# What's the difference between lamb and lamb meal?



## K9companions (Nov 13, 2008)

I see a lot of ingrediants with either a protein or a protein meal, such as chicken vs. chicken meal. What is the difference?

From what I understand, the protein meals tend to cook out the fat and water? But I'm not sure and I'm hoping someone can put it into a more understandable light. Also, which is healthier/better for the dog?


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## Enhasa (Feb 6, 2010)

there are pros and cons between fresh meat and meat meals.

fresh meat - when water is removed, it loses up to 70-80% of its weight, so it is technically a lot lesser in amount, even though it might be 1st on the ingredients list. it is fresh meat however, and for some brands such as orijen, wellness, blue, innova, innova evo, they always say that they are using human grade meats, meaning those u find in your grocery stores. some brands like purina cut corners obviously.

meat meals - it is basically meat cooked down to powder form. so u can kinda relate it to those powdered chicken stock u find in grocery stores. it is mostly protein, so kinda like "best bang for your buck" if you want protein and not water out of meat. however, it can, and usually, comes from meats that are not fit for human consumption, such as diseased animals, animals dead prior to slaughter, road kills, etc. basically stuff that food companies are not allowed to use for human food. 

some brands like orijen tout they use human grade ingredients for everything, meat and meals, and some do not comment anything at all. it is hard to prove what they say is true, and if they do not comment anything on it, more than likely meat meals are made from meat that do not make the cut into the human food chain.


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