On 8/18/26, on behalf of US pet food consumers, we filed a complaint with the Government Accountability Office evidencing the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine’s weak consistency of enforcement of federal law in pet food. We evidenced how FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine fails US pet food consumers.
The complaint itself was six pages long, below are excerpts.
We bring this formal notice to the Government Accountability Office to evidence the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) is engaged in programmatic mismanagement, misallocating its congressional funding. The agency has a regulatory history of selectively targeting some pet food manufacturers/some
pet food ingredients and targeting enforcement activities only with some federal laws, failing to consistently enforce all federal laws across all pet food manufacturers. Public confidence in the agency (regarding the regulation of pet food) is low due to known incompetencies.
…in a six month time period, the FDA received 1,705 adverse event reports regarding Purina Pet Foods that included 206 potential pet deaths. There was no Warning Letter issued, a public alert was issued 7 months later disclosing only 8% of adverse event reports the agency received were investigated.
…the FDA performed one “Preventive Controls Surveillance“ inspection, not a “for-cause” inspection at one Purina manufacturing plant (Purina has more than 20 manufacturing plants in the US). During inspection, there were only 24 consumer complaints in total discussed with Purina, 9 of which were unrelated complaints dating back to 2007.
…in public record the agency has admitted it exercises “enforcement discretion” specifically ignoring law with some pet food ingredients. In response to Citizen Petition (FDA-2016-P-3578) the FDA stated (April 2019): “we do not believe that the use of diseased animals or animals that died otherwise than by slaughter to make animal food poses a safety concern and we intend to continue to exercise enforcement discretion.”
…the FDA CVM does not have scientific evidence these ingredients (illegal ingredients) are safe for pets to consume.
Probably the biggest issue of concern with FDA CVM’s operational failures, lack of consistent enforcement of law, and mismanagement of congressional funding is that US pet food consumers are not informed of what they are purchasing in pet food products. The FDA CVM allows (as example) condemned chicken or chicken that died other than by slaughter to be identified on the pet food label as “chicken” – the identical name (common or usual name) of USDA inspected and passed chicken. The agency even allows label marketing claims such as ‘Made with Real Chicken’ and images of human edible roasted or grilled chicken when actually the pet food product contains condemned or non-slaughtered chicken; allowing US pet food consumers to be deceived.
In essence, congressional funding allocated to FDA CVM is directly supporting a (secret to consumers) waste disposal system via pet food; a secret disposal system 100% facilitated by FDA CVM.
The FDA CVM is failing US pet food consumers, misallocating congressional funding picking and choosing which laws they enforce, when they want to enforce them, and which manufacturer they want to hold accountable. If trust in FDA CVM is ever to be achieved, the agency must provide evidence to the public that the agency is uniformly enforcing all applicable federal food safety laws in pet food.
We quoted laws FDA is ignoring. We provided real life examples of FDA CVM’s failures to protect US pets. And we also included graphic images of rendering facilities in our complaint, hoping to show the GAO exactly what FDA CVM allows into pet food with no disclosure to pet food consumers.
To read the full complaint, Click Here.
Now we need your help.
To hold the FDA CVM accountable for their lack of action, we need the complaint noticed by members of Congress, most importantly – members of Congress on the House Committee on Energy & Commerce and the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. These two committees have oversight authority of FDA.
Click Here to view the membership of House Committee on Energy & Commerce.
Click Here to view the membership of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.
Click Here to find your representatives in Congress.
Please consider sending your Representatives an email referencing the Government Accountability Office submission.
An example email for you to submit:
On August 18, 2026, Susan Thixton, TruthaboutPetFood.com/Association for Truth in Pet Food submitted allegations of programmatic mismanagement of the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine to the Government Accountability Office.
The allegations submitted include:
- Evidence the FDA CVM is allowing US pet food consumers to be deceived.
- Evidence the FDA CVM is using “enforcement discretion” to allow illegal waste ingredients to be disposed of into pet foods with no label disclosure.
- Evidence the FDA CVM is enforcing some laws on some pet food manufacturers while ignoring the same laws with other pet food manufacturers.
- Evidence the FDA CVM has ignored a Congressional requirement to update ingredient and labeling standards on pet foods for 17 years (21 USC 2102: Ensuring the safety of pet food (a)(2)).
Currently, federal funding of FDA CVM is facilitating a secret waste disposal system through pet food that most US pet owners, veterinarians, and even members of Congress are unaware is happening. Please read the allegations submitted to GAO. I challenge you to view the rendering industry images provided in the report.
On behalf of myself and millions of other US pet food consumers, I ask you to request a GAO report on the allegations submitted. Please request a GAO investigation into the allegations submitted.
Pet foods sold in the US should abide by federal laws and should be truthfully labeled. Currently, due to FDA CVM’s inefficient oversight, they are not. Please inform me when/if you request further information on this issue regarding the GAO report. I would like confirmation my voice is being heard.
Feel free to add in your email your own personal frustrations with FDA CVM’s lack of enforcement of law.
Personal Note (of encouragement): In our battle against FDA CVM, we are right. No pet food should contain undisclosed diseased animal material or decomposing animal material. No consumer should be deceived by misleading marketing on pet food labels. We are right with our frustration with FDA CVM ignoring federal laws. However our right will only be acknowledged if we let our members of Congress know about FDA’s wrongs.
Right now, members of Congress want our vote this November. This just might be the perfect time to make them earn our vote.
Pet owners deserve better from FDA CVM. To get proper regulation of pet food, we all need to let Congress know what the agency is doing (and not doing).
Please take five minutes – send your email.
Susan Thixton
Pet Food Consumer Advocate
TruthaboutPetFood.com
Association for Truth in Pet Food
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The 2026 List
Our trusted ‘list’ of pet foods. Click Here to learn more.
The 2026/27 Treat List
Susan’s List of trusted pet treat manufacturers. Click Here to learn more.
Association for Truth in Pet Food is a stakeholder organization representing 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.
