Pet Food Ingredient Secrets Spills on New York Highway

WARNING: Graphic Images

On Wednesday August 10, 2022 a truck spilled it’s contents on the road in Queensbury, NY; the spill: rotting, decomposing future pet food ingredients.

The contents of the spill is something pet food regulatory authorities and the pet food industry (pet feed industry) doesn’t like to talk about – the nasty decomposing animal carcasses/carcass parts disposed of in pet food. In fact, regulatory and industry has thus far successfully kept the details of what actually goes into many pet foods/feeds a secret. But…spills like this, pictures like this – are evidence to the quality of ingredients allowed in feed grade pet foods.

The FDA doesn’t believe pet owners deserve to know if their pet food ingredients are sourced from this…

Photo taken from video filmed by a bystander and posted on Facebook.

From a Times Union post (statement from a witness): “It was terrible. It was disgusting. By the time we got there, they bagged up the heads, but why are they letting us drive through that. That’s a biological hazard. … Why is that not a shut down. The blood was across all three lanes.”

It’s unlikely any witness at the scene knew why a truck would be transporting animal carcass parts – it’s unlikely anyone knew these were future pet food ingredients. This waste disposal method (rendering) is a fairly well kept secret.

This was a rendering truck spill. Unused animal parts from slaughter facilities, condemned animals/animal parts, dead animals from factory farms and more are collected by rendering facilities and processed into animal feed (including pet food) ingredients. Rendering is a necessary evil – billions of pounds of animal parts and animal carcasses have to be disposed of each year.

But the question is should it be disposed of in pet food with no warning or disclosure to pet owners?

And this isn’t the only time this has happened.

Gaston NC in 2016

Kansas City 2019

Washington State 2012

Tuscaloosa AL, April 2022

Tuscaloosa AL, July 2022

And these spill incidents don’t only happen in the US…

Montreal Canada October 2018

Australia January 2022

England January 2020

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Notice that all of these trucks are un-refrigerated. In some cases not even a tarp covered the load. The animal parts are rotting/decomposing by the second – especially in summertime temperatures. Are the trailers hauling these ingredients a public health risk? What if animal parts are diseased? Could disease be spread by just being near a trailer?

It is a violation of the Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act for ingredients like these to be used in ANY food – human food or animal food. The FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine ignores those laws (they call it “enforcement discretion“). And even though federal law prohibits decomposition of ingredients (Food Safety Modernization Act – considered an adulterant) – the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine ignores those laws too (more enforcement discretion). All of it is welcome to be included in pet food.

But the worst part is FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine blatantly refuses to require pet food manufacturers to disclose the use of rotting animal waste ingredients. No pet owner is warned or alerted if their pet’s food contains rotting animal carcasses or rotting carcass parts.

Feel free to email the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine: AskCVM@fda.hhs.gov.

Human grade pet foods (labeled with the words “Human Grade”) are required to use only USDA inspected and passed meats, all ingredients are required to be transported under refrigeration (the same as human food), and are required to be manufactured in a licensed human food facility (abiding by the same regulations as human food).

The above pictured ingredients are feed grade.

To read more about the differences between human grade and feed grade pet foods, Click Here.

Thanks to Dr. Laurie Coger for sharing the NY story with us!

Wishing you and your pet the best –

Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
TruthaboutPetFood.com
Association for Truth in Pet Food

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