Very shocking statement from FDA at the 2019 AAFCO meeting.
The 2019 AAFCO meeting began with a slap in the face to millions of pet owners. Dr. Steven Solomon, FDA director of Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) was the Keynote Speaker of the opening session. After bragging to the mostly industry crowd that FDA “wants to do everything we can to assure the safety of the food supply” and after bragging FDA welcomes industry stakeholders “opportunity to have a voice in the discussion” with no mention of pet owners having any opportunity to have a voice – the FDA drops a bomb.
Dr. Steven Solomon told the audience at AAFCO that FDA considers the Chinese Jerky Treat investigation “resolved“. Over, done, no more investigation. Thousands of pets died, FDA couldn’t find the cause – so they are just going to stop looking and call it “resolved“. But the thing is, its NOT resolved. Dr. Solomon admitted the agency is still receiving a few complaints of sick or dead pets linked to the treats. The serious problem DOES continue. But those pet simply don’t matter to FDA. Because they determined it’s “resolved“.
It was shocking – Dr. Solomon’s demeanor was as uncaring as it gets, very ‘matter of fact’ delivering this terrible news. And then…he would not accept questions from the audience. He gets to drop a bomb like this and walk away without allowing anyone to question the madness of the FDA decision.
My sincere apologies to the many pet owners whose dog suffered or died because of those treats, this uncaring behavior by FDA must hurt a bit more for you.
FDA also dropped another bomb on the audience discussing in the extra meeting held on Sunday for the implementation of Food Safety Modernization Act laws (more on this later) sharing that pet food could spread African Swine Fever that is killing millions of hogs/pigs in China right now. They gave no explanation to what their concern is other than stating that the pet food industry needs to be extra careful (such as in providing waste pet food to pig farmers). FDA stated the disease cannot be spread to dogs or cats but followed with the statement little is known about the disease at the present time. Not comforting at all. This illness was discussed again by Dr. Solomon during today’s session, but again – FDA was very quiet to any details. If more is learned, it will be shared.
Drama at AAFCO
During the second session this morning, an industry representative complained that an alfalfa ingredient was not accurately describing the products in the marketplace. He was respectful to the Committee and simply wanted to voice his opposing position, something AAFCO used to allow in the past. But today, the AAFCO representatives were not interested in hearing his opinion and only allowed this individual 1 minute to speak. He kept being interrupted by the AAFCO representative timing him announcing “30 seconds”, “15 seconds”. After his 1 minute was up, the President of AAFCO Robert Geiger threatened to call hotel security to have this individual removed from the meeting. Besides when Dr. Cathy Alinovi was loudly boo-ed at the Denver 2015 meeting, this was the rudest moment I’ve witnessed of AAFCO representatives during a meeting. It was truly disrespectful, but speaks volumes of the law writing process of AAFCO. It’s their way or the highway.
Pet Owners at AAFCO
Two wonderful pet owners paid their $500 admission and are here attending the meeting. In the opening session each individual in attendance is asked to stand and state their name and their business affiliation. One brave pet owner stood and told the audience that she is one of a growing number of pet owners that are sick and tired of law not being enforced and pets dying. Something all regulatory authorities need to hear more often.
FDA at AAFCO
Your tax dollars paid for 45 different FDA representatives to travel and attend this meeting. Why FDA sends so many representatives here – when they constantly complain they are underfunded – is unknown.
Tomorrow (Tuesday, 8/5/19) is the biggest day of meetings – Ingredient Definitions Committee and Pet Food Committee meetings. Will report on those to everyone as soon as possible.
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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Randall Christman
August 5, 2019 at 4:13 pm
Smells of corruption in the FDA.
barbara
August 5, 2019 at 4:15 pm
This is absolutely disgusting. I appreciate everything you and others do, but why can’t our government obey their own rules??!! They are just like politicians…in pet food manufacture’s pockets!
Lloyd Ericson
August 5, 2019 at 4:19 pm
“ Issue resolved”. And they expect us to believe anything they put out about DCM??
readerguest9
August 5, 2019 at 4:27 pm
Thanks for the update. We just don’t feed the chinese treats at all. We feed NO kibble, NO pasteurized canned food as pasteurization kills all the nutrients. We feed NO HPP High Pressure Cold Pasteurization, because if the high pressure can kill the bad bacteria it also kills the good nutrients. The vet said to only buy real raw with NO HPP.
We feed 1 or 2 real raw organic pastured happy chicken EGGS, a handful of real frozen veggies, stir fry veggies or GREEN BEANS with no salt, 1 tsp to 1tbs plain KEFIR (in fridge by yogurt) for probiotics for better digestion and firmer poop, 1 tsp CODLIVER OIL or salmon oil. We buy NO HPP raw at the freezer at the livestock feed store for about $3 a pound of meat, organs. We sprinkle a tsp of CHIA SEEDS for fiber and firm poop. We occasional add a tsp of the GREENS POWDER of spirulina and chlorella and the RED POWDER with cranberry to prevent urinary tract infections.
Snacks are BANANA slices, APPLE slices, frozen BLUEBERRIES, freeze Dried Meat treats, etc.
We vary this with what we can get, but it has worked really well. Would never go back to Kibble or Canned pet food crap.
The AAFCO needs to starve, everyone STOP buying commercial pet food, and AAFCO jobs disappear, and then they will all have to go get a real job. Imagine that.
Lets get rid of AAFCO jobs, stop buying big pet food commercial food.
T Allen
August 6, 2019 at 7:05 am
Per your diet above you are feeding no bone and no vitamins/minerals. Depending on the size of the dog (and assuming you are feeding the eggshell) you are still depleting their CA, MG and others. One mistake everyone makes is believing that human food has all the nutrients advertied from testing done 50 years ago. Our meat, vegies and fruits are depleted as well as our ability to absorb them due to the destruction of our gut microbiome. Same goes for animals. Foor your pet’s health please add a high quality vit/min and CA/MG supplement to your pets’s food if you are not doing so.
readerguest9
August 6, 2019 at 9:23 am
T Allen, What multi vitamin do you use? I have lots of bottles of supplements, powders, etc, too many to list here and it overwhelms newbies.
I feed and rotate a lot of supplements. I signed up for holistic veterinary free enewsletters weekly from DogsNaturallyMagazine.com VitalAnimal.com MercolaPets DoctorDeva DrAndrewJones and too many more holistic, homeopathic or naturopathic veterinarians to mention here, as the list would be too long. They all have vital info to learn how to have healthy pets.
But it is so much info, too much to list here and it overwhelms pet owners use to feeding simple No nutrient kibble or No nutrient canned food, as you have to explain why I give each supplement. So I find most pet owners learn, by starting with a simple easy plan and they slowly evolve to trying more natural alternatives. There are pet owners that know way more than I know, it has been a learning curve, but with great results.
The raw I buy, does contain ground up bone too, and they have a canine complete with veggies and supplements added too, an organs and tripe, and they have Feline Complete for cats. So the livestock feedstores sell both the frozen complete and frozen meat and bone, frozen meat, bone, organs, basically everything frozen raw and they sell the NO HPP so the nutrients are still alive.
Chlorella, Spirulina and Mushrooms contain a lot of nutrients and vitamins.
Ground up apricot seeds contain high levels of Laetrile to prevent cancer or kill cancer cells.
If a pet has cancer, then also add the Laetrile capsules, there are pet cancer researchers that guide pet owners with pets with cancer and the Laetrile seems to work well with most all animals.
My dogs are breeds with high risk of cancer, but we don’t let the vets inject toxins anymore, like the allopathic vets sell, so cancer and health issues are no longer a problem with current pets. The holistic veterinarians have guided us to true health alternatives for everything and it works. There are natural alternatives to fleas ticks and natural alternatives to prevent or kill heartworm, nosodes to prevent disease, numerous treatments to help with tick disease, and some that eliminate tick disease, etc
Healthy pets with no health issues. It is very sad on the many dog walks, dog events, to see so many young dogs with so many health issues, and the pet owners are surprised that we have no health issues, and I print out long lists of helpful links and info on a paper folded up in my pockets to hand out, for those that want to learn how to help their pets get healthy. As the allopathic vets will not guide pet owners to true health. Healthy pets like healthy people are not profitable to allopathic vets or allopathic doctors or big veterinary pharma. I also sign up for allopathic veterinary newsletters too, as i like to keep up with the newest scams they will try to sell pet owners and their new selling techniques to trick pet owners, so I can help advise pet owners about what toxic drugs the allopathic vets will be pushing and to say NO, I will look into it later.
I have learned so much thru the years. My first pets, I listened to the lying allopathic vets trying to sell me their overpriced kibble, toxic vacs. The allopathic vets made my pets sick. Even today, allopathic vets warn that all raw food is bad and all junk food kibble is good. And the vets tell me everyone dies if they handle raw food. I have been feeding raw for years now, and never has anyone ever gotten sick. We keep it frozen, then put a chubb in the fridge for 24 hours, soft enough to slice disks, then put all the disks in a container back in the freezer, and take out each day to thaw in fridge, what we need to feed the next day, so it can defrost for 24 hours in the fridge and feed. We have a simple system now. But it did take time to learn about natural alternatives for most everything and find where to buy and come up with an affordable system.
Eli Lawson
August 16, 2019 at 1:41 pm
Wow, such big, indicting words for an anonymous poster. I don’t get why these types are so cocky about their opinions yet don’t even bother to explain the science behind their methods. I was actually considering the options you’re recommending, but then I see how you just judged and dismissed the kibble and canned pet food industry and the people working for AAFCO. That’s just a horrible call-to-action segue. My bad if I don’t have the time to listen to your rants. If you’re going to harp against the industry, at least explain your science. Your argument is just as flawed as the recent FDA report on DCM.
Debi Cohen
August 6, 2019 at 2:18 pm
So good, so true, so smart,
Mrs. Elinor McCullough
August 7, 2019 at 11:56 am
Totally agree….that’s how I feed my 2 girls. If everyone would do the same for their pets and use to big pet feed commercial feed then we could say, bye bye AAFCO and pet feed processors. However, most humans are looking for the “easy button” for their pets and their families.
carol
August 5, 2019 at 4:28 pm
Can someone tell me the name of the treats, or a place where I can find this information?
Susan Thixton
August 5, 2019 at 4:33 pm
Hi Carol – you’ll need to look closely on any packaging of a jerky treat for the word “China” – it’s often fine print and hard to find. There are many different brands that come from China.
chuck LINKER
August 5, 2019 at 5:23 pm
thanks again Susan.
where was this 2019 AFFCO mtg. held?
what can we pet owners do other than use creamation for our pets that die?
nothing other than not purchase doubtful– pig ears, jerky, etc.etc,
civilians will never know about this. civilians really do not care. the thinking is still “my dog loves to chew on this gross stuff. therefore it must be good for animals or it wouldn’t be sold. NOT! NOT! NOT!
“my dog loves this cheapest kibble & canned food from Walmart. it must be good if she/he eats it & is is sold.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………….
IF THE FDA WILL NOT EVER CARE, WE MUST ATTACK THE BIG BOX PET STORES & CUSTOMERS.
JUST LAST WEEK A PETSUPERMARKET HERE – ORLANDO– WAS SELLING THE RECALLED PIG EARS. THE MANAGER KNEW ABOUT THE RECALL. I ASKED WHY THEY WERE FOR SALE. THE REPLY: “CORPORATE MUST TELL US THAT.”
I TOLD THE :MANAGER” THAT HE WOULDN’T GET FIRED IN HE MERELY DISPOSED OF THEM IMMEDIATIELY.
HE LAUGHED.
I TOLD THE MANAGER TO LET HIS GAGGLE OF TEEN EMPLOYEES KNOW WHAT TO SAY IF ANYONE ASKED FOR THEM. TELL THE TRUTH. HE LAUGHED AGAIN.
CHUCK LINKER
August 5, 2019 at 5:29 pm
“yeah. another free trip, hotel & food again thanks to us being reps from AAFCO”
“THE FDA DOESN’T CARE. THOSE FOLKS THAT BUY THE CRAP CALLED DOG FOOD PAY US TO TRAVEL”
YEEE HA !
Linda Horn
August 5, 2019 at 6:03 pm
The sad truth is money rules all in the United States of America. And it appears the ultra rich are so contemptuous of the ordinary citizens, and secure in their power, that they no longer even try to disguise what they are doing.
Peter
August 5, 2019 at 7:57 pm
Dr. Solomon should be expected to define the term “resolved,” if he is going to use it. I am going to write and ask for that.
Fedup
August 7, 2019 at 6:21 pm
You won’t get an answer from the Federal Dumb Asses!
Tina
August 5, 2019 at 8:16 pm
I tried to listen to the 8-10am meeting via phone & Zoom but both lines were silent. I was able to join both landline & online meetings successfully but heard nothing for 30 minutes so disconnected from both. I intend to call in again to listen & sign on to Zoom tomorrow for the 9:30am & 3pm sessions. I know Lousiville, KY is 3 hours ahead of my Pacific time zone.
Judi Perrin
August 5, 2019 at 8:17 pm
Almost every single treat is sourced from China.
Robin M
August 5, 2019 at 9:51 pm
How can the Chinese jerky DEATHS be “resolved” when NO ONE has told us WHY the treats made pets sick? What ingredient in these items is killing our pets?? Who can we call/write/text whatever to ASK??
Susan Thixton
August 6, 2019 at 6:49 am
Hi Robin – You can write FDA at AskCVM@fda.hhs.gov – I’d suggest addressing your message to Dr. Steven Solomon – and asking for a response to any questions you have for FDA.
Marcia L. Johnson
August 5, 2019 at 10:10 pm
Thank you Susan for going thru all this red tape. It surely is disgusting, the AAFCO is so self righteous, it is unbelievable!!!
mark maynard
August 5, 2019 at 11:58 pm
I have been feeding cooked meals and raw bones dydrated homemaid treats .I do buy a few American made treats like whimzees and even that makes me scared . I really hope people start seeing whats going on with what these companies are feeding our dogs .
mark maynard
August 6, 2019 at 12:00 am
I forgot to add so many times I try to tell people what they could be feeding there dog is bad they look at me like Im a crazy person .
Batzion
August 6, 2019 at 12:49 am
The FDA buries info on issues it doesn’t want to bring to an honest resolution. If it does this to people, it’s no surprise that it does it to our pets: https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2019/06/19/hidden-harms-from-medical-industry.aspx?utm_source=dnl&utm_medium=email&utm_content=art2&utm_campaign=20190619Z1&et_cid=DM295425&et_rid=642513299
Elizabeth Weinberger
August 6, 2019 at 3:52 pm
The dysregulation that is prevalent now in our government means that neither our pets nor us are protected any more. That applies to our air, our water supplies, etc.. Survival of the fittest. Regulations were put into place for a good reason. Profit must not be more important than our well-being. Think about that in 2020. Unapologetically political, because we are all really in danger without regulations.