The FDA provided us with our first official stakeholder meeting today (9/23/22). Participating from FDA was Dr. Steven Solomon – Director of FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Timothy Schell – CVM Director of Office of Surveillance and Compliance, Tracey Forfa – Deputy Director of FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine, and Anne Norris – (not sure of her official position) who works in the FDA CVM communication division.
Participating on our end was Bryan – a pet owner, Stacie – a pet store owner, Dr. Judy Morgan – a veterinarian, and myself.
Bryan started the conversation sharing that labels don’t give sufficient information. He asked FDA for label disclosure of country of origin of ingredient and quality of ingredient (feed or food) information.
I reminded FDA of the misleading images on labels (such as pictures of roasted chicken), and reminded them we have existing pet food labeling laws that prohibit misleading images on packaging. I asked ‘Why is no one enforcing label regulations?’ My question was met with silence. No one responded.
Tracey Forfa of FDA spoke up sharing FDA’s perspective – she shared that it is difficult on their end to know what label changes to make that all pet owners would understand.
Stacie (pet store owner) addressed FDA’s perspective perfectly sharing she felt FDA wasn’t giving consumers credit. She told FDA numerous times throughout our hour long meeting all consumers want is the truth, they want to know what they are buying.
The FDA questioned Stacie during the meeting regarding her experiences with availability of products (since COVID) and how significantly prices have increased.
Dr. Judy Morgan closed out the meeting with her statements and questions to FDA regarding prescription pet food. Dr. Judy did a tremendous job sharing the frustrations of pet owners regarding prescription diets – she did not miss one point of concern. The FDA responded briefly to her concerns, but Dr. Judy made the point with FDA a second time of what is actually happening with prescription diets (not what is supposed to be happening).
The FDA listened to us, time will tell if they actually heard us. Unfortunately change takes time, but I believe we all made the point that pet owners have waited long enough for these changes. We want and deserve change.
Thank you to Bryan, Stacie, and Dr. Judy. And thank you to FDA for our initial stakeholder meeting, we appreciate the opportunity to be heard. We look forward to more in the future.
Wishing you and your pet the best –
Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
TruthaboutPetFood.com
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