Food Ingredient Question

[Oscar's Mom]

What is the difference between: Poultry Meal, Poultry by-product and Poultry by-product meal?

[Owen's Mom]

I copied and pasted this from the naturapet.com site for you

Poultry Meal is the dry rendered product of any fowl (turkeys, chickens, ducks, geese, buzzards, etc.) from a combination of clean flesh and skin with or without accompanying bone, derived from the parts of whole carcasses or a combination thereof -- exclusive of feathers, heads, feet, and entrails.

Natura doesn't use inexpensive Poultry Meal because of its lower quality proteins (from fowl other than chickens) and unpredictable, varying ingredients.

Poultry By-Product Meal consists of the ground, rendered, clean parts of the carcass of slaughtered poultry, such as necks, feet, undeveloped eggs, and intestines -- exclusive of feathers except in such amounts as might occur unavoidably in good processing practices.

Natura refuses to use this inconsistent ingredient because of the multiple organs used and their constantly changing proportions. The origin is from any fowl (turkeys, ducks, geese, buzzards, etc.) instead of a single source, like chicken. Poultry By-Product Meal is much less expensive and less digestible than Chicken Meal.


Poultry By-Products must consist of non-rendered clean parts of carcasses of slaughtered poultry such as heads, feet, viscera, free from fecal content and foreign matter except in such trace amounts as might occur unavoidably in good factory practice.

Natura does not use Poultry (which can be any type of fowl)or any By-Products (which can be any of the undesirable parts of a fowl or animal) in our foods. We use only human grade Chicken, Turkey and Lamb in our products.

[~Jen~]

Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.... YUCK!!

<IMG SRC="http://dachsie.org/ubb/cwmsmilies/cwm43.gif" border=0> <IMG SRC="http://dachsie.org/ubb/cwmsmilies/cwm43.gif" border=0>


Jen

[Oscar's Mom]

Thanks Owen's Mom!
I agree with you Jen...YUCK.

[Frzframe]

Thanks for sharing ... I think! No, really thanks for posting the information. But I don't think I'll be feeding my baby, baby lambs poor little dears. <IMG SRC="http://dachsie.org/ubb/cwmsmilies/cwm14.gif" border=0> Oh and just where do they get buzzards? <IMG SRC="http://dachsie.org/ubb/cwmsmilies/cwm28.gif" border=0> Just wondering.
~Shonda

[Owen's Mom]

I think that Poultry Meal is fine to feed, honestly. I copied and pasted from Innova's site and they're going to make it look as if anything they don't use is cr@p. So, I'd feed meal, but not byproducts in any form. Make sense? http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/wink.gif

[Krista]

See thats why the Nature's Recipe Herding/Hound formula does not sit well with me.

I don't understand why they don't use by-products or by-product meals in their main formula, but settle for it in the breed specifics. It's just nasty....I wonder if they charge the same price for both....

I agree chicken meal or poutlty meal is okay...add the by-product and its not, in my opinion. On the lables one word makes a BIG difference.

the food I am trying Roscoe on is based on Chicken meal. (Petsmart Premiere)

<FONT COLOR="#00FFFF" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">This message has been edited by Krista on October 16, 2000 at 03:03 PM</font>

[~Jen~]

Sensible Choice has 2 formula's Chicken meal and lamb meal. I use the chicken *wheeeeew* no baby critters thank goodness!

Jen

[Oscar's Mom]

Krista - I agree with you about the Nature's Recipe Herding/Hound formula. So, I decided to write them to ask why by-products in the purebreed formulas and not the regular ones. Here' a copy of what they wrote to me:
Notice how they did not answer me why, but just tried to justify it. It's so gross!!

"Meat By-Products is the non-rendered, clean parts, other than meat, derived from slaughtered farm mammals. It includes spleen, kidneys, brain, liver, blood, bone, fatty tissue, and stomachs and intestines freed of their contents. It does not include hair, horns, teeth or hoofs.

Although the descriptions of ingredients such as meat by-products or meat and bone meal may not sound attractive to humans, these products are a valuable source of nutrients, such as protein or calcium, and are the food of choice for animals in the wild."

[Krista]

Well then they are just saying its cheaper....IMHO. Are you going to change foods? I would tell them if you are, that way they know they won't get your business using those ingredients without reason.

I looked on the petsmart premiere and it is not even chicken meal -it actually just says Chicken, I wonder if that is better than chickn meal or not...I don't really care as long as its not by-products. Flint River's first ingredient is chicken meal.

[Oscar's Mom]

For the past 4 months Oscar has been on a science diet 'prescription' food because he needs a food high in fiber (because he has alot of trouble with his anal glands)this one is 20% fiber. I just cringe giving it to him because the the first 3 ingredients are: corn, peanut hulls and by products. This food has helped him, although has not cured his problem. Previously, I was giving him the NR purebreed formula.

[Krista]

Well if you want to read up on something, I beleive Amy said her Owen does not need his glands emptied nearly as much as he used to since going on the nautral Bones and Raw food diet. I have heard this on other boards too.

I have also heard of just adding some oat bran or other fiber to their normal premium kibble. You might want to look into that.

I hate to see vets prescribe some nasty food and offer no alternatives for the extra fiber. They get money from that food....so you can see why that makes me even more leary. Also, many vets don't bother much to learn about nutrition and whats in dog foods today and from what I've heard, Vet school doesn't really cover it either.

[Oscar's Mom]

I did read a little on the natural bones and raw food diet and I don't think its for me (sorry Oscar).
I did add oat bran to his food before I made the switch but it didn't help much. I also add 'missing link' that is suppose to be high fiber.
My doggy has a broken bum!