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FDA’s Agenda for Sterile Raw Pet Food

What FDA is doing to this pet food – this pet food category – is absolutely unacceptable.

104JerseyJacksonThis website does not typically defend any particular pet food in its battles with a regulatory authority. However in this instance, I make an exception. What FDA is doing to this pet food – this pet food category – is absolutely unacceptable.

In 2009 the Inspector General’s Office chastised the FDA for “its sometimes lax adherence to its recall guidance and internal procedures”. Nine years later the agency continues to have a ‘who cares’ attitude. Who cares what the Inspector General says, who cares about laws or proper procedure? As long as we (FDA) get our agenda accomplished, why should we (FDA) follow procedure/law?

Today – one of FDA’s agendas is the sterilization of food, especially raw pet food.

Example: Milk today is pasteurized – it is a sterilized food. But in 1929 raw milk (unpasteurized) was the ‘drug’ of choice for one of the founding physicians of the Mayo Clinic (Dr. J.R. Crewe). Raw milk from pasture fed cows was used to successfully treat many diseases such as obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, kidney disease, even psoriasis was cured with a simple raw milk diet. Dr. Crewe studied and treated serious illnesses for 15 years with raw milk diets (and only raw milk diets – no drugs). He stated The chief fault of the treatment is that it is too simple… and it does not appeal to the modern medical man.”

In 1929 milk was a miracle food. Today’s pasteurized milk is not capable of treating anything. Today raw milk (unpasteurized) is illegal in most states for human consumption. In 1929 cows ate grass. Today the FDA allows cows to be fed processed chicken poop, and recycled grocery store waste (such as spoiled lettuce, yogurt, candy) melted in their plastic containers. Instead of working adamantly to keep food clean by demanding animals eat the food Mother Nature intended, the FDA has bowed down to the demands of industry for cheap feed.

Consumers of raw pet food purchase this style of food because they want real, whole food – not sterile food. They seek out the healing properties of raw food – just like Dr. Crewe did in 1929. Consumers might be educated to healing foods, but FDA has no interest in the healing properties of food at all; the agency believes ONLY drugs can heal.

What the FDA does care about is sterilization of food…so much so that they will bully, threaten, whatever it takes to make sure that all raw pet foods will become sterile. Here is a recent example of FDA bullying and threatening…

Yesterday the FDA released a Warning Letter issued to Answers Pet Food. The Warning Letter was dated more than a month ago (March 16, 2016) – but mysteriously the letter did not appear on the FDA website until 4/19/16. Every section of the Warning Letter can easily be scrutinized – the pet food company can explain that best (their full statement below). But the part that must be addressed here is this quote: “FDA analysis revealed the products to be contaminated with Salmonella.”

Here is my issue: the FDA has NOT PRODUCED their analysis results. The agency told this pet food “analysis revealed the products to be contaminated…” but the FDA has NEVER provided this pet food with said analysis proving it was ‘contaminated’. For six months, Answers Pet Food has asked FDA to provide them with their “analysis” and for six months FDA has refused. And for six months FDA has pressured Answers Pet Food to cave – submit to a recall (with no evidence).

Quoting Answers Pet Food response letter to FDA: “Lystn never received any results and is not aware of any testing on October 5, 2015.” (Note: Lystn is the parent company of Answers Pet Food.)

Why? Why would FDA not provide this pet food with their analysis? I can only think of one reason…the FDA does not have that analysis. The FDA was trying once again to force a raw pet food to sterilize or we’ll make you regret it.

It is FDA policy to provide any manufacturer with “analysis” and with chain of custody (the handling of the product from point of sample taken to point of analysis). But FDA has refused to provide the analysis and chain of custody. Again…why? I was told by several raw pet food manufacturers – forced to (bullied to) recall last year – they too did not receive their FDA analysis and chain of custody from FDA. (Working to gather that data now – and will file Freedom of Information Act request to obtain documentation from FDA.)

In other words, FDA does whatever it wants – no matter what it takes – to achieve its agenda. In this case, the FDA agenda is sterilized raw pet food.

Hypocrisy: The FDA openly allows some pet food and animal feed manufacturers to violate federal law. The FDA openly states diseased animals recycled into pet food – not a problem. Bacteria contaminated dead non-slaughtered livestock (later producing dangerous levels of life threatening endotoxins) rendered into kibble or canned pet food – not a problem for FDA. Cows eating plastic and chicken poop, chickens eating rendered chickens with a side of plastic – not a problem. But provide the scientific evidence that a raw pet food manufactured in a USDA facility using 100% human grade/edible ingredients is adulterated…now we’ve got a problem. FDA says ‘no can do’. ‘Trust me, it’s adulterated – I know, I’m FDA.’

Three cheers for this pet food – they fought back. They did not cave to the bullying efforts of a federal agency that does little more than protect the profits of Big Business (Big Pharma, Big Ag, Big Pet Food). This fight is to me as significant and future changing as the fight Honest Kitchen Pet Food took on in 2007. Honest Kitchen was a human grade pet food and had to fight (in a court of law) to be able to tell consumers their pet food was human grade (not feed grade).

The future of pet food changes ONLY when brave companies stand up and question the status quo. Thanks to Honest Kitchen Pet Food’s battle in 2007, today pet food consumers can look at a package of pet food and read the words “Human Grade”.

Answers Pet Food is fighting a similar battle now – for their own company and for their customers. They are fighting for the right to produce human grade non-sterilized pet food. They are standing up to the bully. I look forward to the future change this battle will produce – it will be nothing but good for all pet food consumers.

Below you will find three documents, Answers Pet Food press release and two responses they provided to FDA. Please read them – you will be shocked at the bullying tactics of FDA.

[gview file=”https://truthaboutpetfood.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Lystn-LLC-Manufacturer-of-ANSWERS-Pet-Food-4-21-16-Response-to-FDA-Warning-Letter-for-distribution-.pdf”]

[gview file=”https://truthaboutpetfood.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Lystn-LLC-Response-to-March-17-2016-FDA-WARNING-LETTER-Sent-to-FDA-4-5-2016-Letter-No.-1-of-2.pdf”]

[gview file=”https://truthaboutpetfood.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Lystn-LLC-Supplemental-Letter-to-Response-to-March-17-2016-FDA-WARNING-LETTER-Sent-to-FDA-4-5-2016-Letter-No.-2-of-2-redacted-4-20-2016.pdf”]

It is more than a pity that raw milk cannot be the drug of choice today treating illness as it did in 1929; more than a pity FDA feels there is a need to sterilize food to such an extent it no longer heals. It is unacceptable that FDA protects some of the wealthiest producers of pet food in the world – allowing them to openly violate federal law making billions in profits while bullying true pet ‘food’ producers with no evidence.

This battle is not over. I will be sending Freedom of Information Act requests to FDA specifically seeking to find who else FDA did not provide analysis results to; who else did FDA bully into a recall with no proven evidence. Also – the fight to protect the integrity of raw pet food (the integrity of all human grade pet food) will be taken on by a new association (that consumer involvement will be welcomed in). Our friend Dr. Cathy Alinovi has developed a new trade association to protect quality minded small pet food manufacturers such as Answers Pet Food – it’s called the Next Generation of Pet Food Manufacturers Association. Dr. Cathy through Next Gen PFMA will take this battle on with FDA as well. As I collect more information, send Freedom of Information Act requests, send FDA questions – I will keep all posted.

One more time…three cheers to you Answers Pet Food. Your fight to protect the integrity of pet food is an example I hope more will follow. Fight for what is right.

 

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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21 Comments

21 Comments

  1. Ted Bartlett

    April 20, 2016 at 7:00 pm

    Why not enlist the help of their Congressman or Senator?

    • guest

      April 20, 2016 at 9:58 pm

      Congressmen & Senators are all paid off by big corporations. There is not an honest congressman or congresswoman anywhere, that is why they make fortunes from all the gifts of cash, products, services, trips, shopping sprees, gift card, cars, prostitutes, and the list goes on forever…

      • Pat P.

        May 3, 2016 at 1:47 am

        There are, probably, a few. I would trust Elizabeth Warren, democratic senator from Massachusetts (Harvard law professor), a fearless consumer advocate who was successful, despite major barriers, in the establishment of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. She has no problem speaking out against the corruption in this country, and still keeping her job and her life. At the very least, I would believe her suggestions in how to proceed. In addition, unlike those with many abysmal animal welfare voting records (mostly the republicans, almost without exception), she has an excellent one. Seeking assistance from a state politician is futile, without a proven record of relative honesty, supporting/sponsoring legislation enacted for the citizen majority welfare and a strong record in support of animals! I would agree that most of our politicians are lacking in these areas, Sen. Warren appears to be one of the exceptions.

  2. Julie

    April 20, 2016 at 7:07 pm

    I’m just speechless…and pissed off. Answers is an amazing raw pet food company and they hold a very special place in my heart. When my beloved companion cat was diagnosed with renal failure and also placed on antibiotics, it was Answers that I was referred to. We started with the raw goat’s milk then transitioned to raw. Three years later, I’m looking at him, right now, finishing his raw dinner with tears of gratitude in my eyes. Also, his BUN and creatinine have been low/normal for the last two years…every blood draw. This is why I’m so extremely pissed off at the FDA.

    • blowyourfunnyfuse

      February 28, 2019 at 2:04 pm

      thank you for your comment! i’m learning all about organic and raw food for my cats and ourselves. i understand the need now and believe in the power of whole, natural food. the FDA like so much of the US government are just mobsters.

  3. Laurie Raymond

    April 20, 2016 at 7:19 pm

    Thank goodness for Next Gen Association and you, Susan. It is time to start seeking some powerful allies — in Congress would be good, or how about the Consumer Protection Bureau? I’ll support this effort all I can! I sell some Answers pet food and have always considered it one of the very best raw companies.

  4. Myra Wilensky

    April 20, 2016 at 7:33 pm

    I’m with Laurie – what can we do? I sell Answers at my store and use it with my own dogs and absolutely love the products. Damn FDA and their desire to allow so much crap to poison our beloved pets.

  5. Dianna

    April 20, 2016 at 8:24 pm

    It’s been a frustrating battle but now the dander is up and it’s not going to be so easy for the FDA to squirm its nasty self out of this. Exciting times are finally on us and there’s hope thanks to Susan and Answers. And I am SO glad to see Dr. Cathy not giving up! Bravo for finding a way to continue the good fight. I will be looking forward to getting involved with Next Gen.

  6. Steve J

    April 21, 2016 at 12:13 am

    If the regulators were willing to give the raw fermented milks a try in their own animals, they would see the same wonderful drug-free benefits my customers regularly tell me they see in their animals. Healthy gut = Healthy being…or at least a good foundation.

    Yes Ted, we must and will get our legislators educated on these issues. Please let us all use this silly political season to its fullest and push for sane pet nutrition regs!

    And by the way…Answers Raw Goat Milk makes a great frozen treat! Mix a batch with organic fruits and freeze in ice trays or sugar cane cups for a probiotic blast. (Ouzo loves the 50/50 blend with bone broth for its extra goodness).

    We Love Answers Pet Food!!!

  7. Marilyn Evans

    April 21, 2016 at 12:51 am

    I think everyone concerned about the FDA’s beyond questionable actions with regard to both human and pet food should email their representatives and senators and demand a congressional review and censure of FDA policies and a complete overhaul of the agency. In other words, “throw the bums out”!

  8. Nina Wolf

    April 21, 2016 at 6:58 am

    I can honestly say I have never met more dedicated, knowledgeable, conscientious manufacturers than Roxanne and Jaqueline of Answers. Their knowledge of their sources is without parallel, their zealotry in providing superior quality and consistency is nothing short of zealotry. For this, I love them. As a former pet store owner, I had ample opportunity to speak directly to many manufacturers. None of them comes close to Answers in terms of deep, deep commitment. They are not only manufacturers, they are advocates for all of us who want only the best whole foods for our animals. If I ate meat, I’d eat theirs. I’d never hesitate to drink their raw milk. I trust them. Thoroughly and utterly. And admire them. What do I think of the FDA, the USDA, AAFCO, and Big Pet Food? Evil. So…how can al of us support not only Answers during this crisis, but also the manufacturing association? What can we, as consumers, actively do to help?

    • YOgi Devendra

      March 1, 2019 at 12:10 am

      Do you think Rawz pet food is as good?

  9. Debi Cohen

    April 21, 2016 at 8:20 am

    I am going to try to find out who in Tucson sells Answers. This is so disgusting and predictable for these bullies to take something, possibly the last remaining healthy pet foods and screw with the companies that produce them, we so need a change in this country, for many reasons.

    • Steve J

      April 21, 2016 at 3:13 pm

      Everyone should go to the Answers website, http://www.answerspetfood.com , click on the store locator icon, find a retailer nearby, and support this great company and its fight!

  10. Hope

    April 21, 2016 at 10:12 am

    BRAVO to Answers Pet Food for fighting the needed battle with the FDA. They will need all of our support and they have mine! Thank you to all the Hills at Answers Pet Food and their associates for leading the way for other quality raw pet food companies to join in, hopefully very soon!

  11. Lynn

    April 21, 2016 at 12:36 pm

    “In 2009 the Inspector General’s Office chastised the FDA for “its sometimes lax adherence to its recall guidance and internal procedures”. Nine years later the agency continues to have a ‘who cares’ attitude. ”

    Shouldn’t that say Seven years later? 9+9=18.

    🙂

    • Susan Thixton

      April 21, 2016 at 1:07 pm

      Nine years since the recall is what I meant.

  12. Christine

    April 21, 2016 at 5:33 pm

    I think that all the raw pet food manufacturers need to hire a lawyer to file a class action law suit against the FDA and hold them accountable for this ridiculousness!

  13. Karla Gansmuller

    April 21, 2016 at 7:30 pm

    What the FDA doesn’t understand is that to educated pet parents, Answers has far more credibility than the FDA!

  14. liz

    April 24, 2016 at 4:56 pm

    FDA Apparently stands for F’n Dumb Agency

  15. Ron Gaskin

    June 2, 2016 at 10:38 am

    The FDA should not allow the adulteration of our poultry with Salmonella or the added water weight to poultry. I thought that the meat inspection act of 1906 made adulterated food illegal. The poultry industry has a very well funded lobby.

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