The AAFCO ban of consumers takes an interesting turn: revenge.
It never made sense. In November 2019, AAFCO sent out emails to multiple pet owners and pet owner advocates banning them from participating in public meetings. AAFCO and/or their attorney refused to explain to pet owners and advocates the reasoning behind the ban. And then one of those banned – Kohl Harrington, producer of the documentary Pet Fooled – discovered (through Freedom of Information Act requests) exactly why AAFCO kicked pet owners and advocates to the curb. AAFCO…more specifically their Board of Directors…was getting even.
Background of the vindictive actions of AAFCO: In July of 2019, Answers Pet Food filed a lawsuit against FDA, the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), and Colorado Department of Agriculture. This pet food company filed this lawsuit to achieve one simple thing…they are asking the court to require pet food regulators to enforce and abide by law.
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) acquired emails prove that the Board of Directors of AAFCO didn’t like having a lawsuit filed against them…didn’t like being asked to abide by law. FOIA acquired emails prove that the Board of Directors of AAFCO decided to get even with Answers Pet Food and ANY pet owner advocate that defended Answers Pet Food request for law enforcement AND get even with any pet owner or advocate that sat next to them or spoke to them at previous AAFCO meetings.
Below is an image of a FOIA acquired email from AAFCO’s Executive Director Sue Hays to AAFCO’s attorney John Dillard and to 2019 AAFCO President Robert Geiger (Indiana Office of State Chemist), to 2020 AAFCO President Kristen Green (Kentucky Division of Regulatory Services), to AAFCO Board of Director Ali Kashani (Washington Department of Agriculture, and to AAFCO Board of Director Stan Cook (Missouri Department of Agriculture):
AAFCO banned “those consumers who have come with this group in the past“. AAFCO ban of consumers and advocates was strictly due to those consumers or advocates sitting near Answers Pet Food during a meeting.
Just curious: Who would you sit next to if you attended an AAFCO meeting? A vindictive regulatory authority, a feed grade pet food manufacturer that believes recycled waste is perfectly fine for pets to consume, or a human grade pet food manufacturer that believes pets deserve clean, nutritious food?
Many of us chose to sit next to that human grade manufacturer. And because we did…AAFCO (specifically the AAFCO Board of Directors) kicked us to the curb – prohibited us from having a voice in the pet food regulatory process. Vindictive much?
And then it gets worse. Pet owners from Washington state emailed their Attorney General’s office regarding the AAFCO ban of consumers. Washington responded to these pet owners (all received the same message), giving us evidence AAFCO told the Washington Attorney General the ONLY people banned from meetings were ones that are involved in the Answer’s lawsuit; “AAFCO has closed access to AAFCO advisors who are also intervenors in the lawsuit, until the case is resolved. We are not aware of any further closures.” It appears AAFCO lied to the Washington Attorney General. None of the pet owners or pet owner advocates banned are intervenors in the lawsuit. NONE.
And then there is the email evidence that AAFCO Board of Directors consulted with the trade associations that represent feed grade manufacturers for advice on how to handle consumers protest of closed meetings. Note the attitude towards some consumers from Pet Food Institute and National Grain and Feed Association that AAFCO plans to adopt:
To read more AAFCO emails provided by FOIA request, Click Here.
Is this the pet food regulatory system pet owners and our pets deserve? An out of control, vindictive regulatory system? A regulatory system that considers pet owners who demand food (not feed) for their pet and transparency in government as don’t-waste-your-time-on consumers?
The AAFCO Board of Directors has MORE than shown us their true colors. This must end. A vindictive association of regulatory authorities should NOT be allowed to write law. The current AAFCO system is severely flawed, broken.
If you haven’t signed the petition to demand FDA withdraw from AAFCO, please do. Click Here to sign.
Feel free to send the AAFCO Board of Directors an email regarding their vindictive actions against consumers.
Robert Geiger – 2019 AAFCO President. Email: geigerb@purdue.edu
Kristen Green – 2020 AAFCO President. Email: kristen.mary.green@uky.edu
Stan Cook – Past President. Email: stan.cook@mda.mo.gov
Ali Kashani. Email: akashani@agr.wa.gov
Sue Hays – AAFCO Excutive Director. Email: exec@AAFCO.org
Erin Bubb. Email: ebubb@pa.gov
Dave Phillips. Email: davephillips@nd.gov
George Ferguson. Email: george.ferguson@ncagr.gov
Austin Therrell. Email: atherrell@scda.sc.gov
Hollis Glen. Email: hollis.glenn@state.co.us
And don’t forget to send the FDA an email, telling them that a vindictive organization of regulatory authorities is not what our pets deserve. Tell FDA they must immediately withdraw from AAFCO. Email: AskCVM@fda.hhs.gov
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
Become a member of our pet food consumer Association. Association for Truth in Pet Food is a a stakeholder organization representing the voice of pet food consumers at AAFCO and with FDA. Your membership helps representatives attend meetings and voice consumer concerns with regulatory authorities. Click Here to learn more.
What’s in Your Pet’s Food?
Is your dog or cat eating risk ingredients? Chinese imports? Petsumer Report tells the ‘rest of the story’ on over 5,000 cat foods, dog foods, and pet treats. 30 Day Satisfaction Guarantee. Click Here to preview Petsumer Report. www.PetsumerReport.com
Find Healthy Pet Foods in Your Area Click Here
The 2020 List
Susan’s List of trusted pet foods. Click Here to learn more.
readerguest9
January 8, 2020 at 4:26 pm
After reading The Pet Food Pets Die For by Ann Martin years ago. Big Pet Food has rendering companies that pick up all the dead dogs and cats at animal shelter killing centers. The entire pet including collars are ground up and cooked as free cheap protein for Big Pet Food Kibble and Canned Pet Food. Pet food researchers like Ann Martin know this as a fact, it has been a secret kept from Pet Food consumers. It is the reality, like it or not. Pet food is very profitable with so many killed pets at every killing center, grain is nasty, moldy, buggy not fit for human consumption from the cereal industry. Rancid fat is fat dumped in 50 gallon drums and left in the heat, from restaurants, the bacteria in the fat barrel produce massive amount of toxins that cannot be cooked out of the rancid fat.
I Stopped buying kibble pet food or canned pet food. Feed real food. Raw EGGS for the most complete protein, plain KEFIR by yogurt in store for probiotics, CHIA seeds for fiber and firm poop, Sprinkle CUMIN spice to repel fleas, GREEN BEANS or GREEN PEAS for veggies and fiber and is filling, KELP capsule for Iodine, SELENIUM capsule for best absorption of the most important Iodine for health, NEEM capsule helps repel bugs, COD LIVER OIL capsule for vitamin D3, BLACK WALNUT capsule to prevent and kill heartworms. Treats are APPLE slices, BANANA slices, freeze dried raw meat RAW NIBS at OnlyNaturalPet I now also buy Frozen Raw ground meat, veggies, fruits and supplements frozen at the local Livestock Feed Supply store. Must be NO HPP No High Pressure Pasteurization. Pasteurization, either hot or or pressure, kills bacteria and all the healthy nutrients too. Buy NO HPP so all the nutrients are alive and intact for health.
~ Pet Owner ~
January 8, 2020 at 7:08 pm
To which I always add the same note. Your dog has to be in a healthy balanced state already, and to be able to digest this stuff. I don’t feed kibble. And do feed human grade beef with my own filler. Rotating in some raw for organ meat and ground bone meal. (By the way … when ‘we” eat meat we’re cooking it. And it still has nutrition).
Cannoliamo
January 8, 2020 at 5:45 pm
Thanks Susan. Enlightening to say the least. I feel like I just got the minutes to a pre-assassination Trump briefing or a tobacco industry marketing ploy or a pharmaceutical price-fixing scheme or an automobile manufacturer discussion of seat belts or a wall street meeting about credit default swap marketing or ……….. AAFCO is no less self-interested and no more consumer-oriented than any mass-marketing corporate enterprise who caters more to the desires of their stakeholders than to either their customers or consumers. You are a true martyr for us in helping to disclose some the organizational corruption throughout the pet food industry and their pseudo-regulatory representatives.
Terry
January 8, 2020 at 7:01 pm
What a vile and loathsome organization. To me they sound like petulant children.
From the FOIA emails its readily apparent the group’s sole purpose is placating pet food manufacturers. I wonder what “consideration” the members receive…
Laura Beveridge
January 11, 2020 at 9:32 am
(Copied from my Facebook post because I want them to know how mad I am.) SUE HAYES, I’m one of your 10% of consumer activists (more than that but that isn’t the point of this) and you kicked me out of AAFCO. By the way how does 10% consumer acitivists and 80% of those that aren’t activists add up to 100%. Your math is as bad as your ability to protect our pets. Perhaps you left out “10% militant” which is what you are creating by deceiving everyone. You kicked me out because I sat with Roxanne, Susan Thixton, and others and you know that I had nothing to do with the lawsuit (and neither of the other two, Andrea Phillips and Julie Elrod,did anything wrong.) We paid our 500 to attend the meeting because we had lost pets and/or had sickened pets from products that aren’t safe. And Mrs. Hayes, they are not safe because you don’t do your jobs. Instead you sit back and conspire on how to keep consumers and ethical advocates out of your hair so that you can continue to be flippant about consumers not being too smart. Well, now we can talk about not being smart. What a brilliant paperwork trail that was!
Stephanie
January 12, 2020 at 6:59 pm
@Laura Beveridge
I loved your comment. Well said!
Tina
January 11, 2020 at 9:00 pm
Wow…this info discovered through FOIA is very eye-opening (as is everything else you’ve brought to light Susan). Thank you