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Pet Food Regulations

Hear them say it…

I have (nervously) decided it is necessary for all pet food consumers to hear the FDA say they will not enforce law with pet food. Here it is…

I have (nervously) decided it is necessary for all pet food consumers to hear the FDA say they will not enforce law with pet food. Here it is…

 

 

Please share this video – every pet food consumer deserves to hear FDA’s statements. (And if I disappear…you can safely assume FDA decided to ‘further process me’.)

 

Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,

Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author Buyer Beware, Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
TruthaboutPetFood.com
Association for Truth in Pet Food

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46 Comments

46 Comments

  1. Jean

    April 22, 2016 at 3:44 pm

    They are a useless department funded by our tax dollars. Scrap the FDA and start over again.

  2. ACH

    April 22, 2016 at 3:49 pm

    THANK YOU, SUSAN!!! Reading this was one thing…HEARING it is another!!!

  3. Carol North

    April 22, 2016 at 3:54 pm

    Susan, thank you so much for posting this video. I will share it on my own website, feedingfidoandfluffy.com, and on several Facebook pages. The public has a right to know this information. Thank you for your efforts on behalf of pet owners everywhere.

  4. Nina Wolf

    April 22, 2016 at 3:57 pm

    Hear the condescension and derision in their voices. The tone of voice here says so much.

  5. Jeri

    April 22, 2016 at 4:22 pm

    Susan, is there any way to send this to Congress? Start locally maybe? Or send to a news agency? (That would leave a mark!) Just brainstorming. No idea about the legal ramifications…if there are any. Bless you for your courage and keep fighting the good fight!! You are not alone, dear.

    • Susan Thixton

      April 22, 2016 at 4:28 pm

      I am waiting to hear from one of my Representatives in Congress now (Florida) – I have provided them with a slew of evidence to prove FDA is not enforcing law. I have no idea how long it will take for them to respond. This is also a state issue too (not just federal). And I’m still waiting to hear back from Florida why this state is not enforcing law.

      • Jeri

        April 22, 2016 at 4:46 pm

        Please keep us posted, Susan!! I would love to see this go viral. No way to control or suppress it, then.

        • Marie

          April 23, 2016 at 2:00 pm

          How do we make this video go viral? Does anyone know? The FDA is positively evil! Thank you Susan for fighting this fight! You are not fighting it alone. You have all of us! I agree that persistence is everything, such as the vet’s wife said. We will get these arrogant FDA asses to listen and even to be afraid. I loved your comment that they didn’t have to spend any money – just enforce the law – no answer from them. Why am I not surprised.

      • Kim

        April 23, 2016 at 6:53 pm

        I just provided the link to my district congressman R. Randy Forbes. We all need to do the same thing.

        Kim

  6. Teresa Johnson

    April 22, 2016 at 4:25 pm

    There’s a bumper sticker which reads “Speak your mind even if your voice shakes.” Great Accomplishments have always started with one small act… and far too often at a high cost. Thank you, Susan, for taking the risk and speaking out for all of us. You cannnot disappear… you have too many of us depending and looking out for you!
    I face battles daily with the VA as my husband is a Vietnam combat veteran. One voice followed by another and another and look at upheaval the VA has been facing and changes they have been forced to make for the betterment. This video should go viral and maybe, just maybe, our pet population will be better respected and treated.
    Going to forward it now!!!

    • Sherrie Ashenbremer

      April 22, 2016 at 4:38 pm

      Love that, “speak your mind even if your voice shakes”

      • Marie

        April 23, 2016 at 2:00 pm

        I love it too!!

  7. Casey

    April 22, 2016 at 4:27 pm

    They are only caring about the PFI. That is where their concerns lie – NOT with the consumer.

    And yes, they do want our pets to be living landfills. Because that’s what works for them.

    If those “animal products” are so safe, why aren’t they in human foods? I’m sure a lot of companies would love to save a buck using “meat meal” or “meat and bone meal” in their human grade products.

    FDA needs to be torn down and rebuilt from the ground up.

  8. Susan Thixton

    April 22, 2016 at 4:38 pm

    Here is a post from Natural News regarding a Former FDA commissioner Margaret Hamburg named in massive conspiracy and racketeering lawsuit involving Johnson & Johnson, a Wall Street hedge fund, and the Levaquin drug http://www.naturalnews.com/053767_Margaret_Hamburg_FDA_commissioner_conspiracy_and_racketeering.html

  9. Susan Sobel

    April 22, 2016 at 6:14 pm

    It’s all about $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
    Susan, I think what you do on TAPF is wonderful. But expect no change to be made by the FDA, AAFCO or big pet-food. They will continue breaking the law. Why? $$$$$$$$$$$$
    The most important thing TAPF does is educate petsumers, the ones who care, in order for them to make the correct choices in what they feed their pets. I will forward this video to many friends and family members, yet I know them …. the majority will turn their heads and continue buying adulterated foods. It’s sad that so many people really couldn’t give a sh*t what’s in their pets’ food.
    But I care. And I will continue spreading the word, just as you do.

    • ACH

      April 22, 2016 at 6:54 pm

      Susan, you’re so right about some people just not caring…I’ve tried so many times to let people know about this, and some of them just seem irritated by it…very sad, and very unfortunate for their pets…

  10. Jane

    April 22, 2016 at 6:33 pm

    Guys, there are elections being held in your country now. I haven’t much idea on how primaries work, but surely the number of voters who are also concerned pet owners, is not insignificant, and now would be the time to make yourselves heard I would imagine.

  11. Dianne

    April 22, 2016 at 6:50 pm

    You should forward the video and the link to both the Trump and Sanders campaigns. I am betting that information will throw her out of the water. She also has very deep ties with Monsanto.

    • ACH

      April 22, 2016 at 6:53 pm

      I like that idea!!!

    • Marie

      April 23, 2016 at 3:16 pm

      I like it too, but Trump won’t care – he’s out for himself. I guess they all are. It would be interesting to ask candidates how they feel about animal rights! That would include the right to clean, whole food, and it should include food animals as well. And anything the candidates say now is almost always forgotten after election. I remember Susan was sending something to these candidates but never heard if she heard back.

  12. Cathy Bodhaine

    April 22, 2016 at 8:44 pm

    absolutely disgusting and totally unacceptable.
    I am still waiting for my ‘return’ phone call from FDA from my mid March complaint.
    Thank You for keeping consumers informed.

  13. Paula

    April 22, 2016 at 9:25 pm

    Sadly vets and associated professionals do not believe that dead/dying/deceased animal products, plus all sorts of other crap, go into the food offered by large manufacturers and think info shared by folks such as yourself is false — even when totally backed up. I was challenged by a physical therapist at my vet’s office on my use of a combo of Fromm Grain Free, Orijen Grain Free and Orijen freeze-dried with the comment that it would be better to feed one consistent food from a large manufacturer and grains are good for dogs. ? I said I feel more comfortable with these companies whose foods are made in their own plants versus one made in the same place as all sorts of other products whereby ingredients could get co-mingled. I also said I think variety is better and combining foods that are all totally balanced together yields a balanced food without the risk that something could be off with one food. Her response was the big companies self-police and you don’t know about the small ones. Crazy. Thank you for your work.

    • ACH

      April 23, 2016 at 1:07 pm

      “Self police”…that kind of says it all…

    • Marie

      April 23, 2016 at 2:56 pm

      Paula, I hear you! I’ve told people too, and they think I’m making it up. I tell them to join ATPF and Petsumer Report and learn for themselves. Hard to say how many follow up, but I keep telling them anyway. I tried a new allopathic vet who came to see about a strange and sudden illness my kitty got, and I asked her if she could check for endotoxins in his blood. (He’s all better now, thank God!) I shared information about endotoxins with her, and she said it’s not true. Ignorance and denial everywhere you look!

  14. Damiane

    April 23, 2016 at 6:10 am

    You’ve taken on a monumental task that no one has been brave or knowledgeable enough to do. I hope your efforts pay off, I hope me sharing your reports help. It gives me a sick feeling in my stomach when I think about how corrupt the big pet food manufacturers are. They have programmed vets to think grain is appropriate for carnivores like cats. While dogs can have a little whole grain or fruit in their diet, it should be very little, not the main ingredient as we see with so many big named pet foods.

    I used to be a vet tech and worked with many skilled and knowledgeable vets, some of the best in Dallas where I live. One day I was talking with a vet I used to work with about this subject, I consider her bright, thorough and I trust her with my pets’ care. When I worked with her she was my vet of choice out of about 7 other vets at the clinic. When we discussed this, she said there are studies showing that corn is good for dogs 🙁 She drank the kool aid. I can’t remember if it was Hills or Royal Canin that came out with that crap but vets believe them. Another vet I know and respect was telling me about touring the Hills plant and learning about the safety of their manufacturing methods and the quality of their food yadda yadda… I asked who paid for the tour, I’m sure you can guess.

    Big cats in zoos don’t get grain as a staple diet, I don’t think they get any at all. In the summer they might freeze pieces of fruit for a treat but they get raw meat, bone and organs as a staple. Same with wolves and canine species in the zoo, they don’t throw a bail of hay out to feed them. Zoo animals get species appropriate diets, as closely as we can match in the wild. (We still fall short because black rhinos aren’t thriving in zoos and the theory is there’s something missing in their diet that we can’t figure out. Black rhinos are in fact extinct so the only ones left are in zoos and it doesn’t look promising for them 🙁 Anyway, I digress…

    Once an animal dies, toxins are released to break down tissue. So if a cow dies from a bacterial or viral infection, the pathogen AND decomp toxins are present throughout the dead body, the same if the animal died of natural causes. Therefore the “usable” fat and protein the FDA dude said was safe really isn’t. Heavy repercussions would come from using this tainted meat in people food. Slaughtered animals are processed (cut up) right away before the decomposition can start. It is the whole reason for meat processing plants, fresh, pathogen free meat, and the FDA is responsible for enforcing the rules. Clearly they are not doing so for pet food and don’t care to. I’d bet the FDA guy you talked to is not a pet owner.

    Regarding land fills, can’t they incinerate the dead bodies instead of dumping them whole? I’m not sure what the regulations are but they do it with humans.

    Many thanks Susan! I hope to carry the message and you’ve armed us with info <3

    • Beth

      April 23, 2016 at 9:52 am

      I appreciated your comments about zoo diets. I used to volunteer at a zoo, and I know they use species appropriate diets. Years later, I’m better educated about commercial dog and cat food, and I want to feed my cats and dogs a diet like what the wild felines and canines get. I contacted a local zoo to see if I could get info about the diets and their food suppliers. They would not share. I’m going to dig into this more as I want to compare what zoos do to what the raw diets propose. I would love to blow off the pet food companies altogether! An Australian vet, Ian Billinghurst, wrote a great book many years ago, “Give Your Dog A Bone” and stated that in his home country of Australia canine dental problems were uncommon until commercial pet food came along. Commercial food is wrong in so many ways, so dump them and we can also dump the FDA.

      • ACH

        April 23, 2016 at 1:11 pm

        Beth, I hope you will share with us any info you find…good luck!!!

      • Marie

        April 23, 2016 at 3:13 pm

        Yes, I’d like to know too! The zoos won’t share this information?!! What’s up with that!! But yes! We dump commercial food and the FDA, except for all those sweet animals out there still eating the food, either because their caregivers don’t know or refuse to learn. 🙁

        • Marie

          April 23, 2016 at 3:22 pm

          A PS to my own post. 🙂 I’m just thinking that of course, our own animals are the ones we protect, but I love ALL animals, including food animals, so I won’t ever ever let this go! Susan, if they process you, they’re going to have to deal with me, and while I lack your knowledge and fortitude, I definitely share your passion! So you better stick around! XOX

    • Marie

      April 23, 2016 at 3:11 pm

      Fascinating about zoo diets! On landfill issues, are you talking about euthanized pets that currently go into feed-grade (most) pet food? Cremation (incineration) is a brilliant idea! It keeps them out of pet food and gives these former beloved pets some measure of respect. And I bet you’re right! I bet none of these creeps have pets, or if they do, they aren’t members of the family.

  15. Alice

    April 23, 2016 at 11:17 am

    I don’t think the FDA is funded well enough to ensure the safety of human food, let alone pet foods. Just look at the current number of ecoli and listeria outbreaks and recalls after the fact. Personally, this is a bigger issue that impacts all of us and the FDA is a crippled organization. i could write a book on what is wrong there and what needs to be done but it begins with politics and congressional will to do what is right for their constituencies rather than bending to special interests. The FDA is hamstrung by those influences and a budget that is consistently cut year after year. They can’t even keep the personnel on hand to enforce human food safety.

    As an owner of a dog with allergies, I have been through the gambit on finding a reliable food product. Mass production foods won’t work for her and I am having to prepare her diet myself. Even finding acceptable human grade products is difficult and expensive. Our food safety network is broken. I feel we have been extremely lucky we haven’t had a massive situation occur. Unfortunately, until that happens, there won’t be the political or financial will to correct the system.

    Thank you for all you do.

    • Marie

      April 23, 2016 at 2:58 pm

      No, they aren’t well funded, but as Susan said to them, they don’t have to spend money; they just need to enforce the law! Grrrr at the FDA!!!

      • ACH

        April 23, 2016 at 3:09 pm

        Exactly right!!! ENFORCEMENT!!!

        • Marie

          April 23, 2016 at 3:19 pm

          Oh, I LIKE YOUR ATTITUDE!!! ENFORCEMENT!! How do we force them to do that? How do we get Susan’s video viral?

    • Marie

      April 23, 2016 at 3:05 pm

      And I also agree that it will take a massive event to cause a political change to a broken system. The financial change should follow. Yet look what happened in Flint, Michigan with lead in the water. They’re still screwing around with that and have had plenty of time to correct what never should have happened in the first place. That’s what’s happening here – what never should happen in the first place! I love the idea of these people (FDA, congress, and AAFCO) eating the diet they try to impose on our precious, innocent pets. If there were a way to force them to eat it, and they got sick, maybe then we’d see change. True too about human food – extreme caution warranted. I don’t know if I’m crazy here, but I dream of an energetic virus that affects only corrupt people. I wish I knew what else to do. I do know I’ll never stop spreading the word, even if people don’t want to hear it. Complacency is our worst enemy to exposing truth. And worse, people seem only focused on human issues, as if animals were not as important! That disgusts me. It’s speciesism, like racism, and it’s ugly!!

  16. Holly

    April 24, 2016 at 9:08 am

    This morning, I sent a message along with Susan’s URL, with the video, to my congressperson and to my senators. How to find them? — search “who are my congress members” and “who are my senators” in Google; select your state and topic. I copied and pasted the same letter to all of them. Susan is working very hard; we have to do our share too. If we each contact our congressperson and senators, this could go viral in a couple of days, along with something on Facebook. Our senators and congresspeople have to be made aware of the issue– they don’t automatically know about it because they work in Washington DC.

    • Marie

      April 24, 2016 at 11:41 am

      Holly, you are awesome! And I couldn’t agree more that we need to do our part, every one of us! I still have the list of my congress members and senators from a while ago when I sent them a letter. (No response) I LOVE your idea of sending the video! This does need to go viral, and the sooner the better! Does anyone know how to get something viral on Facebook? I’m not on it – tried it. One reason I got off FB is I couldn’t figure out how to make it work, how to get something to go viral. If anyone out there knows, please do it! My son in law is a computer programmer and maybe he knows how to get this viral. Meanwhile, I’ll get started on sending the Susan’s URL with the video! Maybe if we bombard them with this information, have our friends, family and neighbors bombard them, they will finally listen! 🙂

      • Holly

        April 25, 2016 at 8:17 am

        For those who live in the states where dog food is processed, packaged, etc., write to your congress person or governor about Susan’s efforts by sending them the URL with a brief note attached — sort of like a cover letter to a resume. Maybe they don’t know what’s going on. And put it on Facebook in those states. It’s hard to tell people what to do, but to back it up by sending the URL to others is far easier. Or send the URL to pet food stores, suppliers of pet food. It’s an no-cost way to spread the news.

        • Holly

          April 25, 2016 at 8:26 am

          PS. How to forward the site to pet food/feed processors? Type into Google, or your favorite search engine, “pet food manufactured in New York” or your state and see what it brings up.

          • Sherrie Ashenbremer

            April 25, 2016 at 8:30 am

            The FDA is another government institution that does nothing and costs taxpayers MILLIONS! Get rid of the FDA

  17. Meg

    April 24, 2016 at 11:20 am

    Thank you for taking the risk and sharing this with us. I found myself grinding my teeth as I listened to the arrogant, dismissive, condescending, and patronizing voice. Why wouldn’t this lack of enforcing the law(s) qualify as criminal negligence?

    Anyone and everyone who sincerely cares about their pets, and the care & nutrition they receive should be joining the bandwagon to share this information. I believe the pet lover’s “universe” to be large, and getting more and more vocal about resisting what is happening. Thanks to your work Susan, we are kept informed about what is [not] occurring.

    I suggest we join together and consider suing FDA. There are precedents for that action, and maybe there are effective attorneys who are also informed pet lovers who could help. There is even a possibility for a joint class-action with other groups who are fed up with what OUR tax dollars and the people WE pay are NOT doing. Agree with others – like so many other expanded and self-propagating government organizations – FDA should undergo a complete purging and reforming….and quickly. Their actions, or lack thereof, are hurting us all! (including we human consumers)

    • Marie

      April 24, 2016 at 12:37 pm

      Meg, I LOVE your idea to sue the FDA!! It is criminal negligence, but I think they get away with it due to lack of animal rights. I agree that there is a large “pet loving” universe that needs to be informed and take action with us. Let’s do this! I have long heard that the western women will be the ones to change the world, as we’ve been in the background for too long, and we have what it takes. This does not exclude the men, but the good old boys’ time has come to step down.

  18. Diana

    April 24, 2016 at 7:41 pm

    It has been a very long time since I have posted. I still home cook but with age I have used some Fromm food but switched when I feed dog food I use Annamaet. It really bother’s me to hear this video so unconcerned but it does not shock me about the FDA . Older adults as myself who have pets and due to health can’t always home cook. That makes me so unhappy to fear the fact of my health I can’t always cook. I do feel our food isn’t that safe either.My fur babies are my life and they are getting way up in their teens. I wish I was young so they too could be younger. I cooked daily for them and made treats I feel so sad that wit my late 80’s I just can’t on some day’s and poor health. After hearing this video of the FDA I feel I must.Bless all the innocent fur children who have to die to just eat while they make billions from greed. Landfiled dog food what a shame.

    • Beth

      April 24, 2016 at 9:52 pm

      Diana, we all do the best we can with the circumstances we have. Your babies know you love them, and that is so very important. My sister just turned 82, and her two dogs are her children; she searches for the best options for their diet with her limited income, so I feel like I have some understanding of your dilemma. Your dogs are lucky to have a good home and good care and lots of love; many cats and dogs live miserable lives. Please don’t let this get you down. Blessings to you.

  19. Hillary

    April 25, 2016 at 12:09 pm

    Check out this video from the FDA’s own youtube channel about pet food labeling.

    https://youtu.be/IQ293BzxNvg

    They clearly say adulterated ingredients are against the law so I guess they just do whatever they want? Ridiculous.

  20. Terri Janson

    April 25, 2016 at 1:32 pm

    YOU GO GIRL!!!!! Thank you so much!

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