In December 2025, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) added “rendering” to their prompt methods to eliminate meals waste. Rendering was eliminated in 2023, however reinstated in 2025 thanks partly to a nudge from members of Congress.
Beneath is the graphic lately printed by the EPA for ‘How to Reduce Environmental Impacts of wasted food’ which factors out essentially the most most popular methodology to least most popular methodology. Rendering meals waste into feed for animals lands in the course of the dimensions.
However…what the members of Congress who pushed for rendering to be an accepted methodology of meals waste disposal (for animal feed) in all probability weren’t conscious of (however needs to be) is that the majority all US states outline this materials as “rubbish” and with respect to pet meals rubbish, the members of Congress in all probability weren’t conscious (however needs to be) that pet house owners are NOT knowledgeable they’re buying processed rubbish.
As instance, the state of Kansas defines “garbage” as: “47-1301. Rubbish outlined. As utilized in article 13 of chapter 47 of the Kansas Statutes Annotated, and amendments thereto, “rubbish” means all waste materials derived in entire or partly from the meat of any animal, together with fish and poultry, different waste animal materials, and different refuse of any character in any way that has been related to any such materials, ensuing from the dealing with, preparation, cooking or consumption of meals.”
This authorized definition means – that in Kansas – the uncooked supplies used to make many pet meals substances are sourced from “rubbish”. Nearly each US State has comparable legal guidelines defining “rubbish”. (For the authorized definition of ‘rubbish’ in all US States, Click Here – beginning on web page 16.)
Deceptively, by means of AAFCO pet meals and animal feed definitions – when the ‘rubbish’ is included in a pet meals or additional processed by means of rendering, it turns into labeled as hen or hen meal or many different misleading ingredient names on a pet meals label with NO disclosure to the buyer that uncooked supplies have been initially legally categorized as rubbish.
There are federal legal guidelines that regulate what forms of ‘rubbish’ that ruminant animals (corresponding to cattle) can devour, and there are federal legal guidelines that regulate what forms of ‘rubbish’ that swine can devour.
The Meals and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE)/Ruminant Feed Ban Rule prohibits using mammalian protein (i.e., animal tissue) in feeds for ruminant animals. The Federal Swine Health Protection Act necessities embody: “earlier than it may be fed to swine, most animal-based ‘rubbish’ have to be heated at boiling temperature (212 levels Fahrenheit/100 levels Celsius at sea stage) for a minimum of half-hour by somebody who holds a sound license or allow for the remedy of rubbish.”
However…there are NO legal guidelines proscribing what forms of ‘rubbish’ that may be fed to pets (hidden from pet house owners underneath a deceptively named AAFCO ingredient).
And to high it off, different legal guidelines completely prohibit most ‘rubbish’ from being fed to any animal (livestock and pets).
The Federal Meals Drug and Beauty Act (FD&C Act) defines meals as what people and animals devour. These laws define an adulterated food (partly) as: “if it has been ready, packed, or held underneath insanitary circumstances whereby it could have develop into contaminated with filth”, “whether it is, in entire or partly, the product of a diseased animal or of an animal which has died in any other case than by slaughter”.
In different phrases, federal legal guidelines prohibit what’s outlined as “rubbish” in nearly all states from being fed to any animal.
The FDA Heart for Veterinary Drugs overtly chooses to disregard these legal guidelines. In April of 2019 (in response to our Citizen Petition), the FDA CVM acknowledged: “we don’t consider that using diseased animals or animals that died in any other case than by slaughter to make animal meals poses a security concern and we intend to proceed to train enforcement discretion.”
Questions:
Do you consider pet house owners needs to be knowledgeable if a pet meals accommodates processed rubbish? How ought to or not it’s labeled to obviously disclose that info to you?
Do you consider meat bought in your grocery ought to disclose if the livestock animal was fed processed rubbish? How ought to or not it’s labeled to obviously disclose that info to you?
Private be aware: My grandparents raised their canine solely on meals leftovers from the desk, and leftovers from my Grandfather searching and fishing (corresponding to inside organs). Once I was very younger in addition they raised a couple of chickens. If hen was to be served for dinner, my Grandmother was the one who killed, cleaned, and cooked the hen. She NEVER killed, cleaned or cooked hen for the canine – the canine got the leftovers. This was regular habits for most individuals years in the past.
However at present, business leftovers (rubbish) are a totally completely different factor than what my grandparents fed their canine.
Industrial leftovers (legally outlined as rubbish) usually are not disclosed to pet house owners when there are legal guidelines that clearly outline what they’re sourced from. AAFCO pet meals ingredient definitions have been deliberately written to cover from pet house owners the true nature of the legally outlined uncooked ingredient (rubbish).
Susan Thixton
Pet Meals Security Advocate
Creator Purchaser Beware, Co-Creator Dinner PAWsible
TruthaboutPetFood.com
Association for Truth in Pet Food
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