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Updated on September 23rd, 2025
Pet's info: Dog | Cavalier King Charles Spaniel | Female | spayed | 5 years and 10 months old | 17 lbs
What does meat and bone meal mean in dog treats/ food? Is this an unhealthy ingredient? Why or why not? are milkbones an acceptable treat for my dog?
3 Answers

Answered By Ana M, DVM
Veterinarian
Published on May 17th, 2018
Answered By Jeffrey Milner
Veterinarian
Published on August 13th, 2017
Great question! While we certainly appreciate you posting on our forum, this would definitely be a question for the actual pet food company or for a representative of the USDA. They will be able to provide you with a much greater wealth of information on what their ingredient list actually mean, and what they can / cannot legally use in pet food. Generally speaking, I believe that meat and bone meal are the slaughterhouse products that are not used in food meant for human consumption. This is not to say that it is unsafe, but that it is simply unapproved by the USDA for people to eat. Hope this helps.
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful
Answered By Angel Alvarado, LVT
Licensed Veterinary Technician
Published on September 24th, 2017
There are different grades of meat and bone meals. Yes, some lesser quality meat/bone meals may be derived from roadkill or dead or dying livestock. For this reason, it is best to avoid diets with meat meals or by products, especially if they appear early on in the ingredient list. There are grades for a majority of ingredients. Diets that use human grade ingredients are generally better (and more expensive) than store or discount brands that utilize "feed grade" ingredients. These are the leftovers from processing ingredients used in different diets.
1Pet Parents found this answer helpful