrible....I just can't believe they would put euthanized animals there....it's just beyond belief

Originally Posted by sharky

NOTE : Nearly ALL of us eat sick animals... there are NO real safe guard to protect the "human" food chain from Sick animals so YES Pet food contains alot of "sick" animals .. This is true cause YOU and I eat alot of them too... The video s are half way right , things like fetuses are in by products ( for me not a real bother since I have seen wolves eat just born animals ) .. Unfortunately MOST animals are put down with some chemical means

Pets and Even the euthanized animals from most shelters and pounds are Incinerated Ie Cremated PER MOST municipal codes so VERY few if any "pets" would be in pet foods ... Yes at a time not long ago that was NOT the case , Now though that is merely to instill fear ....

I have had Three animals dye in my arms within 30 months at two different clinics .... You have two main choices and one sub choice ... Cremation or it is legal in my area Burial that YOU do yourself .... Cremation you have the choice of public or private ( you get the ashes of your animal back...

Check the municipal codes for animal remains and you will find that out for yourself... Unless someone is BREAKING the law which in most areas that caries a large fine ...

In some areas vets are ALLOWED to Donate euthanized animals to the Vet school or local medical school or In my case the high school... I can tell you THESE animals are also NOT found in your pets food as I did numerous dissection s in high school and college

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I see your point because a lot of sausages fed to humans have diseased meat or even spoiled meat...
I guess the only way to find out if they put euthanized pets is to look at where the food is made first, and then check the municipal codes in that area....and if it's not made in the US then it won't be easy to find out.

Originally Posted by ut0pia

I see your point because a lot of sausages fed to humans have diseased meat or even spoiled meat...
I guess the only way to find out if they put euthanized pets is to look at where the food is made first, and then check the municipal codes in that area....and if it's not made in the US then it won't be easy to find out.

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Very true about the sausage

The PF companies would have to be IN HIGHLY populated area s to get enough to "mix in " ... Which is doubtful as the "by products " are vats from the MEAT processing plants .. I can only talk for the US , any foods outside the US could contain alot of things... In the US remember the vast Majority of meats ( including by products ) are over seen by the USDA inspectors ...

I personally buy on USDA inspected meats at the store which these days are the VAST majority ( ie only the irritated foreign meats are not )... The exception for me to this is meat that I get at the farm / ranch itself

by pets I guess I mean dogs and cats... It doesn't necessarily means it had an owner... It doesn't need to have an owner to be euthanized, or to die. It could be in a shelter. It could be left in a vet clinic. It could be a road kill. It could be a lost pet that once belonged to someone.
I am not saying that the vet ran away with my kitty, stole it and gave it to the rendering facility to send it to Purina...

Sharky - I remember when a member said this to be true (in re. to the pets), and I questioned, saying that this could not possibly be true in the US, and you were the one who told me that it actually was true... That it DOES happen... So... That was what prompted me to research... and sure enough... Now you are saying it is not true?

Arlyn, one of our members, has personally been to one rendering facility and seen what is cooked in there... her position is pretty clear about by-products after what she saw in there...

Originally Posted by carolinalima

by pets I guess I mean dogs and cats... It doesn't necessarily means it had an owner... It doesn't need to have an owner to be euthanized, or to die. It could be in a shelter. It could be left in a vet clinic. It could be a road kill. It could be a lost pet that once belonged to someone.
I am not saying that the vet ran away with my kitty, stole it and gave it to the rendering facility to send it to Purina...

Sharky - I remember when a member said this to be true (in re. to the pets), and I questioned, saying that this could not possibly be true in the US, and you were the one who told me that it actually was true... That it DOES happen... So... That was what prompted me to research... and sure enough... Now you are saying it is not true?

Arlyn, one of our members, has personally been to one rendering facility and seen what is cooked in there... her position is pretty clear about by-products after what she saw in there...

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I would have told you, IT was True/ possible more than 30 plus yrs ago... but today very unlikely... Because the laws were different and definitions are different ... Now if you are asking if meat by product contains horses , It likely does( IMHO this is a pet ) ... could it have dog and cat technically it could but if it did today I would be calling the DA and the local cops .. Road kill is often Fish and game that can have differing laws ... In one area Roadkill was GIVEN to the Local food bank ... In most areas it goes to the local dump to be incinerated or cremated .. In my area it goes to the shelter to be placed with the euthanized animals headed to the crematorium

Shelters By and large cremate as it is Far cheaper , some yes do this at the facility itself if large enough ... some use burial in mass graves if they are allowed by law and have enough space... still others would give them to the schools ( this is true where I grew up)

I only did this research of laws within the last year outside what I was taught by a Pet Food company that did not use by products... they even said NO dog s and cats are NOT in pet food and did some basic rendering plant explanation

Originally Posted by sharky

Very true about the sausage

The PF companies would have to be IN HIGHLY populated area s to get enough to "mix in " ... Which is doubtful as the "by products " are vats from the MEAT processing plants .. I can only talk for the US , any foods outside the US could contain alot of things... In the US remember the vast Majority of meats ( including by products ) are over seen by the USDA inspectors ...

I personally buy on USDA inspected meats at the store which these days are the VAST majority ( ie only the irritated foreign meats are not )... The exception for me to this is meat that I get at the farm / ranch itself

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Sharky - The thing is, Pet food does not have the same regulations of human consumption foods.
If you are talking by-products, you are talking PET foods, as per definition, by-products are not fit for human consumption. And THAT is where the problem is.
Sure, if you go to the supermarket to buy USDA inspected chicken necks, or chicken hearts... That is one thing...
But to to put your trust on UN-inspected rendered by-products... THAT is a whole different ball game. IMO that is the difference. What is in it, how is it processed, who is inspecting (if at all), where is it made. As long as I can have those questions answered, I don't have a problem - and when I read "meat by-product" I am afraid to look for an answer.

The roadkill deer here go to the rendering plant (to become meat and bone meal).....I don't know if the rendering truck picks up other kinds of roadkilled animals. But the cops flag the dead deer for the rendering truck to pick up. Euthanized horses and cows also go to the rendering plant.

Originally Posted by carolinalima

Sharky - The thing is, Pet food does not have the same regulations of human consumption foods.
If you are talking by-products, you are talking PET foods, as per definition, by-products are not fit for human consumption. And THAT is where the problem is.
Sure, if you go to the supermarket to buy USDA inspected chicken necks, or chicken hearts... That is one thing...
But to to put your trust on UN-inspected rendered by-products... THAT is a whole different ball game. IMO that is the difference. What is in it, how is it processed, who is inspecting (if at all), where is it made. As long as I can have those questions answered, I don't have a problem - and when I read "meat by-product" I am afraid to look for an answer.

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Slight Hy jack
The issue is that MOST by products are IN fact USDA inspected ... have I ever told you the meat packing / rendering plant story?

have you ever eaten a hotdog or lunch meat ?

In Canada, by products also include 'downers' - stock that went down in the truck or holding pens and cannot get up. It also includes bruised meat, damaged muscle tissue, gristle, tendons. It does NOT contain chemically euthanised animals as you cannot cook ketamine et al out of the body parts. It also does not contain parts of animals that have been receiving bute or antibiotics.

Originally Posted by sk_pacer

In Canada, by products also include 'downers' - stock that went down in the truck or holding pens and cannot get up. It also includes bruised meat, damaged muscle tissue, gristle, tendons. It does NOT contain chemically euthanised animals as you cannot cook ketamine et al out of the body parts. It also does not contain parts of animals that have been receiving bute or antibiotics.

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In the USA downers are NOT supposed to make it to the human food chain but they do so I would say a fair amount of them make it into pet food

Originally Posted by sharky

Slight Hy jack
The issue is that MOST by products are IN fact USDA inspected ... have I ever told you the meat packing / rendering plant story?

have you ever eaten a hotdog or lunch meat ?

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Yes, I have. Those are for Human consumption. Also by law the USDA dictates that all the ingredients need to be named and not just be listed as "by-products" a whole lot better than what we get in the UN-regulated PET industry.

Originally Posted by carolinalima

Yes, I have. Those are for Human consumption. Also by law the USDA dictates that all the ingredients need to be named and not just be listed as "by-products" a whole lot better than what we get in the UN-regulated PET industry.

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NOPE ... the Pet industry GETS meat NOT from Pet only plants( at one pt and time that was semi accurate as some companies made there own meals but today it is not that way .. 95% of all pet foods meats are Usda inspected ... the vats are labeled by products sealed and delivered to the pet food companies... The USDA does not have separate rules for pet food as IT regulates meat and meat packing

http://www.petfoodreport.com/aboutpetfood.htm

Question
I read that there might be rendered cats and dogs in my pet food. Is this true?

Answer
Absolutely not. Pet food companies take great care to formulate products that meet the needs of pet dogs and cats. They understand the great affection we have for our pets and have gone to extreme measures to make sure no ingredients from dogs and cats go into their products.

Pet food companies have exacting specifications and work closely with their suppliers to make sure they receive only the ingredients they specifically request.

It is from 2004


this is really long and has lots of info ...
http://www.bornfreeusa.org/facts.php?more=1&p=359
Meat or poultry “by-products” are very common in wet pet foods. Remember that “meat” refers to only cows, swine, sheep, and goats. Since sheep and goats are rare compared to the 37 million cows and 100 million hogs slaughtered for food every year, nearly all meat by-products come from cattle and pigs.

The better brands of pet food, such as many “super-premium,” “natural,” and “organic” varieties, do not use by-products. On the label, you’ll see one or more named meats among the first few ingredients, such as “turkey” or “lamb.” These meats are still mainly leftover scraps; in the case of poultry, bones are allowed, so “chicken” consists mainly of backs and frames—the spine and ribs, minus their expensive breast meat. The small amount of meat left on the bones is the meat in the pet food. Even with this less-attractive source, pet food marketers are very tricky when talking about meat, so this is explained further in the section on “Marketing Magic” below.
updated in 2007

Originally Posted by sharky

NOPE ... the Pet industry GETS meat NOT from Pet only plants( at one pt and time that was semi accurate as some companies made there own meals but today it is not that way .. 95% of all pet foods meats are Usda inspected ... the vats are labeled by products sealed and delivered to the pet food companies... The USDA does not have separate rules for pet food as IT regulates meat and meat packing

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Would you eat it? I am talking about a can of PET food, full of by-products, meat by-products... would you eat it? Because I tell you something - I wouldn't, and IMO you shouldn't either.
There is a reason why there are human grade facilities, and ingredients fit for human consumption. The rest, that doesn't fit the bill, goes to the pet industry. It's not a myth, it is reality... Better brands get better ingredients. I personally prefer to not feed which in MY opinion is nasty rendered meat by-products to my cats. I did feed once when I didn't know how much I know today. But I do have the choice to choose what they eat, so... I choose to get them food prepare in 100% 24/7 Human Grade Facilities, with no by-products, no chemicals, no grains, no nasties...
Do I feed ORGANS? Yes, I do NAMED Organs. I know WHAT they are, the percentage, and everything. I know they are not rendered.
I mean... there is a loooooot of information out there about by-products... yes, it is organs, heads, yadda yadda, but the way it is processed in for the pet food industry it is a horrible way that my cat's don't need to eat it.

No I actually dont but then again I rarely eat at a fast food place, do not eat lunch meats including 99% of the deli counter , eat little dry packaged foods ( ie thing s like mac and cheese , rice a roni), I also do not Eat ANY organs but I am not a Carnivore ...

Do I think by products are great , no .... but if you read the last post and the last part youll see even named meat is not what you would normally eat ...

ALL MEAT in pet food is rendered but that is another thread ... that actually makes by products nearly appetizing

Human grade is a funny one... Many companies get away with that by not being large enough to need their own facility and making it in one that makes HUMAN foods DURING the day... ie people food folks leave and pet food folks come in for the night shift