The North American rendering industry processes approximately 24 million metric tons (Mt) of raw materials and produces more than 8 million Mt of rendered products. More than 85 % of rendered products produced annually in the USA are used for producing animal feed. Pathogen contamination in rendered products is an important and topical issue. Although elevated temperatures (115-140 A degrees C) for 40-90 min during the standard rendering processes are mathematically sufficient to completely destroy commonly found pathogens, the presence of pathogens in rendered products has nevertheless been reported. Increased concern over the risk of microbial contamination in rendered products may require additional safeguards for producing pathogen-free rendered products. This study provides an overview of rendered products, existing microbial pathogen quality criteria of rendered products (MPQCR), limitations, and the scope of improving the MPQCR.