Animal By-Products in Dog Food: What They Really Mean

You are standing in the shop, turn the package around, read "meat and animal by-products" and are none the wiser. What is actually inside? Muscle meat? Liver? Or leftovers you would rather not think about?

This is exactly where many dog owners feel misled: a happy dog and the word "Premium" on the front, followed by vague wording on the back.

Once you understand a few simple terms, the label becomes much easier to read. In about 30 seconds, you can see whether the information on the back supports what the front promises. This guide explains how, step by step and without unnecessary jargon.

Let us start with the term that causes the most confusion.

What does "animal by-products" actually mean?

Put simply, it means parts of a slaughtered animal other than pure muscle meat. This can include organs and offal such as liver, heart, lungs, tripe, kidneys, or stomach.

Here is the most important point in this article: the term alone says nothing about quality. Some animal by-products are specified organs, while others can be less useful slaughterhouse remnants. Both may appear under the same broad term.

The real issue is therefore not the category itself, but the lack of detail. If a label only says "animal by-products", you cannot tell whether it contains liver, heart, or unspecified remnants. A transparent declaration removes that guesswork.

Open vs. closed declarations: the key difference

Manufacturers can list ingredients in two main ways. Understanding the difference takes you halfway through a useful label check.

An open declaration lists each ingredient separately and gives percentages, for example "31% duck breast, 29% chicken breast, 12% liver". You can see exactly what is included and in what quantity.

A closed or vague declaration combines ingredients under broad categories such as "meat and animal by-products", "cereals", or "vegetable by-products". It may sound harmless, but it prevents you from assessing specific ingredients and quantities.

The rule of thumb is simple: the more specific the declaration, the more informed your decision can be. Pictures and claims on the front matter less than the details on the back.

Specified organs vs. low-value by-products

This broad distinction helps you understand a declaration more quickly:

• Specified organs: liver, heart, lungs, tripe, kidneys, and stomach. These ingredients provide nutrients that are not present in muscle meat in the same proportions.
• Low-value remnants: feathers, claws, horns, beaks, and hides. They offer little useful nutritional value and should not be hidden behind a vague description.

This is why details matter. "Animal by-products" could mean liver, or it could mean unspecified remnants. When the label states what is included, for example "12% liver, 8% heart", you can assess the product more clearly.

Meat, meat meal, and fresh meat: why percentages are not directly comparable

This is where even experienced dog owners can get confused. Many people look for the highest meat percentage and assume that a larger number automatically means more meat in the finished product.

Fresh meat contains a large amount of water, often around 70%. A claim such as "70% fresh meat" sounds substantial, but some of that weight is lost during processing. Dried meat or meat meal is more concentrated because much of the water has already been removed, so a smaller percentage can still represent a meaningful amount of protein.

Do not judge a food by one large number. Look at the whole declaration: which animal ingredients are used, whether they are fresh, dried, or meal, how clearly the amounts are stated, and what else appears in the recipe.

Understanding analytical constituents

Next to the ingredient list, every package includes analytical constituents. These are required percentage values such as crude protein, crude fat, crude fibre, crude ash, and moisture.

Two points help when comparing products. First, foods with different moisture levels cannot be compared directly using the printed percentages alone. Second, crude ash does not mean dirt or burnt material; it is a laboratory term for the mineral content remaining after analysis.

For orientation, Canefelis Duck Pure lists crude protein at ≥18%, crude fat at ≥8%, and moisture at ≤65%. These clear figures can be read directly from the declaration.

Additives: useful or unnecessary?

The word "additives" can sound suspicious, but additives are not automatically a negative feature. There are several categories and their purpose matters.

Nutritional additives include certain vitamins and minerals. They may be used in a complete feed so that the declared recipe meets the required nutritional profile. Technological additives serve functions such as preservation, colour, or flavour.

Artificial flavours, colours, and attractants do not tell you anything useful about the quality of the main ingredients. Colours are added for people, not dogs. A clear declaration lets you see whether these extras are present.

Complete feed vs. complementary feed

This one term tells you whether a product is intended as a main meal.

A complete feed is formulated to meet a dog's daily nutritional requirements when fed as directed. A complementary feed covers only part of those requirements, for example pure meat without the additional nutrients needed for a complete daily diet.

The quick check is simple: if the label says "complete feed", the product is intended as a full meal. If it says "complementary feed", it needs to be combined with other suitable food. Both have a purpose, but they are not interchangeable.

Grains, grain-free recipes, and sugar

These topics attract a lot of marketing, so it helps to keep the label check factual.

Grain is not automatically a problem. The relevant question is how much is used and whether inexpensive ingredients replace a clearly stated amount of animal ingredients. "Grain-free" alone is not a quality guarantee.

Added sugar is not needed in dog food. If sugar, caramel, or syrup appears in the ingredient list, treat it as a reason to examine the rest of the recipe more closely.

Ingredient order: what it reveals

Before checking percentages, the order of ingredients already provides useful information.

Ingredients are normally listed by weight, with the heaviest first. If a named animal ingredient appears first, that tells you it makes up a substantial part of the recipe. If grains or broad collective terms appear first and meat comes later, the front of the package may give a different impression from the actual composition.

Also watch for ingredient splitting. One ingredient can be divided into several entries, for example corn flour, corn gluten, and corn starch. Each item then appears lower on the list. Looking at related entries together gives you a clearer picture.

Comparing two labels: a practical example

Imagine two food packages side by side. Both say "Premium" and show a happy dog on the front. The difference becomes clear when you read the back.

Food A is not necessarily unsuitable, but its declaration leaves important questions unanswered: how much meat is included, which organs are used, and why flavours are needed. Food B states the ingredients and quantities clearly. You do not need to become an expert. You only need enough information to make an informed choice.

Turn the package around: the 30-second label check

At your next purchase, turn the package around and check these five points:

1. Is the animal species named and is a percentage given, such as "31% duck breast" rather than only "meat"?
2. Are animal by-products specified, such as "liver, heart" rather than only a broad category?
3. Do named animal ingredients appear high in the ingredient list?
4. Are artificial flavours, colours, attractants, and added sugar absent?
5. Is the product identified as complete feed, with analytical constituents clearly stated?

Five clear answers give you useful information instead of marketing alone. Turning the package around and reading the declaration is a reliable habit.

Frequently asked questions