We use poultry, meat, and fish meals because they are highly nutrient dense sources of wholesome protein. Some brands use whole chicken/turkey/lamb or their parts, which naturally contain a fair amount of water. We use meal because most of the water has been removed, making it a concentrated source of protein. This means that there is a greater “protein content” in one pound of meal versus one pound of whole chicken/turkey/lamb or their parts. 

Chicken meal contains only real chicken and turkey meal contains only real turkey. According to AAFCO, chicken or turkey meals are the "dry rendered product from a combination of clean flesh and skin with and without accompanying bone, derived from whole carcasses of chicken/turkey thereof, exclusive of feathers, heads, feet and entrails." 

Similarly, lamb meal contains only real lamb. According to AAFCO, meat meal is "the rendered product from mammal tissues, exclusive of any added blood, hair, hoof, horn, hide trimmings, manure, stomach and rumen contents except in such amounts as may occur unavoidably in good processing practices. It shall not contain added extraneous materials not provided for by this definition."

Lastly, according to AAFCO, fish meal is the clean, dried, ground tissue of undecomposed whole fish or fish cuttings, either or both, with or without the extraction of part of the oil.

For more on understanding pet food ingredients, we encourage you to visit the American Association of Feed Control Officials website and view their definitions (www.aafco.org).