Rendered ingredients include plastic packaging and flea-collar pesticides that survive processing

Independent rendering plants routinely process expired supermarket meat still sealed in Styrofoam trays and plastic wrap, livestock with pesticide-impregnated ear tags, and animals wearing flea collars containing organophosphate insecticides, because removing packaging and contaminants before rendering is too labor-intensive. These materials do not fully break down during rendering, so fragments of plastic, melted Styrofoam, and pesticide residues end up in the 'meat meal' and 'animal fat' that constitute 40-60% of finished kibble. The problem persists because the FDA exempts rendering from the food additive approval process, there is no testing requirement for pesticide or plastic residues in rendered ingredients, and the rendering industry operates under minimal oversight since its output is classified as animal feed rather than food.