Concerning Proposed Organic Pet Food Regulations

On March 11, 2024 the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) division of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) released proposed regulations for organic pet food. USDA states the standards are necessary “to resolve inconsistency and uncertainty” in the organic pet food market. The USDA admits that currently there are inconsistent interpretations of organic regulations in pet food such as “some pet food manufacturers are allowed to use slaughter by-products where others are not.”

We agree that a uniform organic pet food standard is necessary, however we do not agree with some of the recommendations from USDA AMS for pet food. Such as: the agency wants to allow organic slaughter by-products in organic pet food without a requirement of those by-products to be USDA inspected and passed (which opens the possibility of organic pet food to contain condemned animal material). Another concern is USDA AMS has intentions of allowing synthetic taurine in organic pet foods.

The following is our response to the proposed regulations:

We agree there is a need for an Organic Pet Food Standard.

AMS asks “Is the regulatory language and accompanying discussion in this document clear enough to allow producers, handlers, and certifying agents to comply with the proposed requirements?” Concerningly, AMS did not ask if the regulatory language would result in clear organic or made with organic claims for pet food consumers. As a pet food consumer stakeholder organization, we provide comments with the largest stakeholder in mind – pet food consumers. No, the regulatory language is not clear enough to allow consumers to fully understand the meaning of organic or made with organic ingredients pet foods.

One of the very first confusion issues in the rule is the definition of ‘‘pet food’’- defined by AMS as ‘‘Any commercial feed prepared and distributed for pet consumption.’’ This definition of pet food is contradictory, pet ‘food’ is defined as a ‘feed’ (“any commercial feed”). Feed is very different than food. Feed is not held to the same standards as food; manufacturing, quality of ingredients, transportation and warehousing of ingredients are held to different standards in food and in feed.

In pet products, classification of products are segregated as feed grade or human grade. Human grade standards, which are validated by AMS, meet every legal requirement of food – from ingredient quality to manufacturing standards. Feed grade on the other hand is defined as: Feed Grade: Material that has been determined to be safe, functional and suitable for its intended use in animal food, is handled and labeled appropriately, and conforms to the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act unless otherwise expressly permitted by the appropriate state or federal agency (Suitable for use in animal feed). Please note that this legal definition allows for use of ingredients that do not abide by the Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic act through enforcement discretion. Feed grade is allowed through enforcement discretion to include illegal ingredients.

Title 21, Chapter 1, Subchapter E, Part 502.5 General Principles (a) states: “The common or usual name of a food…may not be confusingly similar to the name of any other food that is not reasonably encompassed within the same name. Each class or subclass of food shall be given its own common or usual name that states, in clear terms, what it is in a way that distinguishes it from different foods.”

Significantly, feed grade pet products being labeled and defined as ‘pet food’ is confusing to consumers. Feed is a subclass of food and per federal law is required to be given its own common name, such as pet feed. We request AMS to provide clarification to consumers if the organic product and/or organic ingredients are feed grade or food grade (human grade).

Synthetic taurine.
AMS states synthetic taurine “is a necessary ingredient in some pet food”. This statement is incorrect. Taurine is a required nutrient in cat food, the legal requirement for taurine in cat food does NOT require it to be ‘synthetic’. AMS continues that unless synthetic taurine is allowed “this limits the types of pet food that can be certified as organic to single-ingredient pet food and treats”. Again, this is incorrect. As AMS states, taurine is present in raw meat. AMS states that taurine “is lost when heated” which is not an accurate statement. Taurine can be ‘lost’ with ultra-processing used by some types of pet food, however not all styles of pet foods are ultra-processed. Taurine is not ‘lost’ with minimally processed pet foods including cooked foods. Allowing synthetic taurine to be included in organic ultra-processed pet foods penalizes minimally processed pet foods in order to benefit ultra-processed pet foods.

Organic slaughter by-products.
AMS asks: “Are there obstacles to greater use of organic slaughter by-products in organic pet food?” Yes, there are obstacles. AMS does not clarify if the proposed allowance of organic slaughter by-products must be USDA inspected and passed ingredients or if condemned animal material would be allowed. Even though federal and state laws prohibit the inclusion of condemned animal material to be used in any food (human or animal food), pet food authorities practice selective enforcement with this rule in pet food. In response to Citizen Petition, Dr. Steven Solomon (former director of FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine) stated in 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.” Organic or made with organic ingredient pet foods should not include condemned by-products. The proposed regulations should include a legal definition of organic slaughter by-products, clarifying the requirement for USDA inspected and passed slaughter by-products.

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Click Here to read the full proposed rule (National Organic Program; Market Development for Mushrooms and Pet Food).

Pet food consumers can post comments on the Regulations.gov website. Click the blue ‘Comment’ button to post your comment.

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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