All I can say is Yippee! Consumers are going to have two of the biggest voices in pet food truth there is at the next AAFCO meeting. Repeat…Yippee!
It is with great excitement for me to announce that…(drum roll please)…Dr. Karen Becker and Rodney Habib will be in attendance at the next AAFCO meeting! This news was just shared with me by my friend Rodney Habib – and I couldn’t be happier.
I’m sure all readers of this site are very familiar with Dr. Karen Becker. She been teaching pet food consumers the ins and outs of pet food for many years on Mercola.com. She has always been brave and forthcoming with her readers – never buying into the all too common veterinary support of feed quality pet food.
And I’m sure all readers of this site who are on Facebook are familiar with Rodney Habib. His posts on Facebook are so good – so honest – he’s even on Facebook’s radar (Facebook executives met with him several months ago).
And in the first week of August – both of these pet food safety leaders will be at the AAFCO meeting advocating for all consumers!
Sincere thanks to Dr. Karen Becker and Rodney Habib for attending this meeting! I never look forward to attending AAFCO meetings – but this one I am. Along with our regulars for AAFCO meetings – myself, Dr. Cathy Alinovi, and Dr. Jean Hofve – we will have a stronger and louder voice at this meeting than we ever have had before.
For anyone interested in attending the meeting – registration will open tomorrow. Details thus far…
Marriott City Center
Denver, CO
August 3 – 5, 2015.
Click Here for AAFCO website on the meeting.
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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Hope Williams
May 3, 2015 at 3:45 pm
Absolutely fabulous! Will you be forming a coalition or attending as individuals?
Susan Thixton
May 3, 2015 at 4:34 pm
No coalition needed – we are all on the same page. I represent consumers through our consumer association – and have advisory position on two committees (Pet Food Committee and Ingredient Definitions Committee). Dr. Hofve has advisory position on the same two committees but through a different stakeholder group. Dr. Alinovi has been attending for the last several years to add another voice for consumers. Dr. Becker and Rodney will be there as a voice for consumers too.
To get an advisory position on committees isn’t easy (at least it wasn’t easy for me). AAFCO requires you to represent an association or stakeholder group. So for any others to get those positions (and we need them) they would need to be representing a particular association or official stakeholder group. But – they will be welcome to make any comment on any topic discussed. You don’t need to be an adviser to speak up. Last summer, Dr. Alinovi and Dr. Chavez (of Just Food for Dogs) spoke out against a supplement ingredient up for discussion. AAFCO ignored all complaints about the ingredient – but we all got to have our say.
Ann*
May 3, 2015 at 5:32 pm
This is fantastic news and to have such experienced folks involved makes it even better! I am glad that your voice is now one of several.
Nina Wolf
May 3, 2015 at 6:22 pm
TERRIFIC NEWS! YAY! I keep working on gathering enough $$ to join you too. But these two are heavy hitters, and will be such an asset! One more step closer to safe food and consumer protection.
Kathryn
May 3, 2015 at 6:40 pm
wonderful news –
Cheryl
May 3, 2015 at 6:56 pm
Wow, great news. Thank you for all your hard work!
Laura
May 3, 2015 at 8:01 pm
I could’ve sworn I read somewhere that Mollie Morrissette went at least once. Did she?
Susan Thixton
May 3, 2015 at 8:07 pm
Yes Mollie certainly did. She attended the meeting in New Orleans I believe January 2014 – and she has attended via conference call as she also holds advisory position to the two committees.
T Allen
May 3, 2015 at 8:02 pm
Excellent! Please thank them for us!
Woofielover
May 3, 2015 at 11:07 pm
So, we’ve gotten to the big guns now! Can’t wait to hear how this turns out! I hope you’re going with, Susan! The 3 best animal and consumer advocates will not be ignored! Any chance we can get it video’d so we can see the action?
Susan Thixton
May 3, 2015 at 11:38 pm
AAFCO will not allow any type of recording during the meetings – not even pictures.
Michelle
May 4, 2015 at 12:12 am
Awesome news! Thank you to all of you for all you do to help educate us to so we can care for our fur babies!
Mare
May 4, 2015 at 12:20 am
This is Awesome! Just Awesome! You must be over the moon!
Terri Janson
May 4, 2015 at 12:35 pm
🙂 🙂 I’m SO glad!!! Wonderful!!!
Marsha
May 4, 2015 at 5:18 pm
Super News!
Ginny
May 4, 2015 at 5:29 pm
Susan, I know you have to come up with your own travel expenses, and since you attend AAFCO meetings on behalf of all pet parents, I hope commenters and all those who benefit from your tireless efforts to protect their fur kids will donate to you to help with your travel expenses. Can you suggest a way we can do that?
Susan Thixton
May 4, 2015 at 5:48 pm
Thank you so much Ginny! I will be putting a donate button up within the next few days – but in the meantime if you want donations can be sent to my PayPal account (send to email Susan – at – TruthaboutPetFood.com). Again – thank you so much for your comment and kind thoughts. It costs about $1500 to attend each AAFCO meeting (air fare, hotel and admission) – so any donation for this would be very much appreciated.