Thanks to the support of so many of you, in about a month I’ll be heading to the January Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) meeting. Last year was my first AAFCO meeting (again – thanks to pet owner support for getting me there!). This year, I hope to step things up a bit and have requested a couple of video interviews in advance, plus I’ve asked permission to video little snippets of the meeting so that all of you can meet key decision makers of pet food and see how these meetings work. So, if you could sit face to face with a pet food regulatory decision maker, what would you ask them?
I feel pet owners deserve to know who the decision makers of pet food regulations are, have the opportunity to ‘meet’ them (even if it is just in a video), and have their questions answered. I’m going to do my best to make that happen (now remember – I’m no Steven Spielberg – this will be sort of home video of the meeting).
I’ve requested an interview with incoming AAFCO President Robert Waltz. I met him last year, and he seemed to be a very caring, educated individual – one that will care about his new position. Robert Waltz is a lab guy – not the dog, chemistry. Besides his new AAFCO title, he holds the position of State Chemist of Indiana.
My plans are to ask Robert Waltz what his plans are for pet food this upcoming year. As a chemist, I’d like to ask him about the recent aflatoxin pet food recalls. And I plan to ask him about the various pet food ingredients that allowed rendered waste into pet foods.
I’ve also requested an interview with FDA representative Dr. Dan McChesney. Again, I firmly believe pet owners should have the opportunity to see and meet a significant decision maker of pet food such as Dr. McChesney. If he agrees, I will certainly ask him about FDA Compliance Policies that allow pet food to violate federal law. I will also ask Dr. McChesney about the recent aflatoxin recalls, and silent recalls or product pulls.
I’m going to the AAFCO meeting representing us – pet owners. So – what questions do you have for incoming AAFCO President Robert Waltz and FDA’s Dr. Dan McChesney? What would you like to learn about at an AAFCO meeting? Please post your questions or comments below. I probably won’t be able to ask all of your questions, but I’ll try to get answers to as many as I can. And of course, I’ll post all the information/interviews/videos of the AAFCO meeting as soon as I return home.
Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,
Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author, Buyer Beware
Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
TruthaboutPetFood.com
PetsumerReport.com
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