What do you REALLY know about "by-products"? Are you thinking hooves and horns and teeth ground up and added to the food?
Today, pet owners want to be more informed when it comes to what they feed their pets. But there’s also a lot of misinformation out there when it comes to ingredients like protein sources, grains, fillers, gluten and by-products. So what do these ingredients really mean for your pet? Let us tell you.
Contrary to popular marketing messages, chicken listed first on a label is not an indication that the diet contains more protein. Ingredients must appear in descending order of their weight in the diet. The total weight of the ingredient includes the water content. And since chicken meal is chicken with water and fat removed, it weighs less than chicken but actually can contain a higher percentage of protein
What Do You Need to Know About By-Products?
Misinformation about by-products in pet food is widespread, and many people believe that by-products are bad for pets. The Association of American Feed Control (AAFCO) defines chicken by-products as the ground, clean parts of the chicken, which include internal organs, bone/cartilage and other parts. Royal Canin only uses high-quality by-products, like hearts, livers and lungs. And when processed properly, by-products provide valuable nutrients for the pet. They are excellent sources of quality protein, vitamins and minerals and can help contribute to a balanced nutritional profile. At Royal Canin, we take great care in selecting and processing by-products for our feline and canine diets. We only use suppliers whose offerings are up to our strict standards, and our intensive food testing program double checks both quality and safety in our raw materials and finished goods. |