[lil fu fu girl]

Originally Posted by Britster

Chicken meal is not bad, from my understanding. Chicken meal is simply chicken that has been baked to remove bacteria and other toxins. An ingredient listed as Chicken is just that... just chicken, but it's made mostly out of water, therefore even if it says "60% chicken" that's misleading and not true, and would be placed further down on the ingredient list. So technically w/ the "meal" you're actually getting MORE meat. I prefer to see a "meal" followed after the chicken on the ingredient list because it means you're actually getting sufficient meat. If that makes any sense.

My issue with chicken, or any meat protein that is labeled "meal", is not the issue surrounding protein content. It is surrounding the fact that most meals in kibble are "Pet-Grade-meals", not meals that are made for human consumption. [Your kibble package will specifically state, "Human-grade meal" if it is made from human grade meal.] Pet -Grade meals are the compiled results from the rejects of what is Not fit for human consumption,ie; those that are diseased. Yes the high heat process used to create the meal, kills bacterium, however, most toxins are the by-products of the bacteria, and these are Not killed with the heat process. Therefore, these toxins are transferred into the pet-grade meal and allowed to be distributed, unbeknownst to the buyer.

Currently the ARS, Agriculture Research Service, is researching technology, a biosensor-based method , which can detect these toxins in human grade foods. No testing on any pet-grade foods are in their agenda as of yet. Hope this helps.