The single most important decision we will ever make for our feline friends is what to put on their plates. The freshest, cleanest products are the best for them, just as they are for us, but how can we ensure that’s what they’re getting when we purchase a commercial product?
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HIGH PRIORITY GUEST POST!!
Originally posted by Susan Thixton on TruthAboutPetFood, June 5, 2015, and re-posted here with permission.
Tell the FDA and AAFCO Pet Food Consumers Want to Know
What is your pet food made from – edible food or inedible waste meats and vegetables? Do you know? Most consumers don’t know because pet food regulations DO NOT require manufacturers to tell consumers the quality of ingredients used in the pet food. Tell the FDA and AAFCO you want to know!
The FDA and AAFCO allows pet food to be made from…
• meat sourced from diseased animals;
• fats sourced from used restaurant grease;
• almost any adulterated human food;
• chemical or pesticide contaminated vegetables, grains, fruits.
The above quality of ingredients are known in the pet food industry as feed grade, pet grade, or inedible ingredients.
The FDA and AAFCO also allows pet food to be made from USDA inspected and approved edible meats, vegetables and grains (known in the pet food industry as human grade or food grade).
But the FDA and AAFCO does not require pet food manufacturers to tell the consumer which is which. An edible food ingredient pet food sits on the store shelf right next to an inedible pet grade ingredient pet food and the labels look almost identical. The pet food consumer has little to no information to know which pet food is made with edible food or inedible waste food.
The only pet food ingredient quality verification program consumers had, was just dropped by the FDA. Without warning to consumers, the FDA ended their pet food ingredient quality verification. The decision of what’s next is now in the hands of AAFCO.
At the August 2015 AAFCO Meeting, the Pet Food Committee will discuss what to do now that FDA and ended their ingredient quality verification. It is time for pet food consumers to tell FDA and AAFCO… I Want To Know!
From attending numerous AAFCO meetings as a consumer representative and having numerous discussions with FDA, I honestly believe regulatory authorities do not have a clue to the challenges pet food consumers face. They have no clue how difficult it is to purchase a pet food we can trust our pet’s life with, they have no clue to the misleading information pet food tells us. We’ve (the various consumer advocates) told them your pet food challenges – but they dismiss us as being dramatic. These regulatory authorities need to hear from all of you. They need to know – without doubt – that pet food consumers want to know the quality of ingredients used in their pet foods.
When I shared with all the news that FDA ended their pet food ingredient verification process, your comments wanted a petition. How about two petitions? One is Change.org, the other is Whitehouse.gov. Both petitions are similar, have the same message. I included the Whitehouse.gov petition because if enough signatures are acquired (100,000 within 30 days), the White House administration will provide us with a response to this critical issue in pet food.
And your consumer advocates will hand deliver all signatures and messages to the AAFCO Pet Food Committee and FDA at the August AAFCO meeting.
This issue is one of the most significant in pet food. It is critical that we achieve thousands – hundreds of thousands of signatures. No pet food consumer should purchase a pet food, trust a pet food blindly.
Tell FDA and AAFCO: I Want To Know! the quality of ingredients used in my pet food. I Want To Know! if my choice of pet food is made with edible food ingredients or inedible pet grade/feed grade ingredients. I Want To Know!
We need your signatures on both petitions. Sign, share, and then share again.
For all pet food consumers: This is not a judgment for or against any pet food. This is simply disclosure. Because pet food is allowed to be made from very drastically different quality of ingredients (edible or inedible – food or feed/pet grade), consumers deserve to know what they are buying.
Click Here to sign the Change.org petition.
Click Here to sign the Whitehouse.gov petition.
Click Here for a printable/shareable one sheet info-graphic explanation of our fight.
Please know – if we do not get a significant number of signatures from pet food consumers, nothing will change. We need a very strong showing of consumer support. Please take the time to sign both petitions, share the info-graphic, and urge every pet food consumer you know to sign.
There needs to be no doubt. Pet food consumers Want To Know! Sign and share.
Next. Independent Pet Store owners need to send FDA and AAFCO your message too on this topic. Share with them your challenges to find quality of ingredient information from manufacturers (for your clients). Write up your message and email to me (Susan at TruthaboutPetFood dot com). Your messages will be hand delivered too. Store owner Nina Wolf will be present at the meeting to share face to face with authorities the challenges store owners face and will present your letters to the committee.
And lastly, we are asking for every veterinarian to share with FDA and AAFCO the challenges you face with pet food ingredient quality. Many have shared with me they are at a loss of what pet food to recommend to clients because they too have no idea to the quality of ingredients used to make the food. Please send veterinarian letters to me or Dr. Jean Hofve (click here for her contact page).
Again, this is not about judgment of any pet food. This is simply an issue of transparency. All pet food consumers deserve to know what they are purchasing. Please share this post, the info-graphic, and ask every pet food consumer you know to sign the petitions. Forces that be will only listen if A LOT of pet food consumers sign.
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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You’ve all heard Margaret Mead’s, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” Let’s make a difference right now! Let’s get some transparency around manufactured pet food products! Sign these petitions, and share them everywhere!
Let the FDA and AAFCO hear us loud and clear – we want to know what’s in our pets’ food!
