Pet food ingredient

Unnamed animal by-products in dog and cat food

Moderate concern

Short answer

Vague, unnamed animal derivatives of unknown species and quality. Named muscle meat (e.g. "chicken") is a stronger sign of quality.

How it appears on a label

Pet-food labels vary by market and language, and Open Pet Food Facts carries ingredient tags in several languages at once. This class is matched on meat and animal by products, animal by products, meat by products, by products of animal origin, meat and animal derivatives, animal derivatives, sous produits animaux, sous produits d origine animale and related terms, with accents folded so an Italian or French label resolves to the same flag.

How it affects the score

Unnamed animal by-products is a quality concern and caps a product's score below 50 on its own. Open Pet Food Facts has sparse nutrition coverage, so pet scoring is driven by the ingredient list rather than by a nutrition table.

This is not veterinary advice

The flags here are class-level and precautionary. If an animal has eaten something on the toxic list, call a vet or a pet poison-control line — not an app.

Source: AAFCO ingredient definitions

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