beef and bone meal
Beef and bone meal names its species where 'meat and bone meal' doesn't — the disclosure difference worth −20, with bone-content honesty attached.
Also appears on labels as: beef & bone meal
What it is
Rendered beef tissue including bone — a protein-and-mineral meal whose bone fraction raises ash (calcium, phosphorus) and lowers protein quality relative to a pure muscle meal. The wording matters enormously: BEEF and bone meal names its animal; MEAT and bone meal, its infamous cousin, names nothing.
Why it's in pet food
Economical protein with built-in mineral content — the bone delivers calcium and phosphorus a formulator would otherwise add separately. Quality varies with the bone-to-tissue ratio, which the label doesn't disclose; the guaranteed analysis's ash line hints at it.
How Bowlmark scores it
Scores are deterministic math over the printed label — the rules below apply to every product identically, and nothing estimates or fills in a blank.
The species courtesy pays: 'beef and bone meal' matches the named-beef roster and escapes the unnamed-animal deduction entirely, while 'meat and bone meal' — the same process, species undisclosed — takes −20. Note the named-meal BONUS is a separate question of list position (first or top-3); mid-list, this ingredient neither earns nor loses. One rendering industry, three scoring outcomes, all decided by disclosure.
Foods that list beef and bone meal
Ranked by score where scores exist. Placement here is never sold.
Sources
Related ingredients
Further reading
Cite this page
Bowlmark. "Beef and bone meal in pet food — what it is and how it scores." https://www.bowlmark.com/ingredient/beef-and-bone-meal
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- Last verified August 12, 2026
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