Not much news to report to everyone from day one at the summer 2013 AAFCO meetings. Here’s what happened…
It was nice not having to travel to this AAFCO meeting – it is being held near home, in St. Petersburg, FL. The meetings are being held at the Tradewinds Resort on St. Pete Beach. The very first AAFCO meeting I attended was at this same location (a few years ago), so I was somewhat familiar with where to go.
The opening session always proves interesting with roll call. It starts with each state being announced and any Department of Agriculture representative from that state is to stand, state their name and department. It sounded like more states were represented this year than in years past (though not confirmed). Canada had three representatives of their food safety system in attendance, no other country was represented.
And then there begins the long…very long list of industry and lobby organizations in attendance. The companies that had most in attendance were Mars Petcare (including representatives from Nutro) and Purina. I was the only consumer representative (though Dr. Hofve will be joining the meetings today – Tuesday).
A representative from Purina and Hill’s Science Diet gave a brief presentation requesting the registration process for pet food manufacturers be made more uniform between the states. Each pet food manufacturer must register their company or their products in each state they sell in. Some states require each product to be registered individually, some state charge fees per each pet food product, some states charge fees for estimated ton(s) of product sold in their state, and other states charge no fees at all. Each state requires different information with registration. It was left that a ‘working group’ would be formed to determine if a more universal registration process could be developed.
One suggestion I have for this working group (which will be submitted after the meeting) is with all registrations – each manufacturer provide a complete list of ingredient suppliers along with contact information for each supplier. Should a particular ingredient be the source of a contaminated pet food – prompt action can only take place if information is documented nationwide which pet foods source ingredients from that same supplier.
And we finally have a deadline for calorie statements on all pet food labels. The ‘model bill’ for calorie statements will be listed in the 2014 AAFCO Official Publication. At that point, individual states will begin implementing the model bill into law – and then we will begin to see all pet food labels with calorie statements.
More news soon. The Tuesday meetings are the significant ones for pet food.
Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,
Susan Thixton
TruthaboutPetFood.com
Association for Truth in Pet Food
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author Buyer Beware, Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
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Bazia
August 13, 2013 at 9:51 am
Thank you for what you do!
Rick Woodford
August 13, 2013 at 10:23 am
Susan – thank you for being in attendance and representing consumers! I feel better knowing you are there.
Linda
August 13, 2013 at 11:39 am
Pet food should be registered like alcoholic beverages: The formula must be pre-approved and the container and/or label must be pre-approved before 1 bottle is filled . The finished product can only be shipped to licensed distributors, but each product label must be registered and approved in each state before it can be shipped to a distributor. Oh, and, guess what? Each state has their own requirements! Ah-hahahaha!
Would BPF (Big Pet Food) like a little cheese with their whine?
Susan, thank you for representing us! Please thank Dr. Hofve, too.
Danee DeVore
August 13, 2013 at 5:03 pm
I wish that when ingredients are listed, the order would reflect the percentage of the ingredient, and all ingredients would be required to be weighed in the same form. It is my understanding that currently they are listed according to highest to lowest, but the determination is based on weight, and there is no standard for whether they are measured wet or dry. Therefore, meat is usually measured wet, while grains are measured dry. So, even though meat may be listed as the first ingredient, there may actually be more grain than meat in the food. I would also like to see something that indicates the percentage of protein and fat that actually comes from animal sources. I raise ferrets, which are obligate carnivores. Protein from grains provides less benefit for them, and can actually cause some health problems. But, some grains are high in protein. So, if 40% of the protein in the food is coming from grain sources, then the animal is not getting the protein it needs.
Suzanne van Dyk
August 13, 2013 at 5:47 pm
Thank you for doing all this work!
Vicki Graf
August 13, 2013 at 6:23 pm
Thank you for all you do Susan!! I have learned so much from you!!!
Now I am trying to educate the public!!
cheralyn george
August 14, 2013 at 12:18 am
Susan I just want to Congratulate you on this new role you have worked so damn hard for – for the benefit of Pet Food worldwide Bless you
Cheralyn George New Zealand
Bonnie Esterow
August 14, 2013 at 3:12 am
Thanks so much for all that you do… hopefully one day there will be complete disclosure of whats actually in pet & maybe even for human grade ingredients !!!
btw have you ever heard of Petbrosia
http://petbrosia.com/
They make “custom blended pet food” for dogs & cats taking into consideration age, breed, activity level etc.
Also “Petbrosia uses only the highest quality, all-natural ingredients, grown and raised by farmers across America”
What do you think of this?
Thanks again!!
Bonnie Wagner-Westbrook
August 14, 2013 at 6:45 am
Thank you, Susan, for your caring and complete coverage of these meetings! I know how hard it must be to keep your composure in the face of continuing mediocracy and corporate BS. I know, however, that you will prevail and we all appreciate your efforts to help us make good decisions about what we feed our fur kids. I share all of your proceedings with anyone interested in hearing. Looking forward to what comes next!
Flick, Dot and Buzz
August 14, 2013 at 5:10 pm
Thank you for keeping us informed of the proceeding, and for all your hard work!