When Regulatory Doesn’t Regulate… – Truth about Pet Food

The Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) recently sent out an unusual email. The email starts off with:

“…you may be concerned about the emergence of commercial feed products with hemp and hemp byproducts entering the marketplace before the completion of critical research and legal approval. Considering the potential safety concerns of THC, CBD, and other cannabinoids, it is important to begin a collaborative discussion among regulators and industry to ensure feed with hemp ingredients does not adversely impact the feed industry, consumers, and animal health.”

What is this all about?

The short story is that the hemp industry is selling to the pet food and animal feed industry even though the hemp ingredients are not officially defined by AAFCO. And…AAFCO isn’t happy about that.

The long story explains why industry knows full well that AAFCO’s regulatory authorities rarely enforce pet food law, and they basically have free reign to do what they want.

In 2017 and updated in 2020, AAFCO issued a strongly worded Hemp Guidelines document. The guideline firmly states: “As of July 2020, hemp and hemp products may not be used in animal feed or pet food in the United States.” This guideline includes CBD pet products. The regulatory authority members of AAFCO position is that until hemp/CBD ingredients are defined by AAFCO, pet products that include them should not be on store shelves.

So why does every pet food store and online retailers sell CBD pet products? There are hundreds of different CBD pet products selling all across the U.S. If those ingredients “may not be used” – why are they selling everywhere? The answer: no one stopped industry from selling CBD and Hemp products to pet stores.

The same issue happened with pea protein and pea starch ingredients in pet foods. These ingredients of pet food were used as far back as 2008 but they were not defined by AAFCO until 2016. Ignoring AAFCO requirements, ingredient suppliers sold undefined ingredients to pet food and nobody stopped them.

At the 2015 AAFCO August meeting, there was a lengthy discussion regarding the definitions of pet food ingredients poultry and poultry by-product. The AAFCO representative who investigated the ingredients “…did a considerable amount of research on these definitions and became aware that the definitions did not reflect industry practice.” In other words, the pet food ingredient industry was ignoring the legal requirements of poultry ingredients, selling to pet food manufacturers whatever they wanted – without worry of enforcement of law because they knew…no one will stop them.

And now with hemp/CBD products, history is repeating itself.

AAFCO is an organization of regulatory authorities; AAFCO states they are a (bold added) “membership organization of state, federal and international animal feed control officials who adhere to state and federal laws as they regulate animal feed products in the advancement of animal and public health and safety.”

But…

We know with absolute certainty AAFCO members (FDA and State Department of Agriculture) do NOT ‘adhere to state and federal laws as they regulate animal feed’ and pet food. Federal law and state law (in many states) specifically prohibits a pet food from sourcing ingredients from diseased animals and/or animals that have died other than by slaughter. But not one regulatory authority enforces this law.

And we know that pea protein and pea fiber ingredients were used in pet foods long before they were legal, we know that poultry ingredients in pet foods were not matching the legal definitions, and we know that CBD pet products are available everywhere even though the hemp/CBD ingredients should be legally defined.

We (pet owners) know regulatory doesn’t enforce state and/or federal laws. But the worst part is industry knows it too. Industry knows no one is going to check if the ingredients listed on the label are actually in the food, and rarely will regulatory test for pentobarbital or aflatoxin. Industry knows there is only a slight chance of getting caught regardless to what law they have violated.

And this puts so many pets at risk.

Personal opinion: AAFCO’s email stated: “it is important to begin a collaborative discussion among regulators and industry…” I disagree. What’s important is regulators enforcing law. Why have expensive to attend regulatory meetings – two a year, year after year and then not enforce the laws written there? Why have legal definitions of ingredients without enforcing those definitions? Why have nutritional standards when no one is assuring those standards are being met?

The current ‘honor system’ isn’t working. Just ask any pet owner whose dog or cat died because of a pet food that ignored law.

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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