What I always wanted to know but was afraid to ask

MEAT BY-PRODUCTS (page 369, AAFCO 2011): "meat by-products is the non-rendered, clean parts, other than meat (which is basically muscle), derived from slaughtered mammals. it includes, but is not limited to lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, livers, blood, bone, partially defatted low temperature fatty tissue, and stomachs and intestines freed of their contents. it does not include hair, horns, teeth, and hoofs. It shall be suitable for use in animal food. If it bears a name descriptive of its kind, it must correspond therein."

POULTRY BY-PRODUCTS (page 370 AAFCO 2011): "poultry by-products must consist of non-rendered clean parts of carcasses of slaughtered poultry such as heads, feet, viscera, free from fecal content and foreign matter except in suc trace amounts as might occur unavoidably in good factory practice. if the product bears a name descriptive of its kind, the name must correspond therein" - don't you love governmental documents?!?

ANIMAL BY-PRODUCT MEAL (page 371, AAFCO 2011): "animal by-product meal is the rendered product from animal tissues, exclusive an any added hair, hoof, horn, hid 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. This ingredient definition is intended to cover those individual rendered animal tissue products that cannot meet the criteria as set forth elsewhere in this section. This ingredient is not intended to be used to label a mixture of animal tissue products"

POULTRY BY-PRODUCT MEAL (page 369, AAFCO 2011): "poultry by-product meal consists of the ground, rendered, clean parts of the carcass of slaughtered poultry, such as necks, feet, undeveloped eggs, and intestines, exclusive of feathers, except in such amounts as might occur unavoidably in good processing practices. The label shall include guarantees for minimum crude protein, minimum crude fat, maximum crude fiber, minimum phosphorous, and minimum and maximum calcium. The calcium level shall not exceed the actual level of phosphorus by more than 2.2 times. If the product bears a name descriptive ot its kind, the name must correspond thereto."