{
  "schema": "vpfd-ingredient-v1",
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "attribution": "Verified Pet Food Data — https://verifiedpetfooddata.com",
  "url": "https://verifiedpetfooddata.com/ingredients/generic-meat-meal/",
  "generated": "2026-08-28",
  "ingredient": {
    "id": "generic-meat-meal",
    "display_name": "Generic \"Meat Meal\" / \"Poultry Meal\" (unspecified species)",
    "category": "protein-meal",
    "aliases": [
      "meat meal",
      "poultry meal",
      "animal meal"
    ],
    "stance": "caution",
    "evidence_strength": "moderate",
    "note": "A rendered protein concentrate that does not name the species ('meat meal' is rendered mammal tissue; 'poultry meal' is rendered poultry without stating which bird). Nutritionally it behaves like a named meal, but the unnamed source means composition and digestibility can vary batch to batch and it cannot be used to avoid a specific-species allergy. Peer-reviewed sampling shows animal meals vary widely in crude protein and digestibility depending on raw material and rendering conditions.",
    "citations": [
      {
        "source": "AAFCO — What's in the Ingredients List?",
        "year": 2024,
        "url": "https://www.aafco.org/consumers/understanding-pet-food/whats-in-the-ingredients-list/"
      },
      {
        "source": "Faber et al. — Prediction of crude protein digestibility of animal by-product meals for dogs by the protein solubility in pepsin method, Journal of Nutritional Science",
        "year": 2014,
        "url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4473152/"
      }
    ]
  },
  "prevalence": {
    "corpus_size": 2354,
    "foods_containing": 1,
    "corpus_pct": 0.04,
    "dog_foods": 1,
    "dog_pct": 0.09,
    "cat_foods": 0,
    "cat_pct": 0,
    "in_first_five_ingredients": 1,
    "by_form": {
      "dry": 1
    },
    "priced_foods": 0,
    "counting_note": "Counts what manufacturers print on the label. An ingredient present via another component (e.g. a preservative already in fish meal) need not be declared separately, so this is a floor, not a ceiling. Labels never disclose inclusion rate."
  },
  "foods": [
    {
      "slug": "diamond-original",
      "url": "https://verifiedpetfooddata.com/dog/foods/diamond-original/",
      "name": "Diamond Original",
      "brand": "Diamond",
      "species": "dog",
      "form": "dry",
      "ingredient_position": 1,
      "protein_dm_pct": 26.7,
      "est_carbs_dm_pct": 46.7,
      "cost_per_1000kcal": null
    }
  ]
}