There are two types of meat used in all foods, fresh and meat meal. Meat meal is pre-digested meat protein that is dehydrated and then added to the food formula. It’s a pure form of meat and high in protein. Fresh meat is just that, fresh meat. The draw back to using fresh meat is it loses half its weight in the cooking process. A lot of companies also SAY they use fresh meat because the consumer assumes that it’s better to use fresh than meal and it makes their food “read” better. If it’s true and they use fresh meat, and listing it first on the ingredient label , it is in fact the 6th or 7th ingredient after cooking . It may have started out as the most by weight prior to cooking but……….with meat meal, you are getting a lot more meat-based protein.