False information on the AAFCO website is misleading pet owners. Is it intentional?
When a pet owner visits the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) website, there is a menu item titled “Consumers“. When you visit the Consumers page, there is a category listed titled “AAFCO Talks Pet Food“, explained as “The AAFCO Talks Pet Food site contains a treasure-trove of information for consumers.”
“…a treasure-trove of information for consumers.” A treasure-trove of false information?
What if a pet owner sees the claim Human Grade on a pet food label and decides to look up the term on the AAFCO website? Or, what if a pet owner reads a post from a veterinarian or consumer advocate that explains the quality differences between Human Grade pet food and Feed Grade Pet Food, and visits the AAFCO website to verify that this quality of pet food actually exists. That pet owner finds the AAFCO Talks Pet Food webpage “Human-Grade” and reads this:
“There have been “human-grade” claims on some pet foods for a few years. This term has no definition in any animal feed regulations.”
Right there on the AAFCO website – a direct lie to consumers. Human grade does have a legal definition; AAFCO itself defined Human Grade pet food in January 2016 (more than 4 years ago). As evidenced by the official minutes from the Ingredient Definitions Committee meeting held on January 19, 2016:
“Human Grade: Every ingredient and the resulting product are stored, handled, processed, and transported in a manner that is consistent and compliant with regulations for current good manufacturing practices (cGMPs) for human edible foods as specified in 21 CFR Part 117.”
More than 4 years AFTER officially defining human grade pet food, on pages specifically for consumers, AAFCO continues to tell pet owners human grade pet food “has no definition“. Further, the AAFCO webpage dismisses human grade pet food and discourages pet owners from considering it with:
“Extremely few pet food products could be considered officially human edible or human-grade. A pet food that actually met these standards would be expensive.”
Why would AAFCO have false information on their website for consumers? Is the organization of “Feed Officials” intentionally trying to hinder the human grade pet food market? Intentionally trying to discount veterinarians and advocates that recommend human grade pet food? Is AAFCO promoting feed grade pet foods by lying to consumers about human grade pet food?
Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,
Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
TruthaboutPetFood.com
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Amy
April 14, 2020 at 12:37 pm
At the very least, you might motivate them to update their website.
Mary Lynn Bartram
April 14, 2020 at 12:41 pm
They obviously dont care about animals and my guess is human grade companies aren’t lining their pockets like feed grade is. Its pathetic . Thank goodness for you Susan or more of us would not know the truth. I always share your articles to people I know to educate
Fred St Clair
April 14, 2020 at 2:40 pm
Our whole system has been bought and paid for to the detriment of the masses.
Jan Wheeler
April 14, 2020 at 4:16 pm
I agree with Mary Lynn in the above comment. They obviously aren’t humans who love animals. Their only objective is greed. And human grade companies aren’t paying them under the table. I naively made a lot of mistakes with my first dog. I’m trying hard to not repeat those mistakes with my second dog. And you, Susan, are the reason I’m feeding Jenkins healthier food than I did Rusty. I’m so grateful I found you, and I appreciate all the research you do.
Dianne & Pets
April 15, 2020 at 1:13 am
Here are two statements I find particularly gag worthy:
“Whether a product is or is not advertised as human-grade has no impact on product safety. All pet food products must meet feed requirements, including being unadulterated.”
“Misbranding a feed is a prohibited act subject to enforcement action on the responsible party.” Why would they use feed in this statement instead of food?
My mind races. Instead of making human grade pet food, make it a human food kit, with instructions on how to prepare it for cooking and include a statement that says it is safe for pets to eat. Then sell it in the grocery stores in the food aisles. It could be called food you can share with your dog and not feel guilty about it, Would it then go under USDA control?
Dianne & Pets
April 15, 2020 at 1:18 am
Under the when things go wrong link, the melamine incident and the pig’s ears contaminated with salmonella are mentioned. Nothing about Hill’s and Vitamin D.
Carla Rittonori
April 15, 2020 at 9:03 am
“Extremely few pet food products could be considered officially human edible or human-grade. A pet food that actually met these standards would be expensive.”
So, they can make human grade pet food, but they don’t because it’s too expensive. And what exactly makes the food so that it’s not edible for humans, the corn, the soya, the meat of questionable quality and source, the vitamin and mineral premix or the possibility of pentobarbital contamination?
If I go down the ingredient list on the packaging, what makes is not suitable for human consumption?
And what ingredient would, if included as human grade, would make the food too expensive to produce?
Because clearly it’s not just vitamin and mineral ratios or species difference in requirements.
Good grief.
Angelia Sardo
April 15, 2020 at 9:36 am
I also agree with Mary Lynn. I’ve lost count on how many people have said “I’ve never heard of that company, how good can they be if they’re not advertising” when discussing many human grade ingredient dog food brands. My response is always “would you rather have them spend a million bucks on a super bowl ad, or a million bucks on sourcing better ingredients”.