ABSTRACT
In different countries, by tradition and culture, people eat meat of different species of animals and subsequently also different parts of the carcass that are not skeletal muscles or fatty (adipose) tissue. The latter are the by-products. In general, the expression “by-products” describes all parts, edible or inedible for human beings, but it varies which of the by-products are considered as edible [1]. Another expression of these parts of a carcass is “offal.” By offal those parts of the carcass are meant that “fall of the butcher’s block” [2]. The expression is used for inedible by-products. Regarded as inedible for all human beings are mineralized bones. Since the BSE crisis in most parts of the world, brains of grown up cattle and sheep have been taken away from the plate of consumers. In generalization, today, often brains of all species are regarded as inedible by-products. Nevertheless, the composition of brains of some species will be addressed in this chapter. Furthermore, blood, skin, and sexual organs of animals are often regarded by many consumers as offal. Due to the refusal of people to accept some by-products as edible, the compositional data of these “offal” are not mentioned in most data books and databanks. Literature data of these “offal” are also incomplete. Reported are only data of protein or fat, sometimes minerals and residues like hormones. These studies do not permit to list even the main constituents and to calculate energy values. Thus, only those by-products of the species mentioned in Table 7.1 are addressed in this chapter.
