Let the FDA Hear Your Voice!
HIGH PRIORITY GUEST POST!!
Originally posted by Susan Thixton on TruthAboutPetFood, January 1, 2014, and re-posted here with permission.
If we’ve ever had a chance for things in pet food to change…now is it. Your comment is needed – and this is very simple.
Back in October 2013, the FDA announced many new proposed regulations that will govern the manufacturing and warehousing of pet food and animal feed. Their explanation of all the proposed regulations was over 600 pages in length – guaranteed to cause a headache trying to read and absorb it all.
These new regulations are ‘proposed’ – meaning that the FDA has not decided completely if the future laws will be the same as the ‘proposed’ rules. The FDA is asking for comments from consumers, ingredient suppliers, pet food/animal feed manufacturers, and stakeholder groups (such as lobby groups representing industry). And the agency says they will take into consideration everyone’s comments (such as if industry complains that they just can’t keep equipment clean or they need five years to establish record keeping). But…remember…the FDA says they will take everyone’s comments into consideration! If pet food consumers don’t tell the FDA how they feel…guess who’s comments they will be listening to? Industry.
And your comment to FDA can be very simple…
That’s it. Tell the FDA your pets are your family. You expect pet food to be…
• Made with the same quality of ingredients…
• Held to the same Good Manufacturing Practices…
• Held to the same transportation practices…
• Warehoused the same…
• And labeled the same…
…as food for any other member of your family would consume.
Tell the FDA your pets are family!
Please, please, please do this! Take five minutes and fill out the comment form on the Regulations.gov website.
Click Here to be taken directly to that page.
At the bottom of the form – under “Category” – select Individual Consumer or International Public Citizen if you are outside the US.
Please ask every pet food consumer you know to give their comments too. Please share this post on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, forums…everywhere. And/or email this page to every pet food consumer you know. We have this one chance – let’s show the FDA how important our pets are to us. Post your comment – tell the FDA your pets are family!
If you’d like to read more about the proposed regulations…
Click Here to read the FDA pages.
Click Here to read my lengthy post detailing the regulations.
Click Here to read Mollie Morrissette’s post and her presentation given to FDA in California.
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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Updated 01/16/14 to add…
My friends, if you own pets, you owe it to yourself to tell the FDA how disappointed you are in the current deplorable condition of the pet food industry. Safety standards are nearly nonexistent – in 2013, there was a pet food or treat recall EVERY 11 DAYS!
That’s pathetic.
And the food products themselves go beyond unhealthy to downright dangerous. Feline life expectancy has been shrinking for over a decade. Obesity is now at epidemic levels for both cats and dogs, and many other preventable diseases are on path to follow. The Banfield 2012 Pet Health Report five-year statistics show dramatic increases in the following diseases:
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– Obesity jumped 90%.
– Arthritis diagnoses swelled 67%.
– Incidents of hyperthyroidism rose 19%.
– Diabetes mellitus grew 16%.
– Kidney disease multiplied 15%.
Why are these diseases – every one of which has been linked to diet – on the rise?
Now is the time to demand answers and improvement from the FDA. Please take a few minutes and complete the form! And please share with your friends. We have a huge opportunity for change here, let’s seize it!!!!
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My pets are my children. I expect pet food to be…
• Made with the same quality of ingredients…
• Held to the same Good Manufacturing Practices…
• Held to the same transportation practices…
• Warehoused the same…
• And labeled the same…
…as food for any other member of my family would consume.
My pets are my children!
Indeed, Rebecca, I’m with you! Is this the same comment you left on the FDA’s form?
our pets deserve the same quality of food that we as humans eat.
Amen, Sandy!
I THINK IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING, THAT WE DEMAND SAFE QUALITY FOOD FOR OUR PETS FOR THEIR HEALTH AND THAT WE CAN SAFELY ELIMINATE UNEXPLAINED ACTIVITY AND PET DEATHS DUE TO UNSAFE INGREDIENTS IN OUR PETS FOOD. WASTE NO TIME AND GET WITH IT NOW.
Except, sadly, it’s pretty clear we do need to say it, Bill. Even one food-related death is too much. There have been thousands and they continue still. :-{
Pet food labels should be similar to the labels that are on food for human consumption. They should contain the number of servings per container with the nutritional percentages per serving. Because of the number of pets that have health issues the following items should be included on all labels. Also labels & feeding info needs to be large enough for people to read without having to resort to finding a magnifying glass. Also, the country where the product was manufactured needs to be clearly written on the label. In addition all of this information also needs to be on the company’s website. Values on the labels need to be per serving and NOT minimum/maximum values. The following items need to be included:
Ingredients; percentages of protein, carbohydrates, fat per serving; grams of fiber and phosphorus; number of servings per container and size of each serving.
Nicely detailed, Lisa! Is this the same comment you left on the FDA’s form?
Lisa Carroll made excellent points. her comment about larger print – many cat owners like myself, are partially sighted. why don’t manufacturers of animal and human food realise that many partially sighted people like/NEED to know what their animals and themselves are eating. all food products make huge profis for most manufacturers – would it be so hard on the shareholders if a bit more was spent on ACCURATE, LEGIBLE labelling? even my friends with 20-20 vision, find labels hard to read.
It is time the FDA REGULATE and demand higher quality of food for our Pets just as the FDA regulates food for human consumption.
Standards for producing, storing, and labeling PET food must improve greatly to Prevent future senseless deaths.
China has poor sanitary laws, poor regulations for ingredients allowed in food as does Many Pet food producers here in the USA. when MoNEY is the Motivator most companies CUT Quality and our pets get poor quality food.
Transparency of all ingredients in the food must be labeled Clearly and better quality if food needs to be produced.
It wasn’t until a few years ago that I began to realize that not all food was manufactured equally. I am horrified at the state of the pet food industry. We have been blessed thus far with our “babies”. This problem has now caught my attention and I will be spreading the word as far and wide as I possibly can. Thank you all for bringing this to the forefront!
I am very encouraged to learn tgat the FDA finally is adressing the quality of pet food in the U.S. I have been a pet owner and volunteer since 1970 and have seen the serious health issues caused by commercial pet food. While living overseas for 20 years and feeding my pets home cooked food, theyhad no
digestive or urinary track issues. I brought four pets back to the U.S. in 1988 and witnessed their early deaths from health issues while feeding
them Science Diet, the food recommended by vets. Pet food should be regulated in the same way as human food with no chemicals added and
clean and healthy ingredients. They also should contain no GMO products
and especially no ingredients from China. Pets are very important family
members and should be able to eat a healthy diet as close to what their
ancestors ate in nature as possible. Pets have become family members in a large portion of the U.S. population. Pet food is a burgeoning industry in the U.S. and needs to be regulated in the same way as human food.
I need to have good quality cat food for my boys as they are important to me and so is what I feed them shirley sumner xxx