With pet food, according to federal and state authorities, the quality of the food isn’t important. No one seemed to care that spoiled meat was being sent to pet food, that is until the adulterated beef was mistakenly sent to federal prisons.
John Soules Foods, known for their fajita meats, had problems getting the meat to freeze properly during late 2006 and early 2007. “In order to minimize the risk of any potential problems, John Soules Foods sold some boxes of their beef trimmings to an independent meat broker who agreed to sell the product as pet food.”
Problem #1 – spoiled meat. Spoiled meat was recognized immediately as a risk to human health, but no one cared if the spoiled meat was a risk to pet food consumers.
John Soules Foods, upon agreement with wholesale buyers to sell the beef as pet food ingredient, did not change the labels of the spoiled meat to ‘suitable for use in animal food’. Because the adulterated beef was not labeled as ‘animal food’, it ended up being sold to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. This is where authorities at the USDA took notice…selling adulterated meat for human consumption is illegal.
Problem #2 – according to federal food safety laws, it is illegal to sell any spoiled meat – regardless whether to prisoners or to pets. Federal law does not separate the quality of food into human quality and pet quality (or prisoner quality). Federal law defines food as “articles used for food or drink for man or other animals”.
Though federal law doesn’t separate between human food and animal food, the FDA does. Because of FDA Compliance Policies, what is illegal to be sold to the human food industry including the Federal Bureau of Prisons – IS acceptable to be sold to you as pet food.
By the way, had that spoiled meat made it to pet food (as we can safely assume tons and tons of other spoiled adulterated foods are), there would have been no warning on the pet food label the food contained spoiled, adulterated meat. ‘Natural’ and ‘Premium’ would have been displayed on the pet food label along side of images of fresh meat and vegetables. You would never have known your pet was consuming meat that was illegal and should have been destroyed.
The bottom line is…state and federal authorities care more about the quality of food prisoners are eating than the pet food you are buying. Because of FDA Compliance Policies, millions of pet food consumers are purchasing adulterated foods without their knowledge. What is illegal to be sold to humans – IS being sold to humans…pet food consumers.
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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