"Meat meal" refers to a type of animal protein that is made from ground-up and cooked meat, usually from various sources. It is commonly used in pet food as a concentrated source of protein.
Full definition
If you really prefer a whole meat as the first ingredient, we suggest looking for a food that has a good named
meat meal as the second or third ingredient.
However, our biggest concern
with meat meal is that the animal parts used to make it are often undisclosed, which can mean low quality ingredients.
You should look for wholesome ingredients in that section of the label and avoid foods that include partial grains, by - products, and unnamed
meat meals in the top ingredients.
Some people like whole meats such as whole chicken better than a
named meat meal like chicken meal.
That is why it is good to see a quality
meat meal like chicken meal next on the list.
Most of the formulas
contain meat meals, such as chicken meal and duck meal as the first ingredient.
One defining characteristic of a high
quality meat meal is a low ash content, which means the proportion of bone to meat is low.
Even destroyed dogs and cats are rendered into
meat meal for several name - brand animal foods.
This is why we choose not to use ingredients like chicken meal or
other meat meals as they are overly processed and much different than their original, whole state.
The first ingredient in this recipe is beef which is followed by
pork meat meal.
However, there is a growing market for using
meat meals which are a combination of whole meats providing a higher concentration of proteins.
It does not contain meat by - products but does
list meat meal as a main ingredient.
Why is real meat backed
by meat meal as the first two ingredients so important?
First, this food boasts of using only wholesome meal instead
if meat meals.
They use fresh meats, poultry, and fish in all of their recipes as well as protein -
rich meat meals to ensure that your cat's protein needs are met.
Without meat meal, it's very difficult for a dry dog food to contain enough protein, as raw, named meats are mostly moisture.
The good thing
about meat meals is that they are already the concentrated form and contain more times as much as whole meats.
Whole meat contains a lot of water,
while meat meal is whole meat that has been cooked and dried.
My wife said it was the most satisfying
non meat meal she had ever had.
Several probiotics are included, antioxidants are provided by green tea extract, and protein -
heavy meat meals make up the first two ingredients.
Some guidelines to follow are no corn, wheat, or soy, and no meat by products,
only meat meals and whole meats.
Once cooked, these meats can not add the nutrient content like
dried meat meal versions.
Ideally, the first ingredient of a food should be either a
specified meat meal, or a specified fresh meat type followed by a meal.
Just be sure that if a fresh meat is used as an ingredient, be sure it is followed by a
specific meat meal before a grain is listed.
Pure meat meal, as opposed to meat and bone meal or meat by - product meal, is a good source of concentrated protein which is nutritionally excellent for your pet.
One reason is convenience; a
ground meat meal can usually be prepared fairly quickly even if it requires lengthy baking because you can be doing other things while it cooks.
This doesn't mean you should choose soy
over meat meal, but rather shows just how tricky interpreting a label can be.
Meat meals retain most of their volume and offer up to 300 % more protein by volume than fresh meats after cooking.
It is also worth noting that a
second meat meal (pork meal) is included as well as two fresh meats (rabbit and beef).
Meat meal generally contains more actual meat than whole meats listed, = because of the lack of water weight.
Now this isn't an endorsement for
meat meals instead of real meats, but you need to know when these ingredients are being manipulated.
Meat meal tends to be approximately half proteins, which can enrich the diet with essential amino acids that are essential protein building blocks.
In addition, both brands do not use any cheap anonymous meat ingredients (
e.g. meat meal, poultry by - products).
Whereas fresh meats contain up to 80 % water, most of the moisture content has already been cooked out of
meat meals so they are a much more concentrated source of protein.
There seems to be a bit of confusion over
whether meat meal is a good source of protein for dogs.
The fact that this recipe includes an assortment of fresh meats and
meat meals speaks to the high protein content of the formula.
Meat meals typically make for a higher protein content, since they're basically meat concentrates and lose less water during process, and you can see that reflected here.