Meat in pet food is here to stay. Here’s what needs to be addressed to meet growing demand.

There are a couple of approaches in which freeze-dried meats are included in pet foods.

Organ meats have been called a multitude of names like viscera, entrails, tripe, paunch, offal and giblets. Despite the 18th-century monikers, they are the working internal organs, the guts, of the pig, chicken, cow, sheep or fish from which they derive.

The hunt continues for alternative ingredients to fuel the ever-increasing demand for new and different products to entice the discerning pet owner. Whether to fill the void after we dodge the negative perceptions of corn, soy, wheat, beef and by-products or as a matter of satisfying the burgeoning array of “limited ingredient” and “no grain” diet choices, finding the perfect new and different ingredient is always a challenge—especially when dietary protein levels are edging upward, perceived overages in minerals have been tightened and the availability of process functionality has declined.