Even though it is a violation of the Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act…
…the FDA allows this…
…and this…
…to be disposed of in pet food with NO warning or disclosure to pet owners.
How could the FDA actually believe diseased animals and decomposing animal carcasses are safe for pets to consume? Provide adequate nutrition to our pets?
How could the FDA intentionally ignore the laws they are charged with enforcing?
How could the FDA – an agency that claims to be science based – allow diseased and decomposing animal carcasses to be disposed of in pet food without providing scientific evidence this material is safe and provides adequate nutrition for pets? (We asked for the science, FDA couldn’t find it.)
And worse yet, how could the FDA knowingly allow consumers to be deceived, refusing to require pet food manufacturers to disclose the use of ingredients sourced from diseased and decomposing animal carcasses?
We still don’t know how FDA can do these things, how a federal agency can allow law to be violated and consumers to be deceived for decades – but now we know why.
Below is a quote from a 2004 document prepared for Congress on the rendering industry. This quote explains the why.
‘Who should pay?‘ The ‘vast amounts of inedible materials’ are disposed of in pet food because they can’t be incinerated, they can’t go to landfills. The livestock industry doesn’t want to pay to dispose of them, government doesn’t want to pay to dispose of the material.
So…somewhere in the history of pet food, it was decided that pets and pet owners were the ones ‘who should pay’. Someone decided that it was acceptable for pets to eat ingredients sourced from “premature deaths, herd culls, and slaughter byproducts“, and acceptable for pet owners to pay for industry waste without their knowledge. Who originally made the decision is unknown, but today it is allowed SOLELY because of the FDA.
The FDA is using pets and pet owners as a
garbage disposal system.
Personal opinion: The FDA openly admits on their website this material is illegal/adulterated/a violation of federal law (Click Here, see question 4). And they openly admit they allow illegal material in pet food with no warning or disclosure to consumers.
The agency claims this illegal material is safe, yet they have NEVER provided scientific evidence it is safe for pets to consume diseased or decomposing non-slaughtered animal material. The FDA has never provided scientific evidence pet foods with these illegal ingredients are safe to bring into our homes, safe to be sold in grocery stores along side of human food and safe for children to handle or accidentally consume.
The FDA is fully aware this material has sickened employees of pet food manufacturing (I participated in a conference call meeting between sick employees and FDA, I heard first hand what the agency was told).
The FDA is fully aware that employees of pet food and ingredient manufacturing have died directly linked to these illegal ingredients. The agency has taken no steps to prevent future human illness/death related to these ingredients.
This is criminal and the FDA should be treated no differently than any other individual that commits a crime. Others have been required to pay large financial penalties and some have served long prison sentences for food safety criminal activity. When will FDA be held accountable for their crimes?
Wishing you and your pet the best –
Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
TruthaboutPetFood.com
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Sally
May 20, 2022 at 10:45 am
The USDA and FDA are grotesquely and willfully incompetent. Here are two more headline examples: Hundreds of beagles died at facility before government took action (msn.com) and Lawmakers grill FDA head on ‘slow’ response to baby formula crisis (msn.com). Has Erin Brockovich ever commented on institutional corruption and how deep it runs? Susan, have you had any further discussion with her since your announcement of her willingness to work on the pet food issue?
Susan Thixton
May 20, 2022 at 10:49 am
And with the baby formula issues – FDA had whistle blowers try to alert them well in advance, FDA wouldn’t listen.
Unfortunately no, I haven’t had contact with Erin Brockovich since our first couple of talks. I’ve tried, but…
Sheila Eddy
May 20, 2022 at 11:08 am
Exactly. Trying to figure how to leverage the baby formula situation to legislate for pet food industry changes – I’m hearing legislators on tv talk all about Abbott labs making false reports, fda lagging on sharing info to usda, Abbotts equipment in disrepair while issuing stock buybacks. On another note, pet food remind me of margarine – a waste product marketer into the food system!
Judith
May 20, 2022 at 11:51 am
Thank you for this information and for your dedication to our pet’s health! I have made changes because of you. It is still hard to know who is being honest.
A Rech
May 20, 2022 at 11:58 am
Susan, this is so powerful, thank you. Please share everyone!
Cecilia
May 20, 2022 at 2:04 pm
The question of ‘who pays’ is, of course, our beloved pets. An additional question that should be asked is ‘Who Benefits from the FDA non-disclosure?’ Think about all the Vets who rake in money by over-charging for prescriptions, vaccines, and supposed treatment-related food for diseases that the dog food manufacturers are creating with their diseased foods. Susan, I sincerely thank you for all you do!!
K
May 20, 2022 at 3:05 pm
After reading this I have lost the last little bit of faith and hope and trust I had in the human race. 98% of humans are evil. It’s absolutely horrible
Francine
May 20, 2022 at 4:39 pm
US society in a nutshell.
Bill
May 20, 2022 at 8:41 pm
Susan – I love you for what you’re doing and trying to do – please don’t take offense from what I’m about to say … I have been a ‘subscriber’ to your newsletter/emails for many years and I have to say, I am getting tired of the same old thing. While I totally appreciate everything you do, making people aware of the disgusting petfood/feed industry who wouldn’t be otherwise, attend AAFCO meetings … and everything else … but where is this going? This newsletter is full of the same rhetorical questions you’ve asked a thousand times. The F-ing FDA is not going to do anything until there is a huge political movement to make them do what’s right. I’m sorry the Erin Brokowich .. sorry if the spelling of her name is incorrect but you know who I’m talking about .. ‘promise’ didn’t work out so move on and find someone else. Call her out on it …. maybe that would work. The way the American society is these days .. just have a damn good go at her .. maybe she’ll react and maybe she won’t. Even if she doesn’t, you haven’t lost anything .. other than your decency .. and who cares about that anymore. You need someone who can start a real grassroots movement – politically and socially. That’s the only way to get your questions answered and actions taken. If these lousy companies get called out loudly enough and often enough – they’ll do something! This pussy-footing around and being nice, doesn’t work in this day and age, I’m sorry to say. The more stink and noise you can make is the only way to make anything happen. It’s a very sad state of affairs, and I personally wish it weren’t that way, but it is. Rise Up Everyone … F-ing Do Something and Get Organized. And for all those folks who want to fire back at me because I’m not the one doing it, there are reasons that I can’t go into online .. and let that rest.
Aliendra
May 23, 2022 at 7:17 am
Oh, dont worry “Bill” …there are major moves being made behind the scenes. stay tuned. Its only the beginning.
Cathy
May 20, 2022 at 8:56 pm
Thank you Susan. I have cooked for my dog for the last 10 years. I remember the Melamine debacle in the nineties where pets died of kidney failure. I read the book “foods pets die for “ by Ann Martin. I am convinced that they put diseased, contaminated, low quality food in many pet food. Why do you think our pets are so sick? The vaccines are awful too. I lost a German Shepard pup because of a vaccine that was given at 4 months. She had to be put down at 1 1/2 years because of severe seizures and it ruined her central nervous system. Another dog almost die from a rabies vaccine. It’s all greed by the vets and the companies. Go back to nature. Cook for them. Keep them away from vets unless it is a dire emergency.
Barbara Fellnermayr
May 25, 2022 at 2:40 pm
Hi Cathy,
If you’re going to go back to nature stop cooking the food. Cooking it destroys many of the nutrients. Feed raw
T Allen
May 23, 2022 at 12:36 pm
Your comment from Dr Solomon at the FDA stating they did not believe transparency would ” help consumers to know specifically how pet food differs from human food.” should make everyone question PEOPLE food. If you don’t think that anything you by for your family, that comes in a in a can, pouch, etc. and is a “mixture” of ingredients has less than quality items in it you are very naive. Dr Solomon is likely telling the truth. Remember “pink slime”?
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pink-slime-in-ground-beef-whats-the-big-deal/
“It’s actually “lean finely textured beef,” a low-cost ingredient in ground beef made from fatty left over meat trimmings from other cuts. The bits are heated to about 100 F and spun to remove most of the fat, then compressed into blocks for use in ground meat. The product, made by South Dakota-based Beef Products Inc. (BPI), is then exposed to “a puff of ammonium hydroxide gas” to kill bacteria, such as E. coli and salmonella.
There are no precise numbers on how prevalent the product is and It DOES NOT HAVE TO BE LABELED as an ingredient. Past estimates have ranged as high as 70 percent; one industry official estimates it is in at least half of U.S. ground meat and burgers.” Wake up America!
Barbara Fellnermayr
May 25, 2022 at 2:48 pm
Personally, I have made a decision not to buy anything prepared. As T Allen said, I can’t trust what they put in the food. While I’m losing the convenience of premade food I know exactly what is going into my food.
I was reading yesterday about a new law the US is coming out with that will prohibit biodiesel from being used in human and pet food. The biodiesel needs to be used for fueling trucks. I was sickened to think it was used in pet food, but people food?
Industry will find a way to reduce their waste by putting in human and pet food. Any way to save money and increase their bottom line.
Susan Thixton
May 25, 2022 at 3:14 pm
I don’t think the fats being sold to make biodiesel is ever used in human food. I believe the ‘food’ reference industry is talking about is pet ‘food’ which is actually feed.
mildred ramos
June 16, 2022 at 6:01 pm
Having lost a cat to liver cancer, one to megacolon; two to oral squamous cell carcinoma (a third currently has an oral lesion), after raising them on what I had thought was one of the less egregious pet foods- “fancy feast” cat food with a reasonably good quality dry food, I stopped buying manufactured pet foods. For the past five years or so I make my cat’s food on the stove top, weekly.
My moto: If I can eat it, my cats can eat it.