Advancing the valorisation of meat co-products in food, pet food, and biomedicine applications

Global population growth is driving a significant rise in meat production, leading to an increased supply of edible co-products such as offal. While direct consumption remains the most profitable and sustainable option, shifting cultural and dietary trends have led to its decline, resulting in surplus co-products often diverted to lower-value applications. This review explores various valorization strategies aimed at maximizing raw material utilization and minimizing waste with a special focus on recent advancements in innovative technologies that enhance extraction efficiency and functionalization for high-value applications in food, animal feed, and biomedicine. While the pet food industry and recent regulatory changes in animal feed have expanded opportunities for valorizing meat co-products, their potential in food ingredient development remains relatively unexploited. Similarly, despite their suitability as sources of structural components and active pharmaceutical ingredients, their biomedical applications remain limited. Therefore, key challenges in these areas have been discussed, including consumer perceptions of recovered proteins, processing complexities, the role of biotechnology, and competition from the growing demand for premium pet food.