Chicken meal: Is there anything new with this ingredient’s use in pet food?

A staple in pet food chicken meal has undergone modest changes to its definition and composition in the past 15 years, but challenges remain.

Greg Aldrich, Ph.D.

April 10, 2018

With an unclear definition and certain quality concerns, chicken meal in pet food has several issues that seem here to stay. | Lars Christnsen, Dreamstime.com

With an unclear definition and certain quality concerns, chicken meal in pet food has several issues that seem here to stay. | Lars Christnsen, Dreamstime.com

There hasn’t been much additional information forthcoming about chicken or poultry meal for some time. Most of the activity has moved to debates and controversies over the more exotic ingredients. However, this doesn’t mean that we’re not seeing some subtle changes over time. Most of this is a rehash of issues from yesteryear like ingredient definition, concern over composition and nutritional quality, and stability.

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