Animal by-products are commonly defined as parts of a slaughtered animal that are not directly consumed by humans. This includes fat, bones, and gelatin. The vast majority of this material is ‘rendered’ or processed to produce a ground meal which is used in the formulation of animal feed to improve protein levels. A Greener World’s Animal Welfare Approved standards prohibit the feeding of both meat and animal by-products to ruminants (animals like cows and sheep) because of the potential health risks to both humans and animals. The program also has strict limits on what can be fed to mono gastric animals such as pigs and poultry.

Scientists have linked a number of major animal disease outbreaks to the feeding of meat and animal by-products to farm animals. The most notorious example is bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE or ‘Mad Cow Disease’) – and the related human disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (or CJD) – which resulted from the feeding of meat and bone meal back to cattle. Other examples include cases of swine fever and foot and mouth disease linked to feeding infected meat products. There is also the risk of transmission of bacteria, such as salmonella, that may be harmful to human health.

Aroma Chimie recognises that monogastrics such as pigs and chickens are omnivorous and would often eat insects and worms in the wild, as well as scavenging dead animals however we prohibit using any animal by-products in our formulas. The human and animal health risks associated with feeding meat and animal by-products to animals are very well documented, and we cannot therefore allow their use in feed for ruminants and place strict limits on what can be formulated.