Animal product

Fat from a pig made into lard

Animal products and by-products play a pivotal role in various industries, from food to cosmetics. They are derived from animals and can encompass a range of materials including flesh, blood, milk, and lesser-known substances.

Definition

Animal Products

An animal product is any material procured from an animal's body. Common examples include:

• Fat
• Flesh
• Blood
• Milk
• Eggs
• Isinglass
• Rennet

Animal By-Products

Animal by-products refer to carcasses and parts of carcasses, usually not intended for human consumption. Sources of these by-products include:

• Slaughterhouses
• Animal shelters
• Zoos
• Veterinary practices

Furthermore, these by-products encompass items like catering waste, which covers waste food from various sources, such as restaurants, catering facilities, central kitchens, and households.

Processing and Uses

Animal by-products often undergo a process called rendering, transforming them into an array of products for both human and non-human consumption. This can lead to the creation of:

• Foodstuffs
• Fats
• Commercial products: including cosmetics, paint, cleaners, polishes, glue, soap, and ink.

By selling animal by-products, the meat industry can economically rival sectors selling vegetable protein sources.

Exceptions

Generally, substances derived from fossilized or decomposed animals, like petroleum from ancient marine life, aren't labeled as animal products. Likewise, crops nurtured in soil enriched with animal remains are seldom classified as animal products.

Dietary Considerations

Several diets eliminate or restrict the consumption of certain animal products. Examples include:

• Vegetarianism
• Kosher
• Halaal

Furthermore, diets like veganism and the raw vegan diet exclude all animal-origin materials.

Food

• Blood, especially in the form of blood sausage
• Bone, including bone char, bone meal, etc.
• Broths and stocks are often created with animal fat, bone, and connective tissue
• Carmine also known as cochineal (food dye)
• Casein (found in milk and cheese)
• Civet oil (food flavoring additive)
• Dairy products (e.g., milk, cheese, yogurt, etc.)
• Eggs

• Gelatin
• Honey
• Honeydew (secretion)
• Isinglass (used in clarification of beer and wine)
• L-cysteine from human hair and pig bristles (used in the production of biscuits and bread)
• Lard
• Kopi Luwak & Black Ivory Coffee
• Meat (including fish, poultry, and game)
• Rennet (commonly used in the production of cheese)
• Shellac
• Swiftlet's nest (made of saliva)
• Whey (found in cheese and added to many other products)

Non-foodstuff

• Animal fiber
• Ambergris
• Beeswax
• Blood and some blood substitutes (blood used for transfusions is always human in origin, though some blood substitutes are made from animal sources. Many diagnostic laboratory tests use animal or human sourced reagents)
• Casein (used in plastics, clothing, cosmetics, adhesives and paint)
• Castoreum (secretion of the beaver used in perfumes and possibly in food flavoring)
• Coral rock
• Ejaculate (used in artificial insemination)
• Feathers
• Fur
• Gallstones (from livestock for Traditional Chinese Medicine)
• Horn, including antlers, ivory, tusks, etc.
• Ivory
• Lanolin

• Leather
• Manure
• Mink oil
• Musk
• Pearl or mother of pearl
• Scales
• Silk
• Sponges
• Tallow, may be used in food and soap
• Tortoiseshell
• Urine
• Venom (used to produce human and veterinary antivenin)
• Wool

See also

• Advanced meat recovery
• Animal By-Products Regulations
• Animal euthanasia
• Animal slaughter
• Biodegradable waste
• Boiling down
• Food quality
• Food safety
• List of waste types

• Meat and bone meal
• Meat extenders
• Mechanically separated meat
• Pink slime
• Potted meat food product
• Slaughterhouse
• Slaughterhouse waste
• Spam (food)
• Veganism
• Vegetarianism
• Animal rights
• Sustainable agriculture