There's only one way to understand with clarity and transparency the different quality of the meat used for pet food products: to analyse the European Community regulations about ingredients used for making pet food, in particular Regulation (EC) No. 767/2009, which can be read in full by clicking
here.In summary, we can say that there are
two main levels of quality depending on whether the meat used as an ingredient is of the type described in Article 10 paragraph a), or that defined in Article 10 paragraph b) et seq.
What do these two articles say? We explain in the table below:
| Definition according to LawArticle 10 (EC) 1069/2009 |
| Article 10 paragraph a) “parts of animals slaughtered which are fit for human consumption in accordance with Community legislation, but are not intended for human consumption for commercial reasons" |
Article 10 paragraph b) (i) et seq.“parts of animals slaughtered which are not fit for human consumption in accordance with Community legislation" |
| In accordance with the definition given in article 10, paragraph a), products belonging to this category will be a pet food whose ingredients were originally fit for human consumption. |
In accordance with the definition given in article 10, paragraph b) (i), et seq. products belonging to this category will be a pet food whose ingredients originally were not fit for human consumption. |
For ease of reference, we will call theseHFC |
For ease of reference, we will call thesePFC |
So, the law indicates two main levels of quality in the ingredients:1. ingredients that were originally part of the
human
food chain2. ingredients that were originally unfit for human consumption but which could be used for pet food; also within this second (
pet food
chain) category, there are different levels of quality that are fully described by law and that you can read in full
by clicking here.The
producer plays a fundamental role in
the
selection of raw materials to be used for preparing food. However, it is, the
manufacturer that decides the level of quality to be offered to its customers:
HFC or
PFC ingredients.