In a recent post on PetFoodIndustry.com – an industry publication – there was a story touting the benefits of hydrolyzed chicken ingredients in pet food. The story was basically marketing – sponsored content – promoting the pet food ingredient supplier BRF Ingredients.
The interesting part of the pet food ingredient supplier post was their explanation of a study comparing two different diets on cats. One diet included the hydrolyzed chicken ingredient as the protein source, and the other diet protein source was “conventional Chicken Bowels Flour“.
“Chicken Bowels Flour“?
As it turns out – later disclosed in the post – Chicken Bowels Flour is what the ingredient supplier industry calls Poultry By-Product Meal (a ‘conventional’ pet food ingredient).
The Deception.
Clearly, the pet food ingredient industry terms the ingredient Chicken Bowels Flour because that’s what it is – cooked, finely ground into a powder, chicken bowels. But what pet food would sell with the tag line ‘Made with Real Chicken Bowels’? So, the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) terms the ingredient Poultry By-Product Meal – a much more appealing name to the pet owner.
Pet owners are deceived with other ingredients too. As example, the BRF Ingredients website provides this description for Poultry Meal (Chicken Meal or Turkey Meal) on their website:
“The solution in Poultry Meal (Standard) is the result of cooking, pressing and grinding of poultry guts, offals, cartilage and meat flakes.”
Would any pet owner purchase a pet food with chicken guts and meat flakes listed on the label? Probably not, so again regulatory authorities assist the pet food industry by hiding the true content of the ingredient terming it Chicken Meal.
We have tried to nudge regulatory authorities for transparency – without much luck. In March 2019 – more than 2 years ago – our consumer association (AssociationforTruthinPetFood.com) and an industry association (that represents human grade ingredient manufacturers – NGPFMA.org) combined efforts and submitted to AAFCO a starting point of transparency for pet food ingredient names and definitions. We submitted a detailed list of proposed pet food ingredient definitions – Click Here to read. AAFCO has agreed to discuss updates to ingredients (at the August 2020 meeting), but refused to allow either of our organizations to participate in the discussions.
Pet food consumers deserve to understand EXACTLY what is in their pet’s food. But…for now, we are denied that opportunity by AAFCO and FDA (FDA participates in the AAFCO process and accepts all ingredient definitions written by AAFCO). We all might be purchasing chicken bowels or poultry guts or meat flakes under a completely different name.
Frustrated pet owners can send complaint emails to AAFCO at: aafco@aafco.org
Or email FDA at: AskCVM@fda.hhs.gov
Example email: The publication PetFoodIndustry.com recently published sponsored content from BRF Ingredients. BRF classified the common pet food ingredient Poultry By-Product Meal as “Chicken Bowels Flour” – clearly as an ingredient supplier, a much more transparent name for the ingredient. The same pet food ingredient supplier describes their poultry meal as “the result of cooking, pressing and grinding of poultry guts, offals, cartilage and meat flakes.”
I am tired of being deceived. If my pet’s food or treats contain Chicken Bowels Flour or Poultry Guts – I want that information disclosed on the label. If my pet’s food or treats contain human edible, USDA inspected and passed chicken meat – I want that information disclosed on the label. I deserve to know exactly what my pet is eating in the products I purchase.
Personally – I do NOT want to feed my pets Chicken Bowels Flour, I don’t even want a product made with Chicken Bowels Flour in my house. Until pet foods/treats are required to be fully transparent with pet owners, any of us could have Chicken Bowels Flour sitting in our pantry without our knowledge. It’s not right.
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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Melanie O.
June 28, 2021 at 1:31 pm
Sent emails to both organizations as suggested….I truly won’t ever understand why we cannot be more “on board” such as Europe for example, in demanding better ingredients for our pets, and for that matter, for us humans, (think food, cosmetics, etc.) Thank you for doing all that you do! It matters! 🙂
Amy
June 28, 2021 at 5:51 pm
Mmmm – chitlins. AKA chitterlings. Vs bowel flour. How do you even make bowel flour? Bowel flower?
I can’t stand it!!
Cathy Heckman
June 28, 2021 at 7:12 pm
In an effort to find a better food for my cats, I have been going on a hunt for a better product and reading ALL the labels. Even the fancy “holistic” pet food stores are a wash out. I have found on most of the labels this wording’ “Made in the USA with globally sourced ingredients” or they are all “Made in Thailand”! I have no clue where we are going.
Sandy B
June 29, 2021 at 12:17 pm
What disturbs me most is first, the lack of transparency and downright duplicity in the labeling on pet food. Second is whether these guts contain feces and undigested food. I don’t want to feed my dog or cat either of those. And last, I wonder if there are parts of the gut that a predator, dog or cat, would not eat in nature for some reason, perhaps because it is harmful or tastes bad. Otherwise, I think “guts” are probably a natural food to predators and may have some of the health benefits of other organ meats to carnivorous animals, provided rendering and processing don’t rob it completely of nutritional value. I do not, however, trust the cleanliness or healthfulness of this as an ingredient by virtue of the fact that the majority of pet food and meat packing industries’ primary goal is to make money from something that otherwise is useless garbage, the guts, and not to benefit dogs and cats nutritionally. Reading an industry report I learned long ago what at that time may have been true, that there are wide ranges in the quality of so-called by-products. I also was told the best pet foods, specifically Hill’s, used higher quality by-products. The best thing a great veterinarian had to say about it to me was that “you” knew what was in Hill’s. I don’t know if that’s still true and I am not saying Hill’s is that good, certainly not as good as it once was, but if one doesn’t cook for their pets, it’s mostly just trying to find the least unhealthy and offensive commercial food.
Kate Panthera
October 28, 2021 at 2:15 am
Sandy –
I was just thinking about everything you stated in your post – now I don’t have to write it myself! Animals in the wild DO eat guts and other things, but what people are feeding this food to are domesticated animals, whose digetive needs and living conditions vary significantly from their wild ‘cousins’.
With the awful track record that the FDA has had at times in the past with human food, how are we supposed to expect that they’ll be scrupulous about pet foods? Esp. when they expect most owners to not be informed about proper nutrition for their animals and not look into it.
T Allen
July 5, 2021 at 11:06 am
The difference between what predators eat in the wild for guts and what is in pet food boils down (haha) to two things. First prey killed in the wild may have parasites but it’s unlikely they have salmonella , listeria, etc. Second, unless the carnivores are desperate and eating carrion, their prey is killed and eaten immediately in much more sanitary conditions than the toxic garbage in rendering plants. Even if the prey is covered in mud it’s “clean” mud as compared to the 50 years of contamination built up on farms and processing plants. That said wild carnivores don’t usually live very long in the wild compared to what pets should/could/used to live before they started being used as garbage disposals. Our only option is to feed our own “leftovers from our kitchens. There are lots of recipes online for making your own pet meals. It looks like we are out of other options unless you can afford the high priced human grade products on the market. 🙁 Thanks Susan!