These are just some highlights of an article I found...
50% of every food animal does not get used in human foods. Whatever remains of the carcass ? heads, feet, bones, blood, intestines, lungs, spleens, livers, ligaments, fat trimmings, unborn babies, and other parts not generally consumed by humans ? is used in pet food, animal feed, fertilizer, industrial lubricants, soap, rubber, and other products. These ?other parts? are known as ?by-products.? By-products are used in feed for poultry and livestock as well as in pet food.
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.
Because of persistent rumors that rendered by-products contain dead dogs and cats, the FDA conducted a study looking for pentobarbital, the most common euthanasia drug, in pet foods. They found it. Ingredients that were most commonly associated with the presence of pentobarbital were meat-and-bone-meal and animal fat. However, they also used very sensitive tests to look for canine and feline DNA, which were not found. Industry insiders admit that rendered pets and roadkill were used in pet food some years ago. Although there are still no laws or regulations against it, the practice is uncommon today, and pet food companies universally deny that their products contain any such materials. However, so-called ?4D? animals (dead, dying, diseased, disabled) were only recently banned for human consumption and are still legitimate ingredients for pet food. |