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Inexcusable Pet Food Ingredient Definitions

What was first assumed as an AAFCO oversight, is now be assumed to be an AAFCO allowance of a horrific animal practice that becomes a common pet food ingredient. Please note – this post is not for the faint of heart.

What was first assumed as an AAFCO oversight, now appears to be nothing close to oversight. A pet food ingredient – sourced from a horrific animal practice – is allowed and hidden from consumers due to regulations from AAFCO. Please note – this post is not for the faint of heart, it contains some haunting information.

At least a year ago, I brought to the attention of the American Association of Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) that pet food meat ingredient definitions are not consistent; some include the requirement of a slaughtered animal – others do not. The example ‘meat’ such as beef is required within the legal definition to be sourced from a slaughtered animal. But ‘chicken’ is NOT required to be sourced from a slaughtered animal. I was told by AAFCO the organization would update these ingredient definitions. However a year later, not one ingredient definition has changed, and I’ve got a good guess why.

Thanks to a tip, I put two and two together. There is a very suspicious reason as to why the pet food ingredient ‘chicken’ is not required to be sourced from a slaughtered animal. That reason is the common practice of culling baby male chickens and spent layer hens by a macerator. The birds are ground alive (they are not slaughtered). As explained to me, the end product is sold to pet food as ‘chicken’ and/or ‘chicken meal’.

Public record of this horrific practice was easily found. Discovery.com explained the practice known as chick culling. “Sometimes you see something that makes your jaw drop and stuns you into silence, which is quickly followed by outrage. Everyone who eats eggs should know about this and watch this video (also below). It’s not bloody or gory, but shows a bunch of very adorable fuzzy chicks dropping into a machine that the narrator explains grinds them up alive.” This post states that an estimated “200 million male chicks per year” are ground alive.

The Animal Welfare Foundation of Canada has published a report on “The Disposal of Spent Laying Hens”. This document outlines the accepted methods of slaughter for spent laying hens, but explains “The disposal of spent laying hens raises issues that do not neatly fit into the list of accepted means of slaughter.” One of the methods this document states is used to kill spent birds is “Macerator“. Quoting: “A macerator for use on-farm has been developed by Oleet Processors in Regina, Saskatchewan. Their unit ‘vacuums’ birds down a 20 foot long tube, to a grinder that kills the birds upon impact with its blades. While the system shows potential, some questions remain to be answered regarding its humaneness.”

Putting two and two together, I now believe AAFCO intentionally excluded the requirement of slaughter from the pet food ingredients chicken and chicken meal (poultry and poultry meal). If the requirement of sourced from a slaughtered animal was added to the legal definition of chicken/poultry – pet foods would legally not be allowed to use non-slaughtered poultry (ground alive).

[one_half]Pet Food Ingredient[/one_half][one_half_last]Legal Requirement[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Chicken/Poultry[/one_half][one_half_last]NOT Required to be sourced from a slaughtered animal[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Chicken Meal/Poultry Meal[/one_half][one_half_last]NOT Required to be sourced from a slaughtered animal[/one_half_last]

[one_half]Chicken By-Product Meal/Poultry By-Product Meal[/one_half][one_half_last]Required to be sourced from a slaughtered animal[/one_half_last]

 

Unlike the ingredient chicken or chicken meal, chicken by-product meal definition is required to be sourced from slaughtered animals. By-products are leftover pieces of chicken not typically consumed in human food. The ONLY source for these pieces is from slaughter facilities. So – regulations require ‘sourced from slaughtered animals’ in the legal definition of the ingredient chicken by-product meal.

How very convenient that ingredient definitions are so skillfully crafted.

The following letter was sent to AAFCO (AAFCO President and the co-directors of the Pet Food Committee)…

Over the last several days thanks to inside information provided to me, I believe I’ve put two and two together as to why AAFCO ingredient definitions are what I once believed to be inconsistent. If you recall, I brought to AAFCO’s attention more than a year ago that meat ingredients were inconsistent with their requirement of being sourced from a slaughtered animal. Some ingredient definitions required ‘slaughter’, others did not.

Information provided to me was regarding the source of chicken/poultry in pet food. I learned that culled chicks and culled spent laying hens are ground alive (macerator) – and this end product is sold to pet food as ingredients ‘chicken’ and ‘chicken meal’. Fitting perfectly into this horrific practice, is AAFCO ingredient definitions. Both the ingredients ‘Poultry’  and ‘Poultry Meal’ do not hold the requirement of being sourced from a slaughtered animal. The very same ingredients I brought to your attention more than a year ago for their inconsistent definitions, happen to provide industry a regulatory open door to sell ground alive birds as common pet food ingredients – without disclosing the true source of chicken to the consumer.

I now believe that what I gave AAFCO the benefit of the doubt for as being inconsistent ingredient definitions – just a simple error – was not an error after all. I wonder why AAFCO  wasn’t upfront with me more than a year ago? Back then, the simple AAFCO response could have been ‘The meat ingredients that do not include the requirement of slaughter can include culled birds or animals that have died other than by slaughter’. However by your response that these ingredient definitions will be corrected, and then not corrected – it causes me to question who AAFCO is protecting?

I have an on-going concern that AAFCO is too tightly connected with industry. At my first AAFCO meeting, the open discussion was what to name an ingredient that consisted of expired grocery foods – the example discussed was expired Hot Pockets. The AAFCO member publicly stated “we have to name it something the consumer will buy”. It is understood as to why industry would want to keep secrets from consumers – Ground Alive Chicken Pet Food wouldn’t sell well. It is not understood as to why AAFCO would assist industry in hiding these secrets. Ingredient definitions should be clear and provide consumers with full disclosure to the source of that ingredient (sourced from slaughtered animals or ground alive animals or expired Hot Pockets).

Pet food consumers deserve to know what they are feeding their pet. If the chicken is sourced from culled day old baby chicks or spent laying hens ground alive, consumers deserve to know. I ask that AAFCO stop aiding industry in hiding the secrets of pet food/animal feed. I ask that AAFCO develop regulations that require the truth to be told to consumers on pet food labels. I don’t expect or am I asking AAFCO to put themselves into a position of judgment (such as: is this a humanely sourced ingredient?, is this ingredient ethical?). I am asking AAFCO to require ingredient sourcing disclosure to the public (slaughtered animals or ground alive animals). Allow the public the opportunity to judge for themselves what source of chicken pet food they provide to their pet.

Susan Thixton
Representing Pet Food Consumer Members of Association for Truth in Pet Food

And because FDA recently announced they will begin to take over the role of animal food/feed ingredient definitions (from AAFCO), the following letter was sent to FDA…

It has been brought to our attention that it is common practice within the pet food industry to utilize ingredients sourced from culled baby chicks and spent laying hens by means of a macerator; the animals are ground alive. The end product is sold to pet food as ‘chicken’ or ‘chicken meal’ without disclosure to the consumer.

Currently the AAFCO established definition of poultry/chicken does not require the ingredient to be sourced from a slaughtered animal. This is in direct contrast to the AAFCO established definition of other meat ingredients – which do include within the ingredient definition the requirement of sourced from a slaughtered animal. We can only assume this omission of the requirement of ‘sourced from a slaughtered animal’ to be regulatory permission to utilize culled birds ground alive sold as the pet food ingredient ‘chicken’.

As FDA just announced “a strategy to establish ingredient definitions and standards for animal food in order to increase transparency”, ATPF asks FDA to include the transparency of source of ingredients (sourced from slaughtered animals or culled animals ground alive) within ingredient definitions. Pet food consumers deserve to know this information when making their pet food purchases.

ATPF also asks FDA for the ingredient definition transparency to include the quality of each ingredient; which ingredients are true food ingredients meeting all requirements of food law and which ingredients are considered feed (not meeting the requirements of food law).

We hope the FDA is sincere in their statement wishing to increase transparency within the pet food/animal feed industry. Consumers have waited a long time for transparency, it will be a welcome change.

Susan Thixton
Representing Pet Food Consumer Members of Association for Truth in Pet Food

For me, it has always been such a struggle to consider the slaughter of an animal. I have read far too many documents on the process, the memory of those words has caused me lots of lost sleep. While the slaughter of an animal is horrific to consider, the macerator process of grinding an animal alive is something completely unacceptable. Add with this, the pet food industry hiding this dirty little secret – keeping this truth from consumers on pet food labels – unacceptable has moved to a whole new level.

Call your pet food manufacturer and ask for their assurance that all meat is sourced from a USDA inspected and approved slaughtered animal. Will any pet food admit to sourcing ground alive chicken? It is doubtful. Which is all the more reason that we must have regulations that require this disclosure to consumers.

 

Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,

Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author Buyer Beware, Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
TruthaboutPetFood.com
Association for Truth in Pet Food

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25 Comments

25 Comments

  1. Dianne

    March 31, 2015 at 9:41 pm

    Talk about being between a rock and hard place.

  2. Peter

    March 31, 2015 at 9:42 pm

    Your suggestion: call your pet food manufacturer, is well put.

    Every chicken you’ve ever had in your life was female. The industry simply has no use for male chicks, since they do not develop the type of body (breast meat, primarily) that consumers would purchase. So they are simply “culled” and ground up alive or tossed into barrels on top of each other, to suffocate. The industry really doesn’t hide this… factory farms aren’t going to keep animals that they cannot sell alive… it is just normal business practice which would never cease… unless we stop eating chicken.

    • Julia Sharp

      March 31, 2015 at 9:58 pm

      This is all failing under the USDA. The USDA allows those chicks to be ground alive. The USDA allows puppy mills. The USDA was just busted for some of the most horrific cruelty imaginable yet no one heard about it in mainstream media…but thanks to the New York Times, we know. So we did a petition. We want the end of crushed chicks and factory farm horrors. They are not only feeding this to animals, we suspect they are feeding it to humans on some levels. Read the background in our petition to understand why this happens. http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/end-taxpayer-funded-abuse?source=c.em&r_by=1235249

  3. N E

    March 31, 2015 at 10:06 pm

    My stomach just turned around. I noticed that my cats would never eat anything with chicken in it, for unknown reason until now, it seems. Horrific.

  4. Verna Brunet

    March 31, 2015 at 10:28 pm

    We tried to fight city hall to give residents the right to keep a small number of chickens for eggs. We lost. Sure, some people would be cruel to their chickens, but the chicken industry is cruel to all of them.

    If we had the right to own a few chickens, people would buy from their neighbors to avoid the excessive cruelty of the industry. Sales & profits would go down.

  5. Terri Simmers

    March 31, 2015 at 11:26 pm

    I am out raged. The things our so called food business does not wont us to know about would raise our for Fathers from the grave. What ever happened to doing things the right way and with a good heart. This is horrific.And they wonder why we do not trust any more!

  6. Laurie Matson

    March 31, 2015 at 11:36 pm

    I was aware of Male Chicks being ground up and going to pet food years ago. However, I was not aware of spent Laying Hens having the same demise. I have seen a Mercy for Animals Video of the Hatchery process and chicks going into a Macerator or tossed in a barrel to pile up and suffocate. Many end up on the floor being left to die or schmooshed intentially with a foot. At least with the Macerator death is very quick and beats suffocating in a barrel. They are all horrible options though 🙁

  7. Regina

    April 1, 2015 at 12:05 am

    Susan,

    Thank you for the warning that this article was not for the faint of heart. I could not even finish the fourth paragraph.

    I’m sick. This is just maddening.

    And more and more, people wanting to grow/produce their own food are hit with regulations and restrictions preventing them from doing so. I hope I don’t sound like a paranoid lunatic, but, is our government actually trying to kill us????

    Please, Susan, Please, keep us posted on this issue!!!! I do know you are not going to let this go! I can’t wait to hear AAFCO’s response to your following up on this very issue.

    • Terri Janson

      April 1, 2015 at 1:08 pm

      Regina,

      No you don’t sound like a paranoid lunatic. I have thought the same thing about our government and the GMO problem. European countries and others won’t except any of our exported food that contains GMO’s but we eat it! Even Japan won’t allow McDonald’s in their county unless it is GMO free but we have them here…..

  8. Pat P.

    April 1, 2015 at 12:07 am

    If most of the pet food industry is aware of, tolerates and supports such appalling sadistic cruelty, why should we expect them to be honest about what goes into the food? It is not just the baby chicks that suffer incredibly horrific treatment. They know that, too. 99% of all farms are BiG Agra, where the majority of these horrors take place–for human food, and we know pet food is worse. Most slaughter houses are, also, extremely inhumane. These people are sociopaths (with some exceptions) that will do ANYTHING for money!

    The ONLY chicken that I will feed my cats is raw from a reputable, well-researched company–not many of them. I don’t know what they do with their male chicks, though. Hopefully, not what most do!

  9. Jude from Maine

    April 1, 2015 at 12:22 am

    Our country, like most countries, is run by whoever has the most money. Money buys power and power inevitably corrupts. I have no faith in our government to do the right thing. It’s so very horrible and disheartening.

    I have watched undercover videos of what goes on in factory farms and feel sick whenever I see people buying or eating slaughtered animals. I cannot get those videos out of my mind. I’m ashamed of our so-called overseers who take the easiest, cheapest road to produce income and who willingly accept easy money (bribes) from big industry’s lobbyists in exchange for their integrity. I don’t know how these people sleep at night.

    Susan, I don’t know how you have the courage to keep fighting for justice for the animals and for those who love them and believe that they are feeding their pets healthful food. I am humbled by your strength and perseverance. Thank you for staying in for the long haul.

  10. Pingback: Inexcusable Pet Food Ingredient Definitions - Golden Retrievers : Golden Retriever Dog Forums

  11. Sharon

    April 1, 2015 at 10:04 am

    Impact Pet Foods is very different than any other food out there! 100% sourced from the same sources that supply restaurants and based on whole food nutrition. Dogs go crazy for it and there is nothing in it that a human wouldn’t eat!

    This article proves that we need a revolution in pet food!

  12. Terri Janson

    April 1, 2015 at 12:23 pm

    CRUELTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is WHY I refuse to give up my laying hens that are aging! I will continue to feed and take care of them even if I get no eggs. Why are people so cruel. :((

  13. Deanna Siegel

    April 1, 2015 at 2:12 pm

    Above and beyond the issue of the inhumane way the chickens are killed is the content of the resulting “meat”. It is filled with their feathers, beak, intestines and the fecal matter contained therein. While one would assume that the product chicken would be healthier for one’s animals than chicken by products, it seems that chicken meat contains it all including things that would not even be allowed under chicken by products.

  14. Nina

    April 1, 2015 at 3:31 pm

    This is a legitimate, non-argumentative question…IF “chicken” and “chicken meal” cannot contain “feathers, heads, feet and entrails.”…how is macerated meat able to be used?

    • Susan Thixton

      April 1, 2015 at 5:23 pm

      I don’t have an answer for you on that – all I know is that suppliers of these ingredients are selling to pet food.

    • Alison

      April 4, 2015 at 8:06 am

      Had a thought that this is the fresh chicken ingredient, yuk. My dogs do get chicken backs now and again but normally lamb carcass

  15. Cathy

    April 2, 2015 at 8:56 am

    Cruel deaths by terrorists!

    Are animals people too?
    Wright R., 1990 Mar 12;No. 3921:20-22, 26-27
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11651975

    ANIMALS LIKE US
    Charles Siebert, January 2015
    Scroll to pages 52-55:
    http://issuu.com/joseisraelnunezhenriquez/docs/popular_science_2015-01.bak

  16. Ellie

    April 3, 2015 at 5:43 pm

    OK. I got as far as the grinding up of baby chicks and had to stop reading. I have some knowledge of the mistreatment of livestock in this country and I guess I just could not take another disgusting fact on the subject.
    There are some really good farmers and small ranchers that still treat their animals with respect but they are becoming few and far between. The small farmer has all but disappeared in some areas and the eyes of large cooperate farm owners are on those small farms. These large corporations often lobby politically to create conditions that make it all but impossible for small farmers to stay in business.
    Once upon a time in America a film on a cable network of small animals being slain in such a way would have brought about a huge public outcry. Is it because of the control that is place on the media or just the fact that no one really cares anymore that no one says or does a thing about this ? I don’t know but it seems that almost daily I am made aware of some horrendous failure of the population to react to some horrible situation that should have had immediate action to correct.

  17. Mike

    April 6, 2015 at 2:29 pm

    I, too, was outraged by your article, so I called Wellness and Natural Balance, the manufacturers of the canned cat foods that I feed my two cats. Both assured me that none of their foods contains ground up chicks. Wellness gave me positive assurance that none of their suppliers are allowed to use that ingredient. Natural Balance said that their foods contained only striated muscle meat, or specific organ meat such as liver, and never whole chicken products in any form.
    I hope this is true.

    • Paolo

      April 9, 2015 at 10:50 am

      The question to ask is, ‘from whom do you purchase your chicken meal.’

      • Mike

        April 9, 2015 at 11:19 am

        I disagree. The only reason to ask that question would be if I wanted to do the research with those suppliers, which would transfer the burden of proof to me. I want Wellness and Natural Balance to be responsible for what goes into their foods, and to be able to assure us that they don’t use any ingredients that contain live-ground chicks. They seemed to be aware of the problem, and, again, both assured me that none of their ingredients contain ground chicks (though Wellness seemed more certain of that, whereas NB relied on definitional exclusions).

  18. Tracey

    April 7, 2015 at 3:04 pm

    Killing chickens and cows is inhumane, this people committing these acts are sick twisted heartless bastards. I recently read an article about farms in Florida where customers pick out which LIVE animal they want, then the animal is killed right in front of them. A lot of these animals are skinned alive. What kind of heartless POS would do this? This is beyond disturbing and cruel. I keep hearing about how big AG tries to get our bought and paid for government to put a GAG order on all these inhumane acts against animals. How about not doing them in the first place! Animals were not put on this earth to be abused by humans but that is exactly what has been happening. It must stop. I really believe there is a special place in hell for those sick individuals that abuse, torture and kill animals, and big pet food and big AG are part of that group.

    I will never eat chicken or beef again, and I mean it! My dogs will be eating fruit and other things. This is just so disgusting that any animal is treating this way. Every time I drive by a cattle ranch I get sad, knowing that most of these cows will be slaughtered and end up as a steak or a hamburger at a fast food restaurant. I think I will just eat candy!

    Between the banks, wall street, pet food, and big AG this country doesn’t have a pray. The Lord will administer justice. I just hope I will still be here to see it.

    • Mike

      April 9, 2015 at 11:22 am

      Talk with your vet before taking your dogs off meat entirely. They are carnivores, and you might harm them if you deprive them of animal proteins.

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