Animal digest is a common ingredient used in pet foods. As defined by the Association of American Feed Control Officials, digest is produced by the chemical or enzymatic hydrolysis of clean animal tissue that has not undergone decomposition. These animal tissues may not include

hair Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and f ...

horn Horn most often refers to: *Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound ** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various ...

s, teeth, hooves, or feathers, with the exclusion of trace amounts that are unavoidable even after acceptable processing methods.Animal Proteins Prohibited in Ruminant Feed & Cattle Materials Prohibited in All Animal Feed
WSDA. According to the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a digest is an additive that has been treated with heat,

enzymes Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrate (chemistry), substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecule ...

, or also acids to produce a concentrated product intended as a natural flavoring. Pet food may legally be labelled as "Chicken Flavored" regardless of the percentage of chicken-derived product it contains, so long as the chicken flavoring is deemed "perceptible." If a product is labeled as "flavored" by a certain type of meat, the digest it contains must have been produced from tissues pertaining to the listed animal species. Chicken flavored food must be flavored with chicken digest.

References

Pet foods Meat industry {{meat-stub