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Pet Food Regulations

Day 1 AAFCO Meeting January 2015

AAFCO meetings are not fun – always a chore – and always surprising to me. Greed is always in the air at these meetings – and this one excels in greed.

AAFCO meetings are not fun – always a chore – and always surprising to me. Greed is always in the air at these meetings – and this one excels in greed.

The opening session of AAFCO meetings is my favorite part. Introductions of AAFCO members – and then everyone in attendance stands, states their name and their company affiliation. I take great pride each meeting to stand, state my name – then proudly say ‘Association for Truth in Pet Food’. To let everyone know that consumers are here and watching them – this is the best part.

Much of day one was just business as usual – finalizing bits and pieces of regulation that may or may not be accepted as law in any state. Things that have been worked on for years perhaps – finally making it into the ‘books’.

The Ingredient Definitions committee meeting was in the afternoon. An FDA representative present (who is typically at all AAFCO meetings) made a very serious point to the crowd (mostly industry); ingredients that manufacturers currently use need to be #1 safe to feed the species intended; and #2 must go through the proper channels of approval first – either through the AAFCO process or the FDA process. This was not well received by most of the crowd.

One of the ingredients discussed was a biodiesel fuel leftover of mustard meal. Industry representatives argued that this was the very same ingredient that was already approved. FDA argued back – that a mustard plant grown specifically for a condiment (mustard) was a completely different plant than mustard plant grown specifically for biodiesel fuel. The biodiesel plant could harm animals. Industry didn’t care – they just wanted a quick approval for their leftover biodiesel fuel mustard meal. FDA didn’t budge (I was thrilled). FDA told the crowd that the biodiesel industry needs to be certain that ingredients they are selling to animal feed industry are safe – that some of these products (leftovers from the production of biodiesel fuel) can leave residues in animal tissues (potential to harm humans consuming the meat or of course pets). The crowd groaned.

Later in the meeting was a discussion concerning what is called the “MOU” or Memorandum of Understanding. This is an agreement – legal agreement – between AAFCO and FDA that provides AAFCO with the ability to define pet food/animal feed ingredients. The MOU is about to expire and a new agreement needs to be arranged between AAFCO and FDA. And in this discussion, I witnessed more greed than I’ve ever seen at AAFCO meetings before.

AAFCO had asked several representatives of industry to assist in writing the new MOU agreement to present to FDA. In their continuous battle to make more money more quickly, the new MOU was proposed to contain verbiage to give FDA a deadline to approve new ingredient definitions. Industry wanted approval within 180 days. Several AAFCO members spoke out that perhaps putting time constraints on FDA was not a good thing.  Questions were asked of FDA as to why ingredients couldn’t get approved within this time frame. FDA responded that they don’t have the funding…manpower to thoroughly investigate the safety of each ingredient within this time constraint. Now brace yourself…it was actually asked if industry could provide FDA with ‘help’ – to boost those resources (in other words money) to make these approvals happen faster. Someone said – “it should be if they don’t approve an ingredient within 180 days it is automatically approved”. The entire room applauded.

I sat there thinking…you big bunch of greedy babies. They were all complaining they couldn’t get approval for their waste ingredient garbage fast enough to make more money. They complained having to go through proper channels – they just wanted to quickly sell their trash to animal foods. Get in – make money – get out.

I wished for them to walk in a pet food consumer’s shoes for a few days. Wait for action to be taken on their behalf?  They don’t have a clue what it is to wait. Walk in our shoes for a few days, weeks, months.

It was – to date – the most open display of greed I have witnessed at these meetings before. I was very proud of FDA for standing their ground – it couldn’t have been easy to do this. One FDA representative against a crowd of greedy individuals – whose only concern was money. I wanted to speak out – but to be honest with everyone, I was afraid of doing so. After the last meeting when I was verbally attacked and three others were verbally attacked after speaking out against an ingredient that was approved – I was honestly afraid people would start throwing things at me. I had a private meeting with the AAFCO president just after this open meeting – and I decided it was safer for me to speak my ‘greed’ concerns with him directly than in this open meeting.

I did share my ‘greed’ concerns with the AAFCO president and chair of the pet food committee – and addressed with them the concern that AAFCO seems to – at times – be right along side of greedy industry. Almost working to help them obtain their approvals. I also provided them with 17 pages of comments from consumers – and much to my surprise they were very interested in your comments. They asked for a digital copy of these comments – and they will be posted on the back side (member side) of the AAFCO website for every member (State Department of Agriculture folks) to read (I will provide them with this when I return home). That is good. They don’t have to agree with everything we say – but it is good for them to hear us.

Tomorrow is the pet food committee meeting. Then – thank goodness – I get to go home. I will provide everyone a report on this meeting and more information from this meeting once I return home. I thank all of you for your support to get me here – without all of you, this wouldn’t happen.

 

Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,

Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author Buyer Beware, Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
TruthaboutPetFood.com
Association for Truth in Pet Food

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The 2015 List
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36 Comments

36 Comments

  1. Dianne

    January 14, 2015 at 10:12 pm

    It must be so disheartening to see this stuff first hand. Thank you for taking this on.

    • Susan Thixton

      January 14, 2015 at 10:15 pm

      I assure you – these meetings are not easy. But…we have to be here. I won’t let them run us off.

  2. Greg

    January 14, 2015 at 10:45 pm

    When the FDA representative asked about the possibility of industry providing financial support for expedited approvals, what may have been meant is instituting a system of user fees for AAFCO industry applicants, similar to what is now standard practice in the pharmaceutical industry. If managed correctly, this is an administrative fee, not a bribe: http://www.fda.gov/ForIndustry/UserFees/PrescriptionDrugUserFee/ucm144411.htm
    It would be interesting to know if this is what the FDA rep was trying to say.

    • Susan Thixton

      January 14, 2015 at 10:54 pm

      It wasn’t FDA asking for financial support – it was an offer of financial support from AAFCO and industry to FDA (again, to obtain faster approvals for ingredients). The FDA said no.

      • Greg

        January 14, 2015 at 11:19 pm

        My bad, I misinterpreted that sentence. That’s a problem with pronouns.

  3. Suzanne

    January 14, 2015 at 10:45 pm

    Thank you, Susan, for attending & reporting. Your work is valuable, and it means a lot to me the consumer, trying to keep many animals healthy and safe.

  4. Connie

    January 14, 2015 at 10:51 pm

    I know it is wrong of me but I wish they had thrown things at you so it would make the news and you could talk about this on a bigger stage

    • Dianne

      January 14, 2015 at 11:32 pm

      Sadly, I am pretty sure that it would not make the news.

    • Gabrielle

      January 15, 2015 at 4:46 pm

      What WOULD have made news was if Sue threw something back. The media would have had a field day tearing that “animal rights fanatic” to shreds.

      Anyway, thank you, Sue. You’re a tough cookie.

      • Christine

        January 17, 2015 at 2:14 pm

        he’s right. Thanks so much Susan, for always being professional in the face of all of that. It would be so much easier for them to criticize you if you were emotional/inflammatory, etc. We’re lucky to have you there.

  5. Hope Williams

    January 14, 2015 at 10:55 pm

    Bravo to you Susan for stomaching the greed of our industry. Your work and your heart is greatly appreciated!

  6. BeanieJ

    January 14, 2015 at 11:48 pm

    Thank you for all that you are doing for us & furry besties! I wish everyone knew the reality of what’s going on out there. Thank you for spreading the message & fighting the fight!

  7. Shotzi21

    January 15, 2015 at 12:05 am

    Thank you for your hard work and diligence. My furry pals and I, commend you.

  8. Angela

    January 15, 2015 at 12:56 am

    Susan, thank you for doing this work. I am inspired by your spirit and determination and will remember it when I am overwhelmed by rescue work. Angela

  9. Alicia

    January 15, 2015 at 7:26 am

    Thank you Susan for speaking out and sitting in these meetings for the animals who are our family!

  10. Erica

    January 15, 2015 at 7:38 am

    Susan, it sounds like we are making some progress. Even if it seems small. The cracks in the PFI are becoming bigger and more transparent with every fight. Thank you for pioneering this war in the Truth about Pet Food with the AAFCO, FDA, PFI and every entity in between. Since following your News letter , hmmm must be at least two years now, maybe Three I have learned so incredibly much from you I don’t even know where to begin.

    Take a deep breath, feel the pride and sense of accomplishment of how much you have accomplished thus far since the test results have been released. Embrace the peaceful feeling of Knowing this is among one of the many more good things to come for us pet food consumers and our pets, and finally but not least have a BIG glass of wine to celebrate !

    Erica~

  11. Cheryl

    January 15, 2015 at 7:45 am

    Thank you Susan for all your hard work! Your dedication to improving pet food, and educating consumers IS making a difference. You are proof that one person can make a difference.

  12. linda

    January 15, 2015 at 7:59 am

    Thank-you.

  13. Tracey

    January 15, 2015 at 8:31 am

    Don’t feel bad about not speaking up in these meetings! They aren’t going to “hear” what you are trying to say and giving the bullies in the group the opportunity to attack you just provides proof to others who might agree with you that they face the same consequences if they speak up. Talking one on one with the top dogs is much more efficient and productive.

    Thank you Susan for all you have done and continue to do!

  14. Debi Cohen

    January 15, 2015 at 8:58 am

    This whole industry is just so appallingly sad, how will/can we ever stop greed?

  15. Sandy Holt

    January 15, 2015 at 9:11 am

    Thank you for all of your time & diligence on this.

  16. Peg

    January 15, 2015 at 9:27 am

    Thank you so very much Susan for representing all of us and our pets.
    I find it minblowing that pet food and biofuel leftovers are being discussed in the same meeting.

    Why is it that all govt and corporate entities think that “we the People” are just a bunch of stupid, do nothing, know nothings?

  17. Jane

    January 15, 2015 at 9:36 am

    Susan, thanks for all you do on behalf of our pets. I didn’t get a chance to send any questions earlier because I just saw that email. Is it possible for you to ask a question about the whole dehydrating/freeze drying thing a lot of companies are doing? I have tons of questions, but am wondering if safe handling practices should be posted on packages of this stuff when they claim it’s “raw” — haven’t seen anything like that. And, I’m wondering how something dehydrated can be considered to be raw when it has been cooked during the process. I’ve tried to reconstitute dehydrated chicken and it doesn’t work. Is AAFCO and/or FDA looking at these two processes, and will there be new regulations coming out on them?

    Anyway, thanks for all you do and for representing all of us there.

  18. foodguy

    January 15, 2015 at 11:14 am

    Where do you see your role at these meetings progressing towards Susan? I would hate for this to be another example of an insider industry placating an industry outsider. We have seen that time and time again. What can you do to better influence the decision making process towards achieving real change? (your opinion)

  19. TNReedy

    January 15, 2015 at 11:29 am

    Thanks Susan.Not many of us would trade places with you in these ‘lion den’ meetings. We do support you, however, in our respective ways. Stay strong!

  20. Karyn

    January 15, 2015 at 11:49 am

    Susan,

    You are amazing! Way to go! Thanks for supporting our pets!

    Karyn

  21. cherie

    January 15, 2015 at 2:11 pm

    Thank you soooooo much Susan for what you are doing for our beloved animals.

  22. pam

    January 15, 2015 at 2:13 pm

    Thank you for everything you do!

  23. Ellie

    January 15, 2015 at 2:58 pm

    Hard to understand how they can make a simple thing like food so complex. If they just decided to feed real, natural food instead of chemical additives and multiple processing methods. It all comes down to the fact that the pet food industry wants to get rich using waste products that no human would knowingly ingest.

  24. Marsha

    January 15, 2015 at 3:46 pm

    Thank you for sitting there and listening for us. Greed may be spelled as a 5 letter word, but as far as I am
    concerned it is a 4 letter word. They have no idea how much money they could make if the big companies produced a really good human grade dog and cat food.

  25. Sandra

    January 15, 2015 at 4:19 pm

    Thank you, Susan, for attending these meetings and representing consumers in that hostile group. I’m happy, too, that the FDA stood up against yet another garbage – literally- ingredient to pet food. It’s clear that for some in the “industry,” making use of other industries’ garbage is their top priority. I’m all for recycling but not when it’s killing and harming my animals. A secondary concern is expense. I spend hundreds of dollars a month to feed six animals and I’d like to someday be able to know that what I’m buying is healthy, high-quality food/feed. I am curious about the comments that you gave to the FDA. I’m vain enough to hope one of mine was included, although I don’t comment enough for that to be likely. If possible, however, I’d still like to see what others said and what the FDA is now, hopefully, reading. Thanks again for your wonderful work.

  26. Pingback: Day 1 AAFCO Meeting January 2015 | dogosearch.com

  27. Jeanette Owen

    January 15, 2015 at 10:16 pm

    thank you…

  28. Michael Jones

    January 16, 2015 at 12:08 am

    Greed and profit are the ultimate goals, but the actual tactic is “starve the beast”. The important point was made by the FDA in pointing out they did not have the necessary funding to reply in 180 days thus bringing the proposed help by AAFCO. The tactic here is try and manipulate the FDA for approval by providing funding and if the approval dates are missed the industry can complain to their congressman pointing out they are providing help, but the agency still can’t respond in the agreed upon time. Eventually some congressman will slip in an amendment to the funding for FDA exempting the industry from the time limit if not killing the requirement altogether. Just ask the Post Office. I can imagine how hard it is listen to this garbage unfold and applaud your continuing efforts.

  29. Laura U

    January 16, 2015 at 11:41 am

    I sent my input on the FDA food safety for animals site and hope it adds to a growing number of other concerned comments. Perhaps I should have also sent some here; I just didn’t think of doing so. If you wish, I could send an e-mail to you outlining the points I addressed.

    Thanks to the FDA for standing its ground re: safety for pets. We CANNOT rely on many pet food manufacturers to care. Money is always more important so there need to be controls. There are a few manufacturers with good practices and those using healthy ingredients but it isn’t the norm.

    Now there are companies (pet food industry) saying they are trying to make “sustainable” foods. Sorry. By products (like organs) from a healthy, grass fed, animal not contaminated by chemicals is one thing….the 4D and other “waste” garbage by products are another. I do hope no one is “buying” the sustainable argument because intentions are not to save earth and all of us. They are to make more money by using garbage in pet foods.

    Thank you. Susan, so much for being on the front lines AND for continuing to make this information more public and available. My health doesn’t really allow me to do so much these days and I deeply appreciate those of you who are there to make a stand on such an important issue to pet owners. Very little is more important than a healthy diet. I have been involved in similar situations and I know how complex, heated and shocking it can be. (One of my “missions” in our city was to allow Rabies vaccines to be given every three years instead of every year. Should have been simple given the science behind it….it was not of course.) People have to ban together in a unified group to demand accountability, transparency and safety in our pet foods. Nothing else will work. Without consumers the companies won’t make money. So…if foods are not wholesome, people need to “vote with their feet”….walk away.

    Thanks again
    Laura Uran

  30. Jane Eagle

    January 17, 2015 at 5:25 pm

    Susan this awful, tedious work you are doing has already saved thousands of pets.
    Sometimes we forget what a life-and death issue this is; then a friend sends me a link to a site about animals dying from foods not even recalled.

    Your work is saving more pets than any rescue I know of.

    I cannot thank you enough.

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