A company in Belgium is proud to announce they have “established a dedicated facility to turn by-products from the French fry industry into dried potato meal for pet food applications.”
“The dried potato meal is produced by grinding and drying raw potato shreds from the French fry industry. It contains around 65% starch, 6% crude protein, and 10% moisture, with a soft texture and light beige-grey color. The product is available in bulk or big bags, with a shelf life of up to one year.”
“By utilizing potato by-products that would otherwise be discarded, Re:Source contributes to waste reduction and resource efficiency in the food chain.”
Are these potato by-products simply potato peelings? or rotting potatoes? or treated with pesticides or chemicals? We don’t know. Pet owners won’t be informed.
Consumers deserve to know that ingredients like this are up-cycled waste ingredients. The ingredient name ‘potato protein’ does not declare necessary-to-know information for pet owners. The same is true for other up-cycled waste ingredients commonly used in pet food, such as:
Meat meals – such as chicken meal, by-product meals – are leftovers from the processing of human food. These ingredients can include dead (non-slaughtered) or diseased animals rejected for use in human foods that otherwise would be considered waste and a disposal concern/expense for the meat industry.
Animal fat – another ingredient that can be sourced from dead (non-slaughtered) or diseased animals.
Beet pulp – leftovers from the manufacturing of sugar (sourced from sugar beets).
Brewers rice – leftovers from the brewing of beer/alcohol.
In many cases, feed grade ingredients of all types would be considered up-cycled waste ingredients. As example – any feed grade meat ingredient could be sourced from condemned animal material that would otherwise need to be disposed of (without the permission of FDA to dispose of these materials in pet food – even though they are illegal in any food).
In just 3 months time (April – June 2025), the USDA reported that 41,436 livestock carcasses were condemned, and 1,266,372 poultry carcasses were condemned. This is an estimated 27 million pounds of condemned animal carcasses that is sold to pet food – and then sold to pet owners as beef, chicken, pork. BUT NOT disclosed as up-cycled waste.
While bits and pieces of clean potatoes leftover from french fry processing might (emphasis might) be suitable as a pet food ingredient, the unknown about these up-cycled waste ingredients is far greater than any potential benefit. AND not one of these commonly used pet food ingredients legal name properly discloses its quality to pet food consumers.
The FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine and AAFCO needs to take action to require transparent disclosure to pet food consumers which ingredients are up-cycled waste. The ingredient names need to properly inform what they actually are to pet owners.
Feel free to email FDA at: AskCVM@fda.hhs.gov and AAFCO at: aafco@aafco.org with your concerns.
If you have questions to quality regarding any ingredient in your pet’s food ask the manufacturer. You want assurances ingredients are human edible; not feed grade, not up-cycled waste.
Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author Buyer Beware, Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
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