Why is there still the urban legend that using animal byproducts (ABP) in pet food, is sustainable?
When I first threw myself into the fascinating world of pet nutrition as a mature vet in her 50s who like so many of us who are vets, had never been taught anything about how to feed a dog or cat correctly; I chose to do as many nutrition courses as I could.
The first course with top board certified vet nutritionist Dr Marge Chandler; I actually did twice to really absorb as much information as possible. What I was taught 7 years ago on her course, is the same as the British Veterinary Association (BVA) state to this day in their environmental information on their website about pet food. Quote from the BVA article, and what Marge Chandler Vet Nutritionist taught me -
"To fully understand the environmental implications of using animal byproducts in pet food, it’s important to consider what would happen if they were not used in pet food. For instance, if these byproducts would otherwise be incinerated as waste, their use in pet food could be beneficial for the environment, by reducing the need for other sources of pet nutrition."
We even have UK Pet Foods advising owners and vets alike in their latest Sustainability Report (August 2024) that using animal byproducts in pet food removes the huge cost of disposing of these items - yes sadly this is VERY outdated information as shown by the latest 2 published studies below!
With this being what is taught to us that it is environmentally sustainable to use animal byproducts in pet food to avoid them going to landfill, we have 2 recent studies that have turned this urban legend on its head!
What is the importance of this published study in May 2025?
A latest study published in the journal Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems has concluded that feeding pets a nutritionally sound vegan diet is a “significant climate change mitigation strategy which warrants immediate implementation”. This study notes the need for governments and the media to raise awareness immediately of the benefits of plant-based pet foods.
The role of animal byproducts
This latest research disputes the urban legend that pet food has a low impact because it is mainly made from animal byproducts.
This study for the very first time, claims that just 25% of animal byproducts are used in pet food, and the sector COMPETES with big pharma and even biofuel to access these ingredients (yes you read that correctly, as the price of animal fat has soared due to its use in making renewable diesel - pigs may fly!!!)
This shows how every part of a production animal has a financial value and will NEVER be wasted or sent to landfill. Moreover, the sale of byproducts is said to significantly boost the profits of the meat industry — for example, 11.4% of the gross income from beef reportedly originates from byproducts!
This contradicts the idea that animal byproducts would be wasted if not used in meat-based pet food, and demonstrates how these ingredients HELP TO FUND an unsustainable industry with more animals being bred for slaughter for their byproducts.
Furthermore, the authors of this study (Prof Andrew Knight and Billy Nicholles from Bryant research) show that byproducts are less efficient than human-grade meat, since they only make up a minority of the carcasses used for pet food. This means more carcasses are needed, and therefore more animals must be raised and slaughtered - something never ever mentioned before as value is placed on the byproducts such as kidneys, liver and heart!
Each dairy cow for example has only 2 kidneys, one liver and one heart, and when sent to slaughter at the end of her milking cycle, there is enormous value in these organs that may be used in only a few cans of pet food compared to the rest of her meat that is used in a number of dishes which gives even more value to those 4 organs so more animals are slaughtered (and yes the use of a dairy cow in this example reminds us that the dairy industry IS the meat industry!)
Thank goodness for complete plant-based pet food!
When we read these statistics and hidden truths about the meat and dairy industry from scientific professionals such as Prof Andrew Knight; it highlights the value of feeding your dogs and cats foods that are ethically and sustainably sourced with pure natural plant-based ingredients to protect not only the health of our planet, but also the health of our dogs and cats.
Read about higher levels of toxic elements found in meat and fish-based pet foods using these animal 'byproducts' that are essentially excretory organs (liver, kidneys, fat) in an animal functioning to remove toxins from that production animal's body - we absolutely DO NOT want to feed these byproducts to our dogs and cats!
Read more here how Plant-Based Pet Food is the ‘Most Effective’ Measure to Tackle Climate Footprint of Dogs & Cats
Which second study puts to rest the urban legend about pet food's impact in the UK?
A very new study from University of Nottingham vet School and published in the journal Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems in August 2025 has examined the environmental impact of different types of dry dog food available in the UK.
As part of the study, 31 commercially available foods were categorised as either plant-based, poultry-based, red meat-based (beef and lamb), or veterinary renal diets (many of which contain pork fat as shown below).
The results indicate that plant-based diets have the lowest environmental impact across all measures, while beef-and lamb-based foods have the highest impact. Per 1000 kcal of dry food, beef-based diets require a huge 102.15 m² of land to produce, versus just 2.73 m² for plant-based diets.
They also emit an estimated 31.47 kg of CO₂eq, compared with 2.82 kg for plant-based foods. Additionally, beef-based diets generate 7.1-fold higher acidifying emissions and 16.4-fold higher eutrophying emissions than plant-based foods!
Staggering and bold statistics that everybody needs to wake up to and really listen as we cannot continue to produce high meat-based pet foods at such a critically vulnerable time in our planetary future!
What changes are the large corporate pet food companies making?
Sadly so little! In February 2024 Hills looked at using hugely sustainable and vegan precision fermentation protein by joining forces with Bond Pet Food, but nothing seems to have come of this union. Thankfully it is the small passionate independents who have already made this a reality with the production of Microbell truly novel protein dog food in February 2025 (see more below about Microbell)!
In February 2025 we had news that Mars Petcare is teaming up with MiAlgae in Scotland that makes Omega 3 DHA from algae instead of using fish as an addition to cat and dog foods. This can only be applauded as fish should not be used AT ALL in dog or cat foods as there isn't enough for us in our oceans, so there absolutely isn't enough for our land mammal dogs and cats, and the amount of Royal Canin, Sheba and Whiskas with fish products in them is very worrying (all owned by Mars Petcare)!! Yet again, the small independents such as Just Be Kind are way ahead with the production of a pure Algae oil rich in Omega 3s for dogs and for cats!!
I was pleased to read this headline that Nestle Purina has worked on a dog food containing faba bean protein, insect protein and millet....but this article seems to be stuck in 2020, with NO further development of a sustainable dog food at all by Nestle Purina!!! Just be Kind uses faba bean protein as a highly palatable pure source of protein in Give A Dog A Bean and Jumping Jack trays wet food - way ahead of the corporates with sustainability and progress!
Faba bean protein is enormously beneficial to the environment as it fixes the nitrogen in the air and returns it to the soil - acts as a 'natural fertiliser' and makes an ideal pure protein and highly sustainable ingredient for dog food!
Prof Knight highlights bacterial fermentation as the future for pet food!
In his published latest study May 2025, Prof Andrew Knight highlights the need to focus on using alternative protein sources in dog and cat food, especially that derived from highly sustainable biomass bacterial fermentation.
We are thrilled that he mentions this as we absolutely agree. Not only is this new new revolutionary biotic protein source the solution for our planetary health; but it is also a highly nutritious form of protein in our dogs that actively feeds their gut microbiome....and dogs love it which is also SO important - a win-win for our planet and our dogs in the UK!
Read more about groundbreaking biotic protein dog food Microbell here
