Senator Paul deliberately introduced legislation deleting pet food safety law and denying pet owners the right to know what’s in their pet food.
Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, a physician that should understand the necessity of food safety, recently submitted an addendum to Congress that resulted in the complete destruction of pet food safety promised pet owners for nine years. Senator Paul’s bill, Section 306 of H.R. 5554 – completely ignored safety laws promised pet owners after the deadliest pet food recall in history and assured a Kentucky-linked private corporation would continue to be allowed to write and profit from law making.
Senator Paul explained away the devastating addendum as conflict of interest telling constituents the 2007 pet food safety laws “has called into question FDA’s longstanding relationship with the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), a voluntary membership association that maintains a published list of animal food ingredient definitions.”
There it is. Senator Rand Paul took intentional action to protect the profits of AAFCO while ignoring the safety of pet food and ignoring the needs of millions of pet food consumers.
Background.
On March 16, 2007 a pet food recall announced by Menu Foods turned into the deadliest recall in history. The FDA reported more than 8,500 pets died in 2007, but actual pet death counts are far higher. Some estimate hundreds of thousands of pets died due to the melamine poisoned pet food in 2007.
In response to the massive number of pet deaths, Congress wrote “Ensuring the Safety of Pet Food“ laws included in the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007. These laws were written in an effort to prevent another pet food disaster. The laws – Section 1002 (a) of the Act stated:
“Not later than 2 years after September 27, 2007, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (referred to in this chapter as the “Secretary”), in consultation with the Association of American Feed Control Officials and other relevant stakeholder groups, including veterinary medical associations, animal health organizations, and pet food manufacturers, shall by regulation establish-
- ingredient standards and definitions with respect to pet food;
- processing standards for pet food; and
- updated standards for the labeling of pet food that include nutritional and ingredient information.”
To emphasize the significance of these pet food laws we were given back in 2007…thousands of pets died due to unscrupulous Chinese suppliers that added a plastic component melamine to common pet food ingredients such as wheat gluten. The added melamine resulted in kidney blockage and death of the pets consuming the tainted ingredient pet foods. In 2007 Congress recognized that pet food ingredients had no ‘standard’ of quality and wrote laws requiring FDA to establish the needed quality standards (required to be completed by September 2009). Using the same wheat gluten example – a standard would require pet food wheat gluten to be 100% pure wheat gluten instead of part wheat gluten and part melamine as what happened in 2007. A pet food ingredient standard would also require meat ingredients to be sourced from slaughtered, healthy animals instead of diseased and non-slaughtered animals that are allowed by FDA now.
But…because of the actions by Senator Rand Paul, pet owners lost what we were promised in 2007.
In 2007 Congress also recognized pet food labels do not give consumers adequate information to make their purchasing decisions on. Law passed by Congress required FDA to provide consumers more information on the pet food label; “nutritional and ingredient information”. And, in 2007 Congress recognized that pet owners have no public access to pet food ingredient definitions. Congress required FDA to update pet food definitions – which would have finally taken ownership of pet food ingredient definitions away from AAFCO providing public access to pet owners.
And now we’ve reached the bottom line. Now we know why Senator Paul of Kentucky single-handedly submitted an addendum to destroy pet food safety. It’s all about money. AAFCO’s money.
The University of Kentucky is the regulatory body over pet food – not the State Department of Agriculture as in most other states. In Kentucky, a public university that openly accepts financial donations from the pet food industry is who writes pet food law through AAFCO and enforces law in the state. And it just so happens that a University of Kentucky employee – Kristen Green – is the chair of the AAFCO pet food committee.
Senator Rand Paul actions protected the financial interests of the private corporation AAFCO – assumed at the request of the University of Kentucky Regulatory Services – instead of protecting pet food safety and the Freedom of Information rights of every pet owner in the US.
Do you know what the ingredients listed on your pet’s food label mean? Do you know the legal definition of “chicken” in your pet’s food? It is NOT the same as the legal definition of ‘chicken’ in human food. Do you know the difference between human food chicken and pet food chicken? Do you know the legal definition of “chicken meal” or “pea protein” or “animal fat” or “animal digest” or any other ingredient stated on your pet food label? You probably don’t. Because the private corporation Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) owns all pet food regulations including definitions of ingredients and charges $120.00 a year for access.
AAFCO owns the regulations governing pet food labels too. AAFCO – a private company that is heavily influenced by industry – determines what information pet owners are given on a pet food label. And pet owners are not provided with those legal details either.
In human food – consumers have public access to detailed information on every single food ingredient. In human food, consumers can provide input to food regulation through notices published in the Federal Register. But not in pet food. In pet food, everything is decided on and owned by the private corporation AAFCO.
Significant: Pet food is the only U.S. product where laws governing that product are written by a private corporation.
Senator Rand Paul’s addendum to H.R. 5554 was deliberate action to assure AAFCO will continue to control and profit from writing pet food law.
Think about that…an elected official – an elected law maker intentionally ignored a principal foundation of U.S. government; in this case the pet owner right to public access and comment on pet food rule making. An elected law maker purposely took basic rights away from ‘the People’ and gave them to a private corporation.
How do we know that Senator Rand Paul is the sole reason these pet food safety laws and Freedom of Information rights were deleted? The FDA told us.
Back in October when I first reported on this crime to pet owners, I sent questions to FDA asking who wrote the amendment that deleted the pet food safety laws. The FDA responded late Friday Novenber 23, 2018 with (bold added):
“Dear Ms. Thixton,
In response to your request for “…. who at FDA submitted Sec. 306….,” we are providing the legislative history of the language.
Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN) introduced S. 2434, the “Animal Drug and Animal Generic Drug User Fee Amendments of 2018” on February 15, 2018. That legislation can be found here.
On February 28, 2018, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions marked up, amended, and reported S. 2434. During this mark-up, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) offered an amendment concerning animal food additives which, among other things, struck 21 U.S.C. § 2102(a)(1). All other provisions of 21 U.S.C. § 2102 remain in force and can be viewed here. A video of the markup can be viewed on the Committee’s website here. This amendment was adopted in Committee by voice vote. The amendment became Section 306 of S. 2434 as reported by the Committee. You can view the amended version of S. 2434 reported out of the Committee and to the full Senate on March 7, 2018, here. This markup is noted in the Congressional Record daily digest for February 28, 2018, here. The March 7, 2018 digest notes the bill being reported to the full Senate; the digest can be viewed here.
The House bill to reauthorize the animal drug and generic drug user fee programs, H.R. 5554, included similar language in Section 306 of the version passed by the House on July 16, 2018. That legislation can be viewed here. More information on this can be found in the Congressional daily digest for July 16, 2018, here; and in the Congressional record for July 16, 2018, here. H.R. 5554 then passed the Senate on July 31, 2018. More information on its consideration by the full Senate can be found in the Congressional record for July 31, 2018, here. H.R. 5554 (now Public Law no. 115-234) was signed into law by the President on August 14, 2018.
Sincerely,
AskCVM”
I spoke with Senator Paul’s office yesterday morning (11/26/2018). I explained to a not so enthusiastic staffer the devastation Senator Paul’s action caused. I asked for an explanation which the staffer could not immediately provide, so I asked that the explanation be provided by end of business (11/26/2018). Senator Paul’s office did not provide a statement.
I think it is time for Senator Paul to hear from us. He needs to hear pet owner stories of sick pets, pet deaths, your struggles to find a safe pet food. He needs to hear about the misleading pet food labels, the illegal ingredients such as euthanized animal meat allowed in pet food. He needs to hear your frustration about FDA’s lack of enforcement of law and the absurdity of a private corporation writing and owning pet food laws.
Email Senator Paul here: https://www.paul.senate.gov/connect/email-rand
Phone number for his Washington DC office: 202-224-4343
And one more step – sign the petition to demand that Senator Rand Paul reintroduce the pet food safety laws Ensuring the Safety of Pet Food requiring FDA to complete the task in 6 months or less. Click Here to sign.
This unforgivable action by Senator Paul must be turned around. Please share this post and the petition. Senator Paul needs to hear from all of us.
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
Become a member of our pet food consumer Association. Association for Truth in Pet Food is a a stakeholder organization representing the voice of pet food consumers at AAFCO and with FDA. Your membership helps representatives attend meetings and voice consumer concerns with regulatory authorities. Click Here to learn more.
What’s in Your Pet’s Food?
Is your dog or cat eating risk ingredients? Chinese imports? Petsumer Report tells the ‘rest of the story’ on over 5,000 cat foods, dog foods, and pet treats. 30 Day Satisfaction Guarantee. Click Here to preview Petsumer Report. www.PetsumerReport.com
The 2018 List
Susan’s List of trusted pet foods. Click Here to learn more.
Have you read Buyer Beware? Click Here
Cooking pet food made easy, Dinner PAWsible
Find Healthy Pet Foods in Your Area Click Here
Ms. B Dawson
November 27, 2018 at 9:27 am
And now we know why pentobarbital is being found in pet food. It has always amazed me that a private corporation that gives lip service to any oversight has retained so much power.
There’s no reason for suppliers to be careful about preventing cross-contamination at rendering plants or test for it. The only penalty will be levied by food manufacturers who sue for breach of contract over tainted ingredients. Unethical companies (I’m thinking of you, Evangers!) have nothing to fear except false advertising claims from consumers and possibly breach of contract from other brands they co-pack. Both processes are expensive for the injured parties and inconsequential monetarily for the offenders with corporate lawyers on retainer.
Sort of ironic, really. FDA has been vilified as the major obstacle and now they are being gutted. Maybe they should consider a partnership with consumers to recover their funding and status.
It’s time for us to take the Declaration of Independence to heart:
“….accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security….”
Debi
November 28, 2018 at 1:12 pm
I love this post
Sally Roberts
November 27, 2018 at 10:09 am
Signed and shared !!!
C. Meyer
November 27, 2018 at 10:28 am
Can’t believe this is possible. We need to re-evaluate our political parties. Money should have no bearing in protecting our beloved pets.
Michele Little
November 27, 2018 at 10:59 am
Susan would you please post something shorter with the petition and S. Pauls email so we can post on Facebook for our friends with pets that may want to help. Please, Michele. I did sign and email.
Lida Pittenger
November 27, 2018 at 11:48 am
where is the petition?? Petition to get him out, that is what we need
Susan Thixton
November 27, 2018 at 8:39 pm
How about this…
Senator Paul deliberately introduced legislation deleting pet food safety law and denying pet owners the right to know what’s in their pet food. Please read and take action to protect pets. (and then add the link to the article or petition after)
Pet Owner
November 28, 2018 at 1:59 am
The context is important: In response to the 2007 Recall killing millions of pets, legislation (namely ….) was introduced to prevent this tragedy from happening again. It was promised to the American people (and supported by Legislator namely ….. ). Now Sen. Rand Paul wants to delete the PF safety law, denying pet owners the right to know what’s in their pet food.
Sadly nobody is going to read a long article. Or anything beyond a few sentences.
Lida Pittenger
November 27, 2018 at 11:48 am
About time to throw out this POS ” Senator” Pets are family. He should not be in that position
Jan
November 27, 2018 at 12:19 pm
I am utterly disgusted. What is wrong with him?! Congress (Rand Paul) is there to represent the will of the people (you, me and every pet owner), NOT him, not big Ag, not big pharma, and certainly NOT the Pet Food industry! Will be signing.
Carol Weyer
November 27, 2018 at 1:01 pm
I agree 100% with Michele Little !!
Donna Anderson
November 27, 2018 at 1:27 pm
Can anyone subscribe to the feed definition book? or can only the pet industry subscribe? Once subscribed can individual definitions be put out there? I mean could I subscribe then use it to teach my nutrition classes and blog about them? Lets say a group of 120 people all put in a dollar… could they then all use the info?
Susan Thixton
November 27, 2018 at 1:47 pm
Anyone can purchase the AAFCO Official Publication. The information in the book is copyright protected, I doubt AAFCO would allow you to share.
Chris
November 27, 2018 at 8:19 pm
Susan, wouldn’t sharing within the “fair use” guidelines be allowable?
https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/fair-use-rule-copyright-material-30100.html
Susan Thixton
November 27, 2018 at 8:36 pm
I don’t know if AAFCO would accept that. Sorry.
Several years ago I had a conversation with the (then) AAFCO President asking him if AAFCO could provide just the pet food ingredient definitions to the public. He told me they could not, that AAFCO couldn’t afford to operate without the sale of the Official Publication.
Ms. B Dawson
November 27, 2018 at 9:06 pm
I still have a book published in 1998 by Howard Coffman/PigDog Press entitled: “Coffman’s Comparative Reference Guide to Dog Food” and the champion volume for cat food. I kept it in my store so customers could verify what I was telling them about the outrageous things allowed in their pet food.
One of the chapters is “Official AAFCO Definitions” broken down into the following topics: Feed Terms, Ingredients, Preservatives, Vitamins, Special Purpose Products. The section’s introduction says the following: “This section contains information previously published by AAFCO….Inc. in their document entitled AAFCO Official Publication (1997 edition). This information is provided by AAFCO and is used by permission.”
The acknowledgements include recognition for AAFCO’s cooperation as well as the Pet Food Institute.
AAFCO used to allow third party publication. The excuse that they need the money is hogwash. How many copies can they possibly sell annually? A couple hundred maybe?
Everyone who sells pet food should invest the $120 for a copy of AAFCO’s definitions and have it available to their customers. I can’t believe that would be illegal. If pet food manufacturers have copies at their business for the use of their staff, then pet stores should be able to do the same.
Why couldn’t libraries have copies. Aren’t all books copyrighted to the author?
Susan Thixton
November 27, 2018 at 9:10 pm
Actually AAFCO sells a lot of Official Publications. Per Guidestar.org they earned $413,978.00 from publication sales in 2017. That said, I agree with you that it should be shared more often. But my heart lies in that AAFCO shouldn’t own it in the first place.
Ms. B Dawson
November 29, 2018 at 10:56 am
Well, dang! With that much coming in from publications I can see where they want to protect the income.
Karin
November 27, 2018 at 4:47 pm
Signed it, and added this message:
“My animals are my life. I need to know what’s in the pet food I feed them. What you are doing is protecting the large corporations that put toxins like melamine into pet food, along with euthanized animal meat, pharmaceutical waste, and who knows what else. But when we do have access to healthy food from honest but smaller companies, it so threatens your financial contributors that state and federal agencies are called in to shut them down. A recent case was what happened to the raw cat food company RADCAT, that had had no reports of sickening any animals, but was deemed to be a threat to its larger corporate competitors. The FDA came in, an agent bought a sample from a retailer, left it on his car’s seat for hours, then tested it. After which, a demand for a recall was issued. There is much more egregious behavior on the part of the FDA here, with another recall incurred, until the company was driven out of business. See Susan Thixton’s TruthaboutPetFood.com for the story on this.
“Bottom line, I am disgusted by your behavior regarding the deletion of pet safety laws pertaining to pet food in order to protect your contributors. Your father was a good man, but he also didn’t give a crap about animals, just like you. You should be ashamed of yourself. If you don’t answer for this in this life, you will in your next one. Good luck on that!”
Kyle Robinson
November 27, 2018 at 7:43 pm
Rand Paul is a small government, libertarian-leaning Republican. It should be no surprise to anyone that he would want less government regulation and overreach when there is a market solution.
That solution? Consumers should demand transparency from the PET FOOD COMPANIES. Boycott brands that don’t publish sourcing of ingredients. Boycott brands that have a history of recalls. Boycott brands that give you the run around when you seek answers. Support the brands that safety test their foods and publish the results (like Open Farm).
Paul was elected by Kentuckians who have a similar mindset. His duty is to them and his state, not the Federal Government.
Chris
November 27, 2018 at 8:54 pm
Based on that, you could go with Purina. https://www.purina.com/nutrition/quality-pet-food which appears transparent and Susan has numerous articles of raw food companies such as Rad Cat getting hit unfairly. Boycotts based on recalls may not be too accurate of a method to use for selecting foods either. https://truthaboutpetfood.com/10-years-of-pet-food-recalls/
Really, you should be able to look at a label and feel confident your pet won’t get sick or die when buying. Wonder if Kentuckians hold human food to the same standards with market solutions?
Reader
November 28, 2018 at 2:12 am
I think boycotts are very effective. That’s an action getting free media publicity. But it’s got to be a big enough company, and hurt enough through bad publicity. The problem is … the users of such companies ….like Purina wouldn’t be questioning the AAFCO definitions in the first place. Nor understand the Food Safety Law. The smartest pet owners are making their own food, so they’re not going to be involved either. It’s a real conundrum isn’t it.
Pet Owner
November 28, 2018 at 1:50 am
Although it had to be done, the danger of calling out Sen.Rand Paul is to introduce the subject of politics into TAPF. There have long been battles attempted with each side blaming the other of misdeeds. In fact I was called out for noting a simple fact. Unfortunately Sen. Rand has long been known for rankling different factions. He is a disturber and only wishes to make a name for himself. This is hardly the way to do so (however) considering there are millions of pet owners.
Now what to do about it.
Excluding yourself, people will continue to sit at their devices, save for a few keystrokes, bemoaning in a virtual world of passivity. I mean truly, they’re going to wonder which particular PF “brand” is affected by this action, and if it is still “okay” to feed “Little Cesar.” Or they’ll buzz off an email.
Government is out of control, because people can NOT control the actions of these irresponsible, insensitive, unfeeling, greedy, self-serving faux-elected legislators. They raise money from corporations to get elected. They get elected because the truth is not known about them. Meanwhile they smile for the camera just before people walk into the voting centers.
WHEN will an issue become important ENOUGH for people to band together, to make a difference. I suggest another petition (like the 57,000+ signatures collected once before for the previous issue). And while a petition doesn’t magically correct a situation – it’s a visible a snapshot of a collection of people with the same mindset! Over time If 57,000+ signatures could be multiplied by 10 … maybe this politician (useless to animal welfare) will finally lose his seat in Congress. It could be mantra of this website.
Just maybe.
Pet Owner
November 28, 2018 at 1:20 pm
Petition signed. Thank you for creating it.
Idarose Huf
November 29, 2018 at 10:24 am
Senator Paul deliberately introduced legislation deleting pet food safety law and denying pet owners the right to know what’s in their pet food.
Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, a physician that should understand the necessity of food safety, recently submitted an addendum to Congress that resulted in the complete destruction of pet food safety promised pet owners for nine years. Senator Paul’s bill, Section 306 of H.R. 5554 – completely ignored safety laws promised pet owners after the deadliest pet food recall in history and assured a Kentucky-linked private corporation would continue to be allowed to write and profit from law making.
Senator Paul explained away the devastating addendum as conflict of interest telling constituents the 2007 pet food safety laws “has called into question FDA’s longstanding relationship with the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), a voluntary membership association that maintains a published list of animal food ingredient definitions.”
There it is. Senator Rand Paul took intentional action to protect the profits of AAFCO while ignoring the safety of pet food and ignoring the needs of millions of pet food consumers.
Anna
December 4, 2018 at 6:43 am
Will it really make a difference in the quality of pet food……..The government overlooks human food and look at all the recalls, sickend people and people who have died from contaminated food.
Pet Owner
December 4, 2018 at 5:20 pm
Who’s to say if they had completed the Pet Food Safety law, if the PFI would be intimidated. But it would’ve set a standard (an agreement) by which consumers could use to bring a case against a company for a violation. Unfortunately not much prevents PF companies from making a mistake in the first place. But they need to be accountable for those that are discovered. The next step would be to revoke their operating permit. But first, the Pet Food Safety Law needs to be in place. Which will also inform all consumers of basic expectations.
Food meant for humans is a self-regulating industry. Meaning the consequence of bad publicity is daunting. One jar of baby food killing a baby could decimate a company’s business. Back in the 60’s, the Cranberry industry nearly folded when very serious contamination caused many sicknesses. Few remember when a popular fast food chain (not McDonald’s) served tainted beef patties, which also killed a child. Took many years for both to recover. Recently Chipotle has been in the News too. With food meant for humans, it’s all about reputation.
The PFI is willing to roll the dice, and factor into their lost revenue sheet, problems and issues (which might set them back for a while) but nothing which ever really puts them out of business.
pissed off & horribly sad!
December 22, 2018 at 9:37 pm
What a hypocrite and a despicable human being. Rand Paul is always trying to gut every aspect of government while taking all the government benefits a senator can get. People keep wondering why our elected officials do things like this but it’s obviously for two reasons – The corrupting money and because we let them. Sure wish stuff like this would get people out in the streets protesting. Not sure the petition will make a difference but I signed it and got others to as well. Still thinking of all our cats that got Chronic Renal Failure because of the 2007 recall. Two are gone now, the other two are very ill. One needs to be stuck with a needle and given sub-q fluids daily. Yet, Rand Paul’s political career will flourish. Makes me so upset.
boycotts & marches!
December 22, 2018 at 9:42 pm
Yes. Historically, boycotts are very effective. That’s why congress is trying to make the BDS movement illegal, even though it’s a human rights movement.
Linda Macfarlane
January 4, 2019 at 8:35 am
Never did like Rand Paul – he’s a nut job. Seriously. Who knows why he does anything. But now I know he’s an asshole (sorry, nothing but a cuss-word quite summed it up adequately), as well as a nut job. I will sign petition and inform as many people as I possibly can. Thanks for making us aware, Susan.