Byproducts and co-products used in animal feed are subject to the same quality and safety standards as other feed ingredients, but emerging technologies may improve the speed and ease of tracking and tracing these upcycled products.
There are many types of byproducts and co-products from the human food chain that are utilized in animal feed, including bakery products; grain fractions from flour milling; stalks, vines, stems and residues from fruit and vegetable processing; spent brewing grains; and deli meat products and animal byproducts such as feathers, bone meal and offal. Pre-consumer waste from industrial kitchens can also be utilized and, in the U.S., waste from household kitchens, as well as commercial and restaurant kitchens, may become more widely used in the near future, according to Ellen Dierenfeld, World Wildlife Fund’s lead specialist, sustainable feed innovations.
