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Real Meat or Fake Meat Pet Food? Consumers Should be Told

It’s one thing if a canned pet food is a meat loaf type, but it is another thing entirely if a pet food is meat chunks and gravy – and those meat chunks are fabricated…fake meat. Pet food is not required to tell consumers if the meat is real or fake, but they should.

It’s one thing if a canned pet food is a meat loaf type, but it is another thing entirely if a pet food is meat chunks and gravy – and those meat chunks are fabricated…fake meat. Pet food is not required to tell consumers if the meat is real or fake, but they should.

Today’s food science industry has close to mastered the ability to manufacture fake meat. Made with vegetable proteins and gums (no meat), fake meat products have been developed to have the same texture and the “right chew” properties of meat.

Below is a video of how a human food fake meat product is made (Beyond Meat chicken strips)…

In a human food product, the manufacturer must disclose to the consumer if the meat is fake or real. But in pet food…the consumer is not told.

extruded meat Fancy Feast loafIn a loaf style wet pet food, consumers understand that the loaf is not 100% meat. It is similar to meat loaf that we prepare for our family. We know from personal experience that meat loaf is made using multiple ingredients (ground meat, bread crumbs, egg, seasoning, and sauce). Using the example above, this Fancy Feast Tender Beef and Chicken Feast canned cat food is loaf style.

But pet food being the mysterious secretive world that it is, when consumers see this type of pet food…

extruded meat Fancy Feast Chicken

…they would have no thought that the displayed pieces of meat in the pet food could actually be fabricated meat.

Fabricated meat pieces in pet food is a well protected industry secret. The Beyond Meat product (from the video) uses no meat – all vegetable proteins to fabricate their ‘chicken’ or ‘beef’ products. But pet food utilizes some meat (meat slurry), various vegetable proteins (wheat gluten, corn starch, pea protein and/or soy protein) and sometimes gums (carrageenan) – this concoction is then extruded (cooked with pressure and steam to produce the meat-like texture) and finally added into the canned pet foods as ‘meat’. The fabricated meat pieces look almost identical to actual meat.

How would a consumer know if the pet food is made with real pieces of chicken or beef or made with fabricated meat pieces? They wouldn’t. The pet food industry is not required to tell the consumer if the chunks of meat are actual meat, or a fabricated meat product.

Which one of the two pictures below is real grilled chicken strips? Which one is fake meat?

Is this real chicken?

extruded meat Beyond Meat chicken

Or is this real chicken?

extruded meat chicken

The bottom image is real chicken. The top image is 100% fake chicken (Beyond Meat).

So…if it is challenging to spot a fabricated meat visually, how can we tell if our pet’s food is made with real meat or fabricated meat?

We can’t with any certainty. We can make assumptions based on a little detective work – but there is no certain fool-proof way to determine if your pets food is made with real meat or fabricated fake meat. Basically, the pet food industry is allowed to deceive consumers by using fabricated meat product pretending the pet food is made with real meat pieces.

The following letter was sent to FDA and to AAFCO’s Pet Food Committee…

Pet food consumers want to know and understand what they are buying for their pet. One area of pet food that consumers have no clue to what they are purchasing is with canned foods.

Many canned pet foods utilize an extruded or fabricated meat. These meat ‘chunks’ have the texture of real meat (100% meat) – but they are not. Instead of 100% real meat chunks, many ‘meats’ in canned pet foods are a meat product made with some animal protein, added gums or vegetable thickeners and then this concoction is extruded to produce a meat product with similar appearance to real meat.

The pet food label might list all ingredients used in the extruded fabricated meat (example: beef, wheat gluten, soy or pea protein,…), however most consumers have no idea that the ‘meaty chunks’ within the pet food are not 100% meat chunks. How would they know? There is no requirement for manufacturers to disclose this information to any consumer. This extruded meat process is a well protected industry secret.

Representing our pet food consumer members, Association for Truth in Pet Food asks FDA and AAFCO to establish a requirement of disclosure by the pet food manufacturer informing consumers if meat chunks in pet foods are 100% meat or if the product includes extruded fabricated meat chunks.

ATPF is not placing judgment on extruded meat pet foods, and we are not asking FDA or AAFCO to place judgement on these products. We are simply asking authorities to require an extruded meat disclosure by the manufacturer on the product label allowing the consumer to make informed purchases. We suggest ‘includes fabricated meat product’ as a pet food label disclosure statement to properly inform consumers.

There is a significant difference between 100% meat chunks and fabricated meat chunks. Consumers deserve the ability to quickly and clearly understand which they are purchasing. We ask FDA and AAFCO to promptly require pet food manufacturers to disclose to consumers which they are buying – real or fake meat pet food.

Representing consumer members of Association for Truth in Pet Food,

Susan Thixton

I don’t know if FDA or AAFCO will agree that this is an issue that consumers deserve to know about. I don’t know if they will require pet food to disclose the use of fabricated fake meat. All we can do is ask, and hope they understand that consumers deserve to know what they are purchasing. While we wait for a disclosure requirement from authorities, consumers can…

  1. Ask your pet food manufacturer if the meat in your pet food is 100% meat chunks or if the meat is an extruded meat product. However, it is doubtful they will disclose their use of extruded meat products. I’ve asked several companies that I suspected to be an extruded meat product and none have admitted to their use.
  2. One clue is the price of the pet food. As example a pet food that appears to be made with chicken or beef chunks that sells at retail for $0.30 or $0.40 an ounce, is very suspect of being made from an extruded fabricated meat.
  3. If a ‘with gravy’ style pet food includes wheat gluten, or soy proteins, or corn gluten, or gums – it is suspect the vegetable binders or gums are included to fabricate an extruded meat. These vegetable proteins or gums are common to loaf style foods (used as binders to hold the food to a loaf shape), but their use in a ‘gravy’ style pet food would not be required/necessary.

When/if I hear a response from FDA and AAFCO, it will be shared.

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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17 Comments

17 Comments

  1. Simon S.

    September 10, 2015 at 5:51 pm

    “…that sells at retail for $0.30 or $0.40 an ounce…”, is that a typo? That would mean a 12.7 ounce can costing between
    $3.81 and $5.08 would be suspect? This is the price range for ultra premium canned dog food. Just checking……

    • Susan Thixton

      September 10, 2015 at 6:01 pm

      I used small cans (cat food) for the price estimate – per ounce they were around $0.30 an ounce and included multiple binder ingredients I suspect are fabricated meat. The problem is, any food could regardless of price could be using an extruded meat. We just don’t know.

  2. Jane Eagle

    September 10, 2015 at 5:55 pm

    Since FDA does not even require manufacturers to disclose that their product is made with rotting meat, moldy grains and spoiled vegetables, I doubt if they will care about this, either.
    FDA is a huge waste of our tax dollars.

  3. Sherrie Ashenbremer

    September 10, 2015 at 6:06 pm

    I agree with Jane Eagle, the FDA is a useless. Look how many mistakes they have made with medicine for humans. I don’t trust the FDA at all.
    Fake meat, really? Why in the world do we have to have fake meat. Is our world becoming so money hungry
    and ruled by the almighty dollar that we have to have fake meat?? That is awful. How can we tell if the dog food fake meat or real meat. I feed my dogs Orijen, is that good?
    I am thinking of switching to Darwin’s or Stella & Chewys dog food.
    One more thing to worry about.

  4. Marsha

    September 10, 2015 at 6:07 pm

    What they are using in fake meat is called TVP. Textured Vegetable Protein. It has been used in school for at least 25 years or so. The children can tell the difference, and have called it fake meat for years. they do not eat much of anything in the way of meats at schools now.

    • Elizabeth Marquez

      September 10, 2015 at 6:50 pm

      This is so disturbing, I hate the FDA! Everyone knows they get paid big bucks by these corporations to ignore all the disgusting practices that go on in the pet food industry. I think we should all make our dog’s food, at least we have more control of what they are eating. I already do. Hit then in the pocket book, then maybe they will start to listen. The FDA needs to do their job, what the hell, feeding our kids fake meat too, unbelievable!

  5. Sherrie Ashenbremer

    September 10, 2015 at 6:37 pm

    They used fake meat in schools? So when I kid ordered a hamburger in a public school cafeteria they are not getting real hamburger? Oh dear God. I had no idea. I just figure a hamburger is a hamburger is a hamburger. Oh wow, guess the jokes on me. I think that is horrible, fake meat! Horrible in any food

    • Deep Search

      September 11, 2015 at 2:18 am

      No. There’s plenty of hotdogs, chicken burritos, fish sticks, hamburgers and etc in public school cafeterias. Not exactly the healthiest choice cuts, but it’s meat. If I’d been a vegetarian in high school I’d have been hard pressed to find a complete meal. Meat analogs have been around forever if you consider tempeh, tofu, and seitan, but I never once saw any soy sausage or anything while in school. That’s hardly what people should be worried about.

  6. Heather

    September 10, 2015 at 7:44 pm

    @Sherrie – “fake meat” (either vital wheat gluten or TVP) are not horrible in any food. I have been vegan for most of my life thus the above products are great protein sources for humans who choose not to eat animals. The brand Susan video linked, Beyond Meat, is an ethical company utilizing such ingredients for (human) non-meat eaters.

    The problem and point here is, if it is in pet food the consumer should be informed. We should not be duped into thinking we’re purchasing what may look like animal flesh when it is actually (more) a plant-based pet food.

    It’s about transparency and legit information regarding ingredients, not so much the fact it’s a meat analogue.

    • Deep Search

      September 11, 2015 at 4:55 pm

      Yes. I wish the chicken nuggets I ate in school had been TVP and soy rather than”pink slime,” but of course they weren’t. Fearing fake meat reminds me of the urban legends about fast food places not using real meat in their food. “If it’s not meat, what is it? Used napkins? Sawdust…? Vegetables!?”

      I always likened the mechanically shaped square hunks and tidbits of meaty things in canned food to wet kibble. It is possible to find brands of flaked/morsel canned and pouch foods that are primarily meat, but if there are a lot of plant based ingredients on the label one is left guessing how much of it is veg and how much is meat. Seems that unless it is listed on the product how much of the food is actually meat/fish/egg compared to what is plant origin one can’t know.

  7. Nora

    September 10, 2015 at 7:47 pm

    The almighty dollar rules the world. Your pets r better off eating table scraps or homemade raw. Buy ground chicken, sardines (really cheap) in a can, ground beef, etc. it’s all cheaper and your fur buddies r getting the real thing. My cat is not just surviving…she is thriving on people food…of course, that which is suitable for a carnivore. It’s a no brainer! The FDA and all pet food companies would go out of business if we all just go back to what Mother Nature intended for our pets. Processed food isn’t good for us humans either. It’s easy to freeze meal sized portions for a cat or dog. I can get a huge bag of chicken hearts for a pittance. My cat loves them and I freeze enough for one meal and alternate with other “human” food. The list goes on.

  8. Deep Search

    September 11, 2015 at 5:46 am

    Yeah, looking at the ingredients will tell someone if the meat in a can or pouch is actually meat or a meat/veg product. A can of shredded chicken cat food that is chicken and gravy with small quantities of oil, a binder and vitamins is going to simply be nearly all meat and liquid. A can of “morsels in gravy” that contains vegetable proteins, peas or potaotes is going to be meat and veg pressed together to make those little rectangle meaty bits. The cheaper foods use wheat gluten and soy protein in order to skimp on meat, obviously. If you can’t see any of the vegetable ingredients in the food, it’s in the meat chunks.

  9. Regina

    September 11, 2015 at 9:20 pm

    Susan, this reminds me of a post you did a few months back, about the purina “broths” products. Consumers were led to believe that it was pieces of real meat or fish, in broth. But you pointed out all of the other ingredients in the products, which meant that those slivers of meat were not actually “real” meat.

    But ill-informed consumers just look at the front of the label and foolishly believe the deception.

    I have heard people commenting about how good purina pro plan is, with its shredded pieces of real chicken in the dry food. Those shredded pieces are NOT meat! If you break a piece up with your fingers you will find it is very much like a bread product.
    Yet people just believe the perception that the front of the bag portrays, and don’t look at the ingredients which will show a lot of grains . . . which is how bread products are made!

    I seriously doubt that you will get any decent response to your queries, Susan. The sad fact is we who really care about what out furry children eat seem to be in the minority, an thus not worth their time?

    • Jane Democracy

      October 3, 2015 at 12:31 pm

      Look closely at the freeze dried stuff that is being added to “high end” brands as well.

      Processed human food (and pet food too), as well as all prepackaged products from food to shampoo are one huge marketing gimmick that we as consumers lap up as truth. Grain Free and Gluten Free are a few that come to mind. These are 2 of the biggest hoaxes we have ever been fed as consumers.

      We need to start thinking about what we are eating and why we need to or don’t need to eat it Instead we reach for the packaged junk because we our too busy, lazy or have some crazy notion that somehow our governments have endless supplies of cash to to test every single thing for every possible problem. Imagine what the cost of food and our taxes would be if we demanded that this should happen.

  10. Jane Democracy

    October 3, 2015 at 12:15 pm

    We also need to understand the world demand for protein. Humans have become protein pigs, we consume massive amounts of meat in the developed world. We also have more and more family pets that also require protein. Meat based protein takes a lot of resources and space to grow. Not to mention people don’t like the large scale production model that has to occur these days in order to feed the population. It is only understandable that we will have to look for alternate sources of protein.

    • Susan Thixton

      October 3, 2015 at 9:09 pm

      I don’t necessarily have an issue with ‘alternate sources of protein’ – I do have a problem with non-disclosure of those ‘alternate sources’ to the consumer. Including fabricated meat without disclosure to the consumer is in essence lying to the consumer. I think most consumers just want transparency.

  11. Janey

    January 5, 2018 at 1:29 pm

    I’m vegan. I’m thrilled that the pet industry is using beyond meat technology!

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