Pet Food Regulation Fight Part III

Pet food ingredients that could possibly contain a 4-D animal are: 'Meat and Bone Meal', 'Meat Meal' (not meals that are meat specific such as 'chicken meal'), 'By-Product Meal', 'Animal Digest', and 'Animal Fat'. The two most commonly used pet food ingredients from this list would be by-product meal and animal fat. Some of the most popular pet foods available use these ingredients. According to Federal Law - specifically section 402 (a)(5) of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act - all pet foods and treats that contain the ingredients meat and bone meal, meat meal, by-product meal, animal digest, and/or animal fat, the companies that manufacture them, the companies that transport them, and the companies that sell them - are in violation of Federal law and subject to fines and penalties.

One more piece of evidence to prove the FDA ignores Federal law is under the category of misbranded food. Quoting the FD&C Act: Section 403 Misbranded food: "A food shall be deemed to be misbranded - "False or misleading label. If (1) its labeling is false or misleading in any particular, or (2) in the case of a food to which section 411 applies, its advertising is false or misleading in a material respect or its labeling is in violation of section 411(b)(2)." Pet food regulations are developed by AAFCO (American Association of Feed Control Officials) and are completely accepted by the FDA. In complete defiance of Federal law, AAFCO regulations allow pet food manufacturers to misbrand pet foods. Regulation PF7 of the AAFCO manual, category Nutritional Adequacy: (a) "The label of a pet food or specialty pet food which is intended for all life stages of the pet or specialty pet may include an unqualified claim, directly or indirectly, such as 'complete and balanced', 'perfect', 'scientific' or '100% nutritious'..."

Federal Law states misbranding of a food is when the label provides misleading information; AAFCO and the FDA ignore the law and allow pet foods to make misleading claims. Every pet food label that has been allowed to make an "unqualified claim, directly or indirectly" is in direct violation of Federal Law.

This has to stop.

The FDA should not - Can Not - be allowed to ignore Federal law.

I have a plan to force the FDA to abide by Federal law, but I need help from a few pet owners in every state across the U.S. Here is the plan...

A bunch of little dogs and cats take on the Big Dogs!

This is an FDA compliance issue; the FDA's compliance with Federal Law. While some pet owners might feel angst and anger against pet food manufacturers, responsibility lies firmly on the FDA. Our plan will be to force the FDA to comply with Federal law. It must be noted that the likely response from the FDA will be to blame AAFCO (American Association of Feed Control Officials who develops the animal feed regulations accepted by the FDA). These two organizations work together; the FDA flatly accepts AAFCO regulations and ingredient definitions. Regardless of AAFCO's role in ignoring Federal law, ultimate responsibility to protect food in the U.S. - human and pet food - lies within the FDA.

Petitioning the FDA would be futile. The FDA website provides information for consumers regarding "Making your Voice Heard at FDA"; including how to submit a petition to the FDA.

http://www.fda.gov/op... This webpage clearly states that "FDA management decides whether to grant a petition" and that the process "may take several weeks to more than a year". We can assume FDA management would not take a petition from pet owners seriously (especially since they don't even take Federal law seriously).

Instead, our efforts will be directed to the FDA's boss, Congress; the elected Officials in Washington working for you (and who don't want bad press when they don't do their job). I need several 'volunteers' from every state to write a letter to your Representative in Congress (I'll provide you with a sample letter) insisting that the FDA be forced to abide by Federal Law, AND requesting a written response from your Representative explaining what they plan to do about this issue. All of the responses from Congress will be posted on TruthaboutPetFood.com. When the letters start rolling into Washington, and when every member of Congress finds out that 74 million U.S. pet owners will be watching what they do, and reading each Congressional response to this issue (and the media, as well as pet owners all over the world), maybe, just maybe, we can force the FDA to stop this abuse of the law.

No government agency should be allowed to violate Federal law. No dog food, cat food, or pet treat should contain even the slightest bit of a diseased, dead, disabled, or dying animal; every pet food should be labeled honestly. The law provides this for our pets.

Please email me at StoptheFDA@TruthaboutPetFood.com if you are willing to contact your Representative and become a part in this effort to change pet food (please make sure to send me the state you are from). After the election, I will provide you with an example letter, basically citing the specific laws that are not being enforced by the FDA; feel free to add any and all personal touches to your letter. You write the letter and forward the response you receive back to me. It will not take much of your time, and our result could mean pets nationwide would be saved from eating pet foods and treats made from 4-D animals, and improved pet food labeling. And it could mean the satisfaction that together we held the FDA accountable.

Please consider becoming part of this effort.

Together we can change the future of pet food.

Wishing you
http://www.truthabout... your pet the best,

Susan Thixton
Truth about Pet Food
Petsumer Report