Iams Pet Food has submitted a petition to the FDA asking for approval to use a bacteria killing additive in pet food. Is this safe? Here’s more information for you to decide on its safety.
The Iams Company has filed a petition with the FDA asking for approval of using a “Salmonella-specific bacteriophage preparation as a food additive”. Very (very) basic information is available from the FDA website on this potential food additive. Iams suggests to FDA this additive will be used as an antimicrobial processing aid to reduce Salmonella in pet food.
What is a bacteriophage?
From Biology.about.com:
“A bacteriophage is a virus that infects bacteria . Bacteriophages, first discovered around 1915, have played a unique role in viral biology. They are perhaps the best understood viruses, yet at the same time, their structure can be extraordinarily complex.”
From this explanation, we can assume that Iams wishes to add bacteriophage virus into pet food to destroy Salmonella bacteria. This sounds simple enough, but is it actually that simple?
Pet grade meats commonly used in pet food are often more prone to bacteria infection linked directly to their inferior quality. ‘Suitable for use in animal food’ meats (pet grade) can be sourced from diseased animals (rejected for use in human food) or even animals that have been euthanized (and decomposing) or animals that have died in the field (again, decomposing tissue). Further, meats used in pet foods are not required by law to be transported or warehoused under refrigeration. When you begin with ‘distressed meat’ and then add improper storage, bacteria runs rampant.
But…the FDA has told consumers they believe these pet grade meats are safe – because of the pet food manufacturing process. One process the FDA states destroys bacteria is rendering. From the FDA Compliance Policy 675.400 allowing rendered waste material into animal feed/pet food (bold added): “There are two types of processes in use by the rendering industry to process this material. They are dry rendering, used by the largest portion of the industry, and wet rendering. Both rendering processes were designed to ensure that the resultant animal feed ingredients pose no threat of disease transmission to animals which are fed the material or to the health of humans consuming their edible products (meat, milk, and eggs).”
The FDA also considers the cooking process of pet food – canning or extrusion (kibble) – to be a ‘kill step’ for bacteria.
Concern number one. If the FDA believes rendering and the manufacturing process of pet foods kills bacteria, why would a bacteriophage preparation need to be added to pet food?
Concern number two is all about the science. Your science lesson of the day to follow (there is no easy way to do this…it has to be a science lesson…I promise, it’s not too bad).
Going back to the definition provided to what a bacteriophage is – “A bacteriophage is a virus that infects bacteria.” And backing up a bit further…“A virus is a microscopic organism that can replicate only inside the cells of a host organism.”
If you watch the following video, you’ll be provided with a good understanding of what a bacteriophage does. It’s 9 minutes – but I promise it’s entertaining and you’ll have a good understanding of the bacteriophage process when the 9 minutes is over.
Now…the bad news. Transduction. Quoting the first few sentences from the following YouTube video:
“Bacteria transduction is a process by which one bacteria is going to give another bacteria a piece of genetic information. And this piece of genetic information is going to allow the recipient bacteria to do something that it otherwise couldn’t have done.”
This video is 6 minutes, but explains a potential concern of bacteriophage transduction.
The proposed bacteriophage preparation additive proposed to FDA by Iams Pet Food is a band-aid. A band-aid over a wound that is just too big to bandage. If pet foods were sourcing quality meats, transporting the raw material properly, and cleaning the equipment properly – bacteria risk would be much, much less. Science has also shown that livestock animals fed species appropriate food (example: cattle grazing on grass instead of feed-lot cattle fed pellet-formed animal waste materials), bacteria risk is much less. Why put a band-aid over a serious problem?
Numerous sources consulted all warned me of the concerns to transduction with this proposed food additive. Bacteriophage products are currently approved by FDA for use in livestock feed – but there is (to my knowledge) no science to base the safety of the additive for use in foods for animals whose life expectancy is much longer than livestock (such as pets). We all can understand why a pet food company would want to use a bacteriophage (they don’t want a Salmonella recall), but until the safety is proven for pets consuming foods containing the additive over a lifetime…this petition should be stopped in its tracks.
I vote no – and all the experts I consulted with voted no as well. Now we have to be concerned if the FDA will agree.
Anyone can post comments to the proposed food additive petition. You can do that here: http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=FDA-2014-F-1669 Association for Truth in Pet Food (our consumer association) will be posting a comment soon.
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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Carla
November 7, 2014 at 2:15 pm
Thank you again for keeping us informed about these things. I made a comment at the FDA site (using some of your language, I hope that’s okay).
Susan Thixton
November 7, 2014 at 2:17 pm
Yes it is perfectly ok! Thank you for commenting.
Christine
November 7, 2014 at 3:06 pm
I wonder if this ingredient will be added to the ingredient label. Does AAFCO have a definition for this ingredient?
Dianne
November 7, 2014 at 3:30 pm
I guess it would be too much to hope that Iams will be required to label foods containing this additive. So I guess it is cheaper to use the additive than to pay for recalls which is cheaper than buying good ingredients and handling them properly.
Dianne
November 7, 2014 at 3:33 pm
Of course using this additive is pretty much an admission that bacterial contamination is a real concern for their products. Hmm. We do such a poor job of preparing your pets food that we are adding something to deal with the contamination which we assume exists.
Lesliek
November 7, 2014 at 8:37 pm
1 more reason not to buy commercial pet food .
Cheryl
November 7, 2014 at 9:52 pm
My concern would be if the additive will kill the bacteria in the ingredients of the pet food why would it not also kill the beneficial bacteria in the stomach of the animal that is consuming it?
Jo
November 8, 2014 at 1:21 am
Thank you for letting us know about this request, Susan! Here is the comment I posted on the FDA site:
“No no no no no! I am very much against granting this request. Instead of using a bacteria-killing virus, the use of which has not been studied in companion animals to ensure safety, Iams needs to instead focus their efforts on selecting higher quality ingredients from trusted, US suppliers, and then properly processing the food to kill any salmonella or other bacteria that might still exist.
WHEN are BIG PET FOOD companies going to “get” that consumers are tired and increasingly fearful of buying pet foods that contain rendered, animal feed-type meats, as well as a long list of chemicals, preservatives and other additives??? We want simple, HUMAN-GRADE, US sourced ingredients, and are willing to pay a higher price for it if that is what will be required to get it!
FDA…you exist to represent the public. PLEASE listen to and HELP us, rather than working so hard to help pet food companies increase their bottom line while squeezing every bit of cost out of their products!”
Sharon
November 12, 2014 at 3:26 am
That’s a great comment Jo. You know who else needs to hear something similar? The “Pet Food Instiute” which is the trade association for the pet food industry. We all need to let THEM know that because of their constant push-back and lobbying against improved standards for pet food, their tactics are back-firing and providing us with the nails to their coffin! Here’s a link: http://www.petfoodinstitute.org/general/?type=CONTACT
Jo
November 12, 2014 at 9:35 am
Consider it done!
Sharon
November 12, 2014 at 10:06 am
I plan on writing to them too. I started making my own pet treats after the recalls in 2007 and 2008 and haven’t fed a commercial treat since. Now I am feeding my dogs a home made diet too as I have lost all confidence in their profit driven industry and the FDA. This will be my central message to the Pet Food Institute. For our safety and well being greed must be regulated and that is what our federal government no longer understands.
Jo
November 14, 2014 at 2:42 pm
Good idea, Sharon! Let’s all speak up to them (PFI), too!!!
Peter
January 15, 2015 at 7:47 am
Contact the FDA, not the agribusiness community. If you state that you don’t use their products, and never will, then there is no reason for Proctor & Gamble, PFI, or any related agribusiness that is involved in pet food manufacture to regard your opinion.
Connie
November 8, 2014 at 10:52 am
Isn’t this what Bravo is now using in their foods? Should I be concerned??
Susan Thixton
November 8, 2014 at 11:23 am
The information provided to me was discussing ‘distressed meat’ – pet grade meat. Distressed meat would be prone to higher levels of bacteria and ‘mutation’ was the concern. Bravo would be using a human grade meat (my understanding), not a pet grade meat. Hope that makes sense – needless to say, I’m not a microbiologist.
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Sue
November 8, 2014 at 10:39 pm
Just another reason not to buy commercial food, especially Iams. I haven’t bought Iams is a very very long time for reasons I’m sure everyone knows by now. I can’t believe what they want to do now by adding this to their pet food. Really? Why not just have great ingredients and no salmonella to begin with, no reason for a bacteria killer. Geez Louise.
Thank you so much for keeping us informed about all this sort of thing cause Iams would probably not say a word and just add it as long as it was in the “book of standards” when making dog food.
Thank you
Victoria, BC
Canada
Dr. Chavez
November 12, 2014 at 10:03 am
I hope you submit comments – I’m thinking of doing so too. My concern is that all viruses are made from antigens. Antigens are recognized by healthy immune systems as foreign, causing inflammation, reaction, and discomfort. Are we certain that it is safe to feed our pets these viruses? Have we really become so desparate to save a faulty industry (rendering) that we are willing to feed viruses to our pets? NO.
Adding antigens, viruses, and other crap into pet food is not the answer. The answer is shutting down this faulty system and choosing something better. Real food for our beloved pets.
Of course, with PR efforts like “Rendering is Recycling” I don’t think this going to happen. They will pour money into this before they give up. So thank you Susan for keeping us informed.
OC
Ellie
November 14, 2014 at 5:28 am
It always comes down to the money. People are making huge amounts of money from garbage thanks to the FDA opening the door to this type of waste disposal. Carcasses and rotted vegetables that companies once had to dispose of as garbage are now sold as ingredients for animal feed. Sadly, it is big money to both those who once had to pay to dispose of this garbage and to the pet food companies that buy the garbage and then use it as ingredients in the “feed” they sell.
While the rendering process may kill most bacteria there is still a long process in making the pet feed and those machines used in the process often grow harmful bacteria that can contaminate the “feed.” I suppose that since they are already feeding pets garbage these “pet food” manufacturers think adding such a bacteria killing virus to the food is nothing in comparison to what they are already doing! Just add a “helpful” virus so that we don’t have to worry about keeping a sterile environment in the “food” processing area! No more pesky pet feed recalls!
It always amazes me to realize the lengths that people, who are already making huge amounts of money, will go to in order to get a little richer.
Dean
March 11, 2015 at 11:29 pm
… in our research it has been made clear that freezing the product renders the phages inert (dead for a better explanation)… in fact ‘dwell time’ is necessary for efficacy in the use of phages… BTW their use does not exempt testing for the pathogens, it is a control or suppressive only…
Connie - Tails from the Foster Kittens
August 21, 2017 at 1:34 pm
any idea if this passed?