Amid a rise in highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) cases – specifically the poultry virus crossing species and infecting cattle, AAFCO recently made a public statement defending the safety of a controversial legally defined feed ingredient – poultry litter (chicken poop).
On May 2, 2024 AAFCO stated:
“There are several news articles insinuating that poultry litter may be the culprit behind the spread of HPAI in U.S. dairy cattle. While it is theoretically possible, it is very unlikely the illness was spread through animal feed.”
AAFCO’s statement – telling the public the organization believes poultry feces feed ingredients are safe – crosses a very concerning line. Regulatory forming an opinion and acting on that opinion – can easily result in a failed investigation.
The individuals that make up AAFCO’s membership are State Department of Agriculture and FDA employees. Thus, regulatory made the decision/formed the opinion that an ingredient was safe BEFORE a full investigation is complete. This acting on opinions by regulatory is a huge problem, this attitude prevents proper investigations from being performed.
Regulators at AAFCO develop legal definitions with intentions of manufacturers abiding by safety requirements. BUT…without a full investigation, regulators do not know if those safety requirements were followed. By forming a public opinion that an ingredient is safe based on the legal safety requirements – without knowing if a manufacturer actually followed those safety requirements…hinders a proper investigation.
By forming an opinion like this, regulators could decide the outcome of an investigation before it is complete.
We’ve seen this same problematic attitude in the current pet food investigation. Several State Department of Agriculture agencies had formed an opinion that the pet food was safe – voicing that opinion to the pet owner. When a regulatory representative was collecting pet food samples directly from a pet owner whose pet had died – the regulatory official told the grieving pet owner “You don’t have a chance to prove there is a problem with the pet food.”
Does regulatory opinions result in failed or delayed investigations?
It certainly could – and perhaps is problematic with the current pet food concerns and the spread of HPAI.
And just in case you don’t know…
AAFCO has legal definitions of multiple feces ingredients. These include:
Dried Poultry Waste
Dried Poultry Waste NPN Extracted
Dried Poultry Litter
Dried Ruminant Waste
Dried Swine Waste
Undried Processed Animal Waste Products
Processed Animal Waste Derivative
Sad but true, all of the above ingredients are legally allowed to be used in animal feed, most commonly used in livestock feed.
Personal opinion (I’m not regulatory, I can have an opinion): Of course there is a problem with feeding animals processed feces. You can cook it, grind it, color it…but it is still $#!*.
Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,
Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author Buyer Beware, Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
TruthaboutPetFood.com
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Hope Williams
May 7, 2024 at 11:59 am
Just WOW!
Terrie Rolph
May 7, 2024 at 12:10 pm
Thank you for your tireless and courageous work.
Dianne & pets
May 7, 2024 at 12:28 pm
I expect that someday it will end up in our food, as a legally defended ingredient. Am I mis-remembering that h5n1 is showing up in dogs?
T Allen
May 7, 2024 at 12:53 pm
I’m not defending the practice but it’s been around for a long time. Chickens turned out on fields and holding lots for cattle to scavenge leftover grains from feces and feeding chicken waste which contained undigested grains was a common practice in the 70’s. https://academic.oup.com/jas/article-abstract/31/1/107/4699454 I had assumed it would be less common now since most feeds are finely ground, highly processed, pellets to increase the utilization (less waste) of grain. I’m not surprised the practice has been adapted. Why sell perfectly good chicken poop for fertilizer, for pennies a pound, when you can sell it for livestock feed for $1/# or even better, dog food, at $10/#??
SD Cook
May 12, 2024 at 6:23 pm
Having chicken and other fowl on sustainably pastured and rotated, cattle pastures shouldn’t pose a problem. That’s how smaller spreads have always had to work, for ages. That is, until the rise of BigAgra and captured agencies (Fed and State).
The problem, pet food wise, I suspect is more at those big feed lot cattle/pork operations and the fowl (foul) ingredients coming from, again, BigAgra fowl breeding lots.
But. These are the same beeves and porkers being carved up for human consumption too!
We don’t buy supermarket meats. We have a monthly share in a regional supplier that sources from local sustainable, pasture fed/finished farms. Yeah, it costs a little more and we don’t eat filet mignon (wouldn’t anyway, still…). We’re moving off commercial kibble, and have always given our pets the same ‘wet’ food that we’d consume.
Cathi W
May 7, 2024 at 12:56 pm
My dogs only eat “The List” approved foods, and I’m vegan so I’m not worried about myself, but my husband is a meat eater and the statement “ Sad but true, all of the above ingredients are legally allowed to be used in animal feed, most commonly used in livestock feed.” concerned me… does that say that all meat from livestock (meaning what my husband eats) could potentially not be safe?
Susan Thixton
May 7, 2024 at 1:31 pm
I cannot make that determination – that has to come from FDA and/or USDA.
Diane
May 7, 2024 at 6:00 pm
True, but why trust it? …we know how corrupt the food industry is and how they absolutely don’t give a damn about our health.
Barbara Fellnermayr
May 7, 2024 at 3:17 pm
I’m just in total shock. Chicken, pig, horse it’s all just S#1T! People eat the animals that eat this GARBAGE!!!! Maybe they can figure a way to recycle people poop! It could be fed to the chickens, cows, pigs, horses etc. It would complete the poop loop!
Customers that pay $20 for a 20# bag of dog food are getting a bag full of crap and they don’t know it. Then they wonder why their dogs/cats are sick all the time.
The final results show in the health and vitality of the pet. Customers that understand the difference in ingredients understand why there is a difference in the price.
Dianne & pets
May 9, 2024 at 7:08 pm
Sewage sludge is being applied to fields and not so surprisingly, it seems the practice is not as safe as had been assumed.
Bunny
May 8, 2024 at 10:37 am
Not all people eat such garbage and not all people feed it to their dog(s) and in my case also my horses. Those who do are too lazy to read labels or watchdog reports such as Susan’s heroic posts. For people food visit organic farm stands and local butcher shops and stay out of supermarkets except for some kitchen staples but even then be diligent about label-reading and try where possible to buy organic; for example, I am in Oregon and one of my kitchen staples as I bake a LOT is organic flour and I buy an Oregon brand that has been around for decades and is manufactured in a plant only an hour from where I live – a plant I have toured. If one puts even a few minutes a day into reading labels and being diligent about ingredients people and their critters will be so much healthier. And if you don’t have enough “time” to do that you don’t have enough time to have any critters.