Hi Merrick W,
AFFCO definitions really do not tell you much about the ingredient except from which it is sourced. Beef could mean a high content of muscle tissue or it could be very little muscle and a lot of skin and fat.
Nor does the ingredient list give you information about the quality of the ingredient or if the food was formulated or processed appropriately.
So to play devils advocate you wrote “But the most offensive to me is the Poultry By-Product Meal. ANYTHING from the chicken or turkey that is not used to make what is sold commercially (e.g., leg, thigh, breast pieces, skin) can be used in by-product meal, including feathers claws, and beaks, all ground down, and I don’t even want to take a chance with giving my dog such unknown and questionable ingredients. ”
I’m going to apply the same type of reasoning to Alaskan Pollack Meal :But the most offensive to me is the Alaskan Pollack Meal. ANYTHING from the fish that is not used to make what is sold commercially ( fillets) can be used in Pollack meal, including scales, fins, and tails, all ground down, and I don’t even want to take a chance with giving my dog such unknown and questionable ingredients. In fact there doesn’t have to be any actual muscle tissue in Pollack Meal. It could just be a bunch of ground fish cuttings.
I look at and interview the company when making dog food feeding decisions. If there is a particular ingredient I want to avoid I will look at the list but other than that I haven’t found it all that helpful.
