As many of you know, contaminated pet food killed my Ollie in 2007 (that’s his brother and one of his sisters in the pic to the left), along with an estimated 8,500 other cats and dogs. One response to this massacre was the government’s Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), singed into law in January, 2011. As part of their compliance with that act, the FDA created a formal process for reporting pet food problems.
Sweeping changes are needed to improve the safety and nutritional profile of manufactured pet foods, and it’s going to take all of us to make that happen. Every time your pet’s food is moldy, contains foreign material, or is determined to be the cause of your pet’s ill health, report the info and get your vet to do the same!
The FDA has published two videos providing detailed guidance on reporting pet food problems. The first is for consumers and the second for manufacturers (I include it because it may be of interest to some of you).
EDITED TO ADD: It appears the FDA has pulled these videos down due to some “endorsement” concerns. If and when they are restored, I’ll link to them here again.
I haven’t fed manufactured cat food for several years, but it’s a total no-brainer that pet food should at a bare minimum be safe to feed. Such is not the case today, but you can help change that. Every time you pop the top on a can of substandard cat food, report it! (Click here if you’re still feeding kibble!) And if your cat becomes sick, make sure your vet reports the issue as well. Only by proving our case and holding the pet food industry accountable can we force the changes so necessary to ensure our pets’ foods are safe!
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Created 09/22/15
