USPOULTRY and the Poultry Protein and Fat Council recently discussed using poultry by-products as petfood ingredients at the 2011 Poultry Protein and Fat Seminar in Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
In his presentation, The Importance of Rendered Ingredients in Pet Foods, Jim Eastin, supplier quality assurance scientist for Nutro Company, provided an overview of the dry pet food process and examined the benefits of chicken meal and poultry fat in pets' diets.
“The petfood world is very reliant on poultry byproducts. Chicken meal and poultry fat are important ingredients in pet food,” said Eastin. “Chicken fat is more than just an energy source. It also provides healthy skin and coats, enhances the aroma of the pet food, provides a nice sheen, and seals and shields dry kibble to increase shelf life.”
He referred to poultry by-products as "value-added ingredients" and described rendering as "environmentally responsible" by converting by-products into ingredients Nutro uses in its petfood products.
Kent Swisher, vice president of international programs for the National Renderers Association, gave a presentation on Emerging Markets: Exports and Domestic. Swisher said that production of animal protein meal in the United States is about four million metric tons, comprised of 56% meat and bone meal, 15% feather meal and 25% poultry by-product meal. He provided information from an Informa Economics report that found the two biggest U.S. markets for rendered products are poultry and pets, with pets being the larger growth market.