We will soon be attending the next AAFCO meeting, being held in Baltimore, MD beginning on 7/31/23.
Pet owners cannot give comments on any items of discussion, only paid admission ($575.00) allows for comments. But pet owners can listen to the sessions, AAFCO provides this page with phone numbers: https://www.aafco.org/events/midyear-and-annual-meetings/annual/2023-annual-meeting-listen-only/.
The meeting agenda tells us that beginning in 2025 the AAFCO President will be Laura Scott from Canada. We find this a bit concerning as Canada has no pet food regulations.
The Business Meeting (Monday July 31, 2023 9:00 – 10:15 AM ET) will vote to finally accept regulations for updated pet food labeling. Should any pet owner wish to read, the meeting agenda book (published in a pdf document) provides the full regulations for pet food starting on page 27. The updated label regulations begin in section PF5, page 33. Click Here to download the full meeting agenda book.
New labels – once implemented – will include various icons for handling and storage. See page 45 in agenda book.
New labels will also include a Nutrition Facts box similar to what is seen on human food (further confusing pet food consumers to believe feed grade pet foods are made with similar ingredients to human food). See page 47 in agenda book.
Tracey Forfa, Director of FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine, will give a keynote address at the meeting on Monday from 10:30 – 11:00 AM.
The Ingredient Definitions Committee meeting will be held in two sessions – one on Monday July 31 from 2:15 – 3:45 PM ET, the second on Tuesday August 1, 2023 from 9:00 – 10:30 AM ET. There will be a new ingredient definition discussed (initially for poultry feed) – “Dried Recovered Household Food.” This ingredient to be discussed is actually food waste from households – recycled into poultry feed. The company proposing this ingredient will give a presentation in the Tuesday morning session. Full agenda of this Committee can be read on page 60 of the agenda book.
The Pet Food Committee meeting will be held Tuesday August 1, 2023 from 1:15 to 3:15 PM ET. Discussion will include a new regulation for a “low copper claim” on pet food labels. Full agenda of this Committee can be read on page 70 of the agenda book.
We will provide pet owners with details of the meeting when we return home. Wish us luck!
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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Barbara Fellnermayr
July 29, 2023 at 2:00 pm
Human food wasted chicken to be recycled for dog food? Wow, now I’ve heard everything. I have so many questions! How are they going to collect it? How are or will they separate it from other food waste? What if the chicken was cooked with onions? What about the cooked bones? Does it matter how the chicken was cooked?
I guess I already know all the answers. They don’t care! If they currently make food that has euthanol in it, why would they care about onions and cooked bones. They’ll grind it up into a slurry and dry it. You don’t know what’s in it! But, I guess they think it’s cheap and “good enough” for pets.
They don’t consider pets as family members, like we do!
SHAME on them. They should be forced to eat this garbage!
Susan and the rest, give ’em hell!
Susan Thixton
July 29, 2023 at 3:23 pm
For now, the human food waste is only being considered for poultry feed. It is not approved or being considered for pet food.
Dianne & pets
July 29, 2023 at 9:27 pm
I wonder how long that will last. If they couldn’t be bothered to make sure that euthanized animals are not in their ingredients or to do proper quality controls, I have no confidence.
Jayne Healy
July 29, 2023 at 8:10 pm
Thank you Susan.
Dianne & pets
July 29, 2023 at 9:30 pm
Who is Laura Scott? Maybe we Canadians could write to her and ask about the lack of regulations and how that fact may affect her agenda as head.