Pet Food Recalls & Food Safety Issues

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As many pet parents well remember, mid-March marks the two-year anniversary of the widespread pet food recall throughout North and South America. Most pet parents are familiar with the FDA’s recall due to the melamine contamination from ingredients sourced in China, and many people's pets were affected by the tainted food.

While much smaller in scope since the 2007 recall, pet food recalls continue, including last month's peanut butter Salmonella contamination that affected both human and pet food products.

To summarize events since the 2007 recall, while the US FDA (responsible for pet food regulations, which are enforced at the state level) has taken some action toward improving response and tracking of pet food safety crises, and committees have been formed to further define safety standards for our pets' food, no legislation has yet been passed to impose stricter rules for pet food safety and ingredient testing.

It seems likely that there will be no additional federal regulations enacted, as many industry insiders believe that existing laws and safety protocols adequately address pet food safety needs, and there is often general resistance to expanding governmental controls in big businesses like the pet food industry.

Instead of new federal legislation, there will likely be stricter "guidelines" made by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), the agency that (loosely) regulates the pet food and livestock feed industry by setting feed standards and definitions of acceptable feed and pet food ingredients

What exactly does that mean to us? (read more...)

What this means for pet parents is that nothing much is likely to change in the near future. The responsibility for providing safe foods to our companion animals remains where it always has been - squarely on our own shoulders! The best way to ensure you're getting a safe food for your pet is to choose a natural pet food. And of course, it's just as important to select natural treats for your pet as well.

My other site, Solomon’s Royal Barkery, has recipes for homemade food and treats you can make yourself to feed your pet.

A common misconception about the AAFCO statement found on most pet foods: the idea that AAFCO approves foods, and that the AAFCO statement on a pet food label guarantees safety. AAFCO offers guidelines for pet food and livestock feed manufacturers, but does not actually approve or strictly regulate what goes into our pets' food. The AAFCO statement simply says that the manufacturer avows that their food contains the AAFCO-recommended minimum requirements of all nutrients necessary to sustain life for a particular species of animal. Notice that AAFCO standards mean that a food meets “minimum requirements” to “sustain life”.

So if your pet's food meets the AAFCO guidelines, the statement on the label says that the food is "formulated to meet the nutritional levels established by the AAFCO Dog or Cat Food Nutrient Profiles." This means that pets eating the food as their whole diet won't die from a nutrient deficiency. It does not mean that the ingredients in the food are of high quality, are easy to digest, or are at all healthy for your pet! Pets are developing serious health problems like cancer, and kidney & liver diseases at alarming rates since commercial pet food was introduced - just a coincidence? Hardly! Just because a food meets AAFCO guidelines doesn't mean it's especially healthy for your animal to eat.

In fact, many of the AAFCO-approved ingredients in pet food are considered quite unhealthy by those who know what the tricky ingredient language really means. Acceptable pet food ingredients include things like beaks and chicken feet (poultry by-products), sawdust, peanut or soybean hulls and newspaper pulp (powdered cellulose), rendered road kill (animal fat, animal digest), and worse!

Interestingly, the melamine that harmed in so many pets in 2007 is believed to have been added to the grain-based ingredients to increase the protein content so the food would meet standard pet food nutritional guidelines! How's that as "food for thought"?

For the latest information on food recalls and safety concerns, visit the US Food & Drug Administration's Food Recall page on their website.

More information on pet food regulation is available here on the AAFCO website.

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Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007, First Step Towards Protecting Pets, and Us, From Tainted Foods

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This is great news! We are pleased to announce that we have the first new law passed that will help with the pet food problems.

H.R. 3580, in conference, was passed by both houses of Congress and signed by the President.

In particular, it is Title X (the last section), that has bearing on our issues.

This new law mandates the FDA come up with new labeling and production standards for pet food within 24 months. It also requires that the FDA set up a pet food registry and notification process similar to the one the CDC uses for human pathogens.

We still have more work to do, in particular regarding foreign import restrictions, but this is the FIRST MAJOR STEP.

You can view the bill here: H.R. 3580

Specifically, TITLE X - FOOD SAFETY, Sec. 1002 pertains to pet food. The rest of this part of the bill addresses various other aspects of food safety, inspection and reporting standards, communication and reporting requirements, and a Reportable Food Registry that requires the responsible party to register, within 24 hours, any food item that has a reasonable probability of any sort of health concerns.

It isn't perfect, but it's a HUGE step in the right direction. At least now there is a protocol for how these things are handled and reported, so hopefully situations like the recent pet food recalls will not get out of hand as before. Good to see that our government does do some good things now and again.

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