…make sure you ask the manufacturer the country of origin of the ingredients. This alert is applicable to pet food manufactured anywhere in the world.
African Swine Fever is devastating the hog/pig industry in China. From a July 2019 article on Reuters: “Experts estimate the disease will wipe out about a third of China’s pork production this year, or 18 million tonnes.” Where will 18 million tons of of dead animals be disposed of? Probably in pet food ingredients. We can safety assume this based on the repeated statements and presentations provided at AAFCO last month.
At the August 2019 AAFCO meeting, FDA repeatedly addressed the concern of African Swine Fever being spread in the U.S. by pet food. Below is a slide from one presentation:
Though it was never discussed publicly at AAFCO, this slide tells us that regulatory authorities are already aware that China is shipping pork pet food ingredients into the U.S. The slide also tells us that regulatory authorities are very concerned that China will be or already is exporting African Swine Fever contaminated pet food ingredients.
FDA stated during the AAFCO meeting that the African Swine Fever disease cannot be spread to cats or dogs. However, they also stated little is known about the disease. Regardless to whether cats and dogs can or cannot be sickened with African Swine Fever, your pet should NOT be eating a pet food with ingredients sourced from African Swine Fever diseased animals (or any other diseased animal).
If your pet’s food (or treat) contains a pork ingredient such as Pork or Pork Meal – or contains a generic meat or fat ingredient such as Animal Fat or Meat Meal or Meat and Bone Meal – – call or email your pet food manufacturer and ask for the country of origin of these ingredients. Make sure the pet food company provides you a response in writing or record the phone call for your records.
And know that the U.S. is not the only country these potentially contaminated pork pet food ingredients could be shipped to. Pet foods manufacturers all over the world could be receiving contaminated ingredients from China without pet owner knowledge. Ask your pet food for country of origin information no matter where it is manufactured.
At this point in time, based on information known by us – the African Swine Fever disease risk is limited only to pork originating in China. There is no known concern regarding pork pet food ingredients sourced outside of China.
Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,
Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author Buyer Beware, Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
TruthaboutPetFood.com
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Elena
September 23, 2019 at 2:34 pm
President Trump is also proposing deregulating the pork industry (no USDA inspection). I have never been a big pork eater and have always avoided foods for my dogs with pork. Thank you for all your diligent work in bringing these issues to or attention. I read your posts religiously.
T Allen
September 23, 2019 at 2:55 pm
“Pigs may be at risk if fed salvage or off quality pet food”. Like there is any other kind? They certainly aren’t feeding the top quality “human grade” pet foods! Thank for the warning we can share, Susan!
ahollistA
September 23, 2019 at 4:24 pm
Yes (to the second part). “FDA stated during the AAFCO meeting that the African Swine Fever disease cannot be spread to cats or dogs. However, they also stated little is known about the disease.”
*Hate* this (US- esp USG-style hubris / bs / jumping the gun and making statements like this that they can’t possibly know are true based on any decent evidence or timeframe or anything at all). And the way entry into petfood is “revealed” (or not), as per the slide ‘style.’ Where reader has to play Clue to decipher even public health-related information due to the lack of any straightforward communication (on anything).
Lida Pittenger
September 23, 2019 at 5:44 pm
I contacted Primal and they replied that their pork is from USA. I am nervous now
Judy
September 24, 2019 at 2:01 am
My husband and I don’t eat pork and try not to give it to our dog. The good book has it right. Never touch swines flesh.
Linda Copain
September 24, 2019 at 7:17 pm
Very sad i dont give my dog no pork and nothing from China
Sharon
September 25, 2019 at 10:15 pm
I am in Canada and feed my dogs Hill’s Science Diet Adult Light. An ingredient of concern to me was listed as ‘pork fat’. This ingredient was included approximately eight months ago. I immediately emailed Hill’s Canada providing them with a link to this website. Below is a copy of their response. Note that China is not in their list of countries.
We source raw materials only from countries where there are reliable safety procedures in place, primarily in the United States, Japan, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and several European countries. We hope this information is helpful!As a global leader in pet nutrition, our goal is to provide well balanced nutrition to help pets thrive.
We maintain the highest standards of quality control for our manufacturing facilities, our ingredients, and our finished products. We source meat and poultry ingredients from USDA inspected plants. As part of a vigorous vendor certification program, vendors must check raw ingredients before shipment to our manufacturing facilities.
Frequent inspections of our suppliers, analytical testing of incoming ingredients, and testing of our finished products all confirm our commitment to quality. Also, Hill’s® demands compliance with current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP) and Hill’s high quality standards, so your pet’s food is produced under clean and sanitary conditions.
The pet food industry is highly regulated in the U.S. by the USDA, FDA and state departments of agriculture Additionally, Hill’s® is a member of the Pet Food Institute, a trade industry organization that works to maintain high quality standards in pet food manufacturing.
If you have any further questions or comments, please feel free to call our Consumer Affairs Department toll free at 1-800-445-5777, 8:00 AM-5:00 PM, Monday-Friday, or visit our website at HillsPet.com.
Sincerely,
Consumer Affairs
Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Inc.
Regardless of the reply I received, I still have concerns.
Susan Thixton
September 26, 2019 at 7:47 am
Hi Sharon – please be aware that Hill’s did not give you a complete list of country of origin of ingredients. They stated “primarily”. I would suggest emailing them again to ask for a complete list of country of origin – for each ingredient.
Sharon
September 26, 2019 at 8:33 am
Thanks Susan!
CK
September 30, 2019 at 10:25 am
I contacted Hill’s because the c/d wet cat food I feed one of my cats contains pork. I asked specifically where the pork was from. Here is what they said:
“Thank you for visiting HillsPet.com and contacting us.
We use pork from the United States. All of our meats are sourced from USDA inspected plants that only process foods for human consumption. There are no nitrates in our pork.
We appreciate that you took the time to contact us. If you have any further questions or comments, please feel free to call our Consumer Affairs Department toll free at 1-800-445-5777 or visit our website at HillsPet.com.”