A firm in Delaware is seeking a permit from local government to build a facility that recycles “poultry processing wastewater sludge” into a pet food ingredient. Protecting the environment – at the expense of our pets.
Green Recovery Technologies states they create “solutions that will leave our earth in better shape”. The company has applied to Delaware government for permit to build a poultry industry sludge processing plant. What is poultry industry sludge?
The poultry processing industry produces a great deal of wastewater. Sparing you some of the details (Click Here and Here to read more), during the poultry slaughter process bird carcasses are rinsed numerous times. Some blood, some internal organs, some feces end up in that water – but mostly it is just dirty, nasty water.
The firms processing the poultry have to dispose of this wastewater – it is an expense. So Green Recovery Technologies has a plan for the poultry processing plants in Delaware…this company is hoping to process the wastewater – along with the aid of “a toxic chemical solvent, dimethyl ether” to “extract proteins and fats for the pet food industry”.
Bloomberg Businessweek provides the following overview of Green Recovery Technologies LLC “Green Recovery Technologies LLC develops a technology solution that separates dissolved air floatation (DAF) waste from food processing for creating reusable by-products, proteins, lipids, and water. The company primarily focuses on animal processing wastewater. It collects DAF and other related industrial waste materials; and transports them to a waste processing facility to separate the solid waste from the water for placing back water into the normal water disposal system.”
From the permit submitted to the State of Delaware “Green Recovery Technologies is seeking a Coastal Zone Act permit under the Delaware Coastal Zone Act (7 Del Code, Ch. 70) to construct and operate a facility in the Riveredge Industrial Park, New Castle, that separates proteins and lipids from poultry processing wastewater “sludge” for use in the pet food industry.”
From a TriplePundit.com article, poultry producer Tyson Foods is under criminal investigation for alleged wastewater discharge into Missouri Clear Creek in May of 2014. The poultry sludge wastewater caused a “massive fish-kill”. This wastewater “apparently contained large amounts of the feed supplement Alimet. The supplement is used to help chickens absorb protein more readily from feed. However, the high doses of Alimet, which Tyson’s Monett plant says it was not aware was in the discharge, caused the city’s wastewater plant to release large amounts of ammonia into the water system. The ammonia has been credited with killing more than 100,000 fish in a four-mile stretch of the river.”
The AAFCO Official Publication provides the following: “Sludge: The suspended or dissolved solid matter resulting from the processing of animal or plant tissue for human food. Waste Water Sludge: The sanitary sewer water and suspended or dissolved solid matter resulting from the processing of animal or plant tissues for human food.” By AAFCO already having a definition of Sludge and Waste Water Sludge – we can safely assume it has been used in pet foods for years. This definition is provided under the category of “Fats and Oils” in the AAFCO Official Publication; the most likely pet food ingredients poultry sludge would be used in are ‘Animal Fat’, ‘Poultry Fat’, and ‘Chicken Fat’.
Industrial wastewater is an environmental problem. However, pet food should NOT be the dumping ground for the industrial sludge.
By the way…No…the pet food consumer would not be informed if the animal fat, poultry fat, or chicken fat would be sourced from poultry sludge.
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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2014 List
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Ted Bartlett
October 1, 2014 at 2:24 pm
Thanks Susan , if this is approved I trust you will tell us who will use it in their pet food.
Susan Thixton
October 1, 2014 at 2:35 pm
It already is approved elsewhere. My bad – I didn’t explain it well. The ‘sludge’ definition is already in the AAFCO rule book – so this is an ingredient we can safely assume is already in use from other areas of the country. And we won’t know who uses it – no company is required to tell us.
Iva Kimmelman
October 1, 2014 at 8:14 pm
I own a chain of pet supply stores and live in fear that I am ever going to sell someone a food that will hurt their beloved pets. I feed Nature’s Logic and my dogs love it. NO issues whatsoever, but I trust Susan who told me how much she loved the food.
Pet Owner
October 1, 2014 at 2:53 pm
If chicken sludge-water isn’t fit for human consumption, then why would it be fit for pet food?
Until people can figure out a good response for that question, stop buying PF produced by manufacturers who refuse to be transparent. If there’s nothing wrong with sludge-water there shouldn’t be any problem divulging its use.
Unfortunately, it probably doesn’t sound too appealing does it? And so it’s just another excuse for a company to be in the pet “feed” business – rather than in the pet FOOD (aka human grade quality) business.
Guess it’s back to The 2014 List. About 14 products out of 2500+ brand/formulas on the market …..?!
Peter
October 30, 2014 at 7:50 am
Well, “filth” is OK when it is applied to pet foods, as part of FDA Compliance Policies. The consumer, it seems, is virtually defenseless, in this adversarial relationship.
Judith Pannebaker
October 1, 2014 at 2:58 pm
Susan, with your permission and proper attribution, I would like to reprint this article in the Bandera County Courier, Bandera, Texas. Thanx
Judith Pannebaker
Editor
Donna
October 1, 2014 at 3:10 pm
PF companies should be required by law to accurately list all ingredients in the product on the package label – it should be the same requirements of human-grade food/beverage products. Of course, we will never know if they are transparent.
If there are no issues with poultry processing wastewater sludge being used in a product, surely we can expect PFI and AAFCO officials to show their confidence in that safety by taste-testing some of the food made with that “safe” ingredient.
Lori S.
October 1, 2014 at 3:16 pm
Extremely important, and horrid. Thank you for alerting everyone to this. Is there anything one can do – public comments, etc?
Susan Thixton
October 1, 2014 at 3:22 pm
We need transparency in the industry. If regulatory authorities are going to allow waste like this in pet food (and they are not going to stop anytime soon) – then at the very least we need transparency to who is using what. But I’m not sure how we can go about that – how we can try to demand transparency.
Dee
October 1, 2014 at 3:18 pm
Seriously this is appalling please write to Green Recovery Technologies LLC , http://greenrecoverytech.com/contact.html Tell them you don’t want their toxic waste water sludge in our pet foods!!! Thanks Susan for keeping us informed.
Devon
October 1, 2014 at 3:41 pm
one thing i have noticed is that a great deal of pets foods are recalled due to salmonella being an issue, so that really makes me wonder if honestly that is the reason for it. salmonella is usually in the highest concentration in the feces of any animal that secretes it (more animals that chickens have salmonella). so it would make sense that if they are not affectively killing the bacteria when they process this sludge for pet food it could be the reason for such high levels of salmonella in the food. i would assume that would be a good indicator of just who may be using this sludge already, at least until more companies own up to using this disgusting product to feed our pets. while humans do recycle our sewage for FERTILIZER we dont actually eat it ourselves and it goes through processes to limit the bacteria that would be found because of it’s…origins. why then are they using chicken sewage to feed our animals? are they saying we should do this for ourselves too? cause im sure many people (myself included) would very strongly object that as a practice. cause it is disgusting. but that is basically what they are doing. feeding our pets sewage.
Maggie
October 1, 2014 at 4:35 pm
It’s the same thing with fluoride. Brilliant idea on the part of industry to dump their fluoride waste into our drinking water, thus saving them the cost of properly disposing of it. Thanks for bringing this to
our attention Susan. You are worth more than your weight in gold.
SarahB
October 1, 2014 at 4:45 pm
I live in Delaware. There is a huge chicken industry here, and other than the populous northern tip (which is basically a suburb of Philly), the state is filled with people who think Ol’ Roy, etc. are great. There is currently one pet food being made here, by ingredient list they are viewed as a rather good company but I have heard a lot of negative things about their food production.
I am a an active member of the local kennel club. What can I, and we, do to possibly stop this?
Jo
October 1, 2014 at 11:36 pm
SarahB, would you mind sharing with us the name of the “rather good company” in Delaware to which you are referring?
SarahB
October 2, 2014 at 4:24 pm
I’d rather not specifically name them in such a public setting, but any kind of google search using terms like “dog food” and the state name will give you their website as the first link.
Pet Owner
October 2, 2014 at 10:15 pm
Doing as suggested offered Beaverdam Pet Food,
http://www.beaverdampetfood.com/products/dog-and-cat-food/
Heavens knows we’re all in need of decent commercial PF and good referrals are always important. Me thinks you might be a distributor or in the pet supply business (?) but certainly no matter. We’ve learned on TAPF to be pretty discriminating. Website presentation is also important. It was an easy 2 clicks to the ingredients page. But a little confusing in verbiage. Stated: no grain, no meal & bone meal. However the first ingredient in the first product offered lists Beef Meal. Second ingredient is Whole Grain Sorgham. Definition seems to be “ground whole grain sorghum __ found in 9% of pet food products analyzed
cousin to millet, very nutritive grain, alkalizing to the body, easy to digest.” Learn more at http://www.naturalnews.com/report_pet_food_ingredients_2.html#ixzz3F2mNaMCq
Also contains chicken and pork meal and brown rice. Quite a bit of “yeast” but there is also probiotics too.
It would be excellent if they could return the Pledge to Quality and Origin, to join the other select few products who’ve participated.
SarahB
October 3, 2014 at 12:37 am
I’m neither, what makes you think I am? Your reply is rather confusing, I’m not sure what you’re going for.
Pet Owner
October 3, 2014 at 10:34 am
Readers on TAPF (if they can) try to help one another. It’s clear from your post that’s what you want to do, as well. A lot of us do it through personal experience. A question was asked about which PF was under discussion. From the experienced offered opinion about it seemed mixed. Few commercial PFs are perfect anyway. But if it was better than most, it might be helpful to a lot of people in your area. There’s nothing wrong with being a distributor or pet supply seller. However some don’t want to be perceived as “selling” a product on this site. I have also found reluctance with a few (ill-trained, or less ethical) PS sales people who won’t directly recommend products because they want to “equalize” store sales throughout. If they “push” one product, it might discourage a sale on something else, and people would be asking … “well why not those products too?” For chain stores that’s the danger in “training” customers too well!. How can they defend their “least” quality selection?
If there was mixed opinion about this brand, and if this was indeed the right brand, it seemed curious the website would state “no meat or bone MEAL” yet Beef Meal was the first ingredient listed, thirdly followed by Chicken Meal. Again, if a manufacturer is proud of what they produce for all the right reasons, they are invited to be part of the Pledge to Quality or find some form of transparency.
btw us: If Ol’Roy is the standard in that area, just about any other brand (sans four others) would be an improvement. Belonging to Breed Clubs (as I do) is a great way to spread the word about issues and risks, and to discover the healthiest ways to feed pets. Some Breeders go the extra mile to cover every base, but not all. It’s a long hard struggle to change the die-hards. But those in my group ARE changing. The more facts (like testing results) we have at hand, the better this will be for the future.
I wasn’t going for anything, …. except communication.
SarahB
October 3, 2014 at 3:56 pm
Thank you for your reply, I appreciate it. I didn’t want to say the name directly because of any legal ramifications; silly and paranoid, I know!
I’ve never really liked the ingredient list, but the brand gets a lot of high recommendations online – it’s on several “Best Foods” lists, has a 4.5 on Dog Food Advisor, etc. It IS better than Ol’ Roy and the like, but the big problem I have is that a lot of people falsely believe it’s a great food at a cheap price. It can be found at local amish markets and feed stores that only sell junk, but it’s also sold in some pet boutique stores that only sell it and a few super high end brands of food and treats. I have no proof of anything, but the ingredients are very low quality (but from the USA, which is all that seems to matter to some), I know of several dogs who have gotten very sick from it, and so on. I personally always tell people to stay away from it.
I’m heavily involved in my local all-breed club (a very tiny club) and do community outreach with them, and I’m also active in my breed’s national club (an uncommon breed with no local clubs). I do the best I can to educate! To the point that the only time I’ve been into a walmart in the past 7 years was to photograph the ingredients on all of the kibbles so I could be specific when telling people why they are such bad foods, since they don’t post their ingredients online.
Pet Owner
October 3, 2014 at 8:39 pm
It’s been very enjoyable exchanging comments with you! You are a real asset to your Breed Fanciers and local Kennel Club! If only more folks would do the same kind of research. Thank you for your response. I was worried that you had gotten offended along the way. (insert Smiley Face here!)
For the Pets
October 1, 2014 at 5:02 pm
This is just beyond disgusting. It’s just awful what happens to pets all in the name of profit.
Marsha
October 1, 2014 at 6:03 pm
That is gross!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think we all need to write to the company and let them know how we feel as pet owners/parents. This onoy makes me want to keep making my own food for my dogs!!!!!!
Bonnie
October 2, 2014 at 12:05 pm
You are what they eat…..enough said !!!
Ellie
October 2, 2014 at 12:40 pm
This is just so disgusting. Imagine the profit you can make selling garbage that didn’t cost you anything!
I have also been reading of environmentalists that think it is a wonderful idea. Of course these people are so radical that they would prefer that none of us eat meat. Those cows let off that awful carbon dioxide, you know!
Some of them are actually so radical that they would prefer to cut the population of humans at least in half. Some suggest that if we must have those polluting pets we may as well make them useful and feed them garbage instead of further polluting the earth with it. It kind of stinks the same as those carbon exchanges Al Gore was planning on getting richer by selling.
Jo
October 2, 2014 at 1:56 pm
Hey now, I’m all for freedom of speech, but let’s not get offensive here. Not all environmentalists are “radical”. And I for one happen to appreciate the efforts Al Gore has put forth to better the environment. I don’t think he would have been chosen to receive the Nobel Peace Prize if he were simply trying to get rich!
Now back to the subject of pet food…
JAC
October 6, 2014 at 3:13 pm
By the way, that the business is in Delaware is not a surprise. They may be anywhere in the country really. It is known by many that registering a business in Delaware is best since it has less stringent laws. Therefore, they may be some place else and dealing with a chicken farm in some other part of the country.
Also, by the way, not all the people or organizations that say are for the environment really are.
Janine
November 8, 2014 at 2:08 pm
I have a feeling that this will be used in the cheaper pet foods and unfortunately, as long as there’s a market for cheap pet food, waste from animal processing for human consumption will always be put into pet food. That’s why pet food was invented in the first place, to have a place to get rid of the by-products of animals that were processed for human food, the stuff nobody wanted to eat and would have been thrown out. Sad that it’s still happening after all this time.
Chris
February 1, 2016 at 5:42 pm
what pet food company uses this? I would like to know so I do not get any of the food. I just found this new dog food by Beaverdam Pet Food and they are in Delaware? are they the ones that are using this stuff? I hope not they have GREAT reviews and the dog food avisory give them 4 1/2 stars. so much better then I have seen most dog food companies get.
Sarah
February 2, 2016 at 7:36 pm
Chris – Beaverdam has been around for years… as someone who lives right by where they are based, do NOT feed it.
Tori Pursell
December 18, 2018 at 1:02 pm
Hi Sarah, just wondering why you are warning against it? I don’t know anything one way or another, just curious for some more information.
Thanks!
terry
May 12, 2021 at 3:16 am
I was going try beaverdam for my pets.Is it safe or not?
Pacific Sun
February 3, 2016 at 2:33 am
Just a thought. If you like the idea of BPF, consider “Nature’s Logic” instead (read here: https://truthaboutpetfood.com/new-pledges/). At least they returned the TAPF’s Pledge to Origin and Quality. They don’t do a lot of fancy advertising. Hopefully just putting their resources into a trustworthy product. (I don’t work for any PF company nor represent TAPF) just another consumer!