What are Animal-By-Products?
The slaughter of animals for human consumption and the subsequent processing of meat at cutting plants and butchers gives rise to three product groups:
Edible products or meat intended for human consumption.
Edible co-products (ECP) also intended for human consumption but requiring further processing.
Animal by-products (ABPs) – those parts of the animal that are not intended for human consumption.
These three groups are illustrated in Figure 1:
Figure 1 - product groups from an animal
ABPs also arise from the manufacture of products of animal origin, such as dairy products, catering waste, fallen stock and disease control culls of livestock, e.g. for bird flu outbreaks.
ABPs are grouped into three categories according to the health risk posed to other animals and humans.
Examples of edible products, co-products and animal by-products and the animal products hierarchy are given in Figure 2:
See more in our Factsheet FABRA-FS-001 - What are Animal By-products?
Figure 2 - Animal products hierarch
