chicken meal

For pet food, chicken meal is a concentrated ingredient made by rendering chicken and removing much of its water and fat before it is used in a recipe. That makes it a practical source of animal protein in dry food, where fresh meat alone would bring substantial moisture. The label can be less immediately transparent than a named fresh cut: it does not, by itself, describe the full recipe or the exact nutritional balance. Its value therefore depends on the finished food, including the other ingredients and the nutrient profile, rather than on this ingredient in isolation. By our assessment, chicken meal is a common, functional protein component, not a complete measure of a food's quality. It can make sense in a dry formula, but the rest of the ingredient list still matters.