FDA Had 10 Meetings with the Pet Food Industry… – Truth about Pet Food

From records published on the FDA website (Public Calendar), the Center for Veterinary Medicine division of FDA met with the two largest feed grade pet food stakeholder organizations (trade groups) ten times over the past year.

Those stakeholder organizations: the Pet Food Institute and the American Feed Industry Association. Both organizations represent the largest feed grade manufacturers in the US and ingredient suppliers. The Pet Food Institute provides a public list of its members (click here), but the American Feed Industry Association does not (click here).

When did FDA meet with these organizations?

Who participated at these meetings?

The FDA website does not disclose exactly who the agency met with. As example the information on the July 14, 2022 meeting with “Members of Pet Food Institute” only provides this much information:

“Members of Pet Food Institute” would be companies such as Purina, Mars, or Hill’s – but again, the FDA does not disclose exactly which pet food companies they met with. To learn which pet food manufacturers FDA met with, a Freedom of Information Act request would need to be filed, and we’d have to wait years for that response. (FDA is incredibly slow in providing FOIA requests, I’m still waiting on a request filed in 2017.)

However the meeting information does provide who at FDA CVM participated. Three significant Center for Veterinary Medicine employees were at almost every pet food industry meeting over the past year:

• Timothy Schell
  Director of FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine Office of Surveillance and Compliance
• Tracey Forfa
  Deputy Director FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine (she is an attorney)
• David Edwards
  Director Division of Animal Food Ingredients Center for Veterinary Medicine

In other words, FDA representatives of significant authority were present at almost every meeting.

What was discussed? Why did they meet 10 times in 1 year?

The only information the FDA Public Calendar gives us is the meeting subject was concerning “Veterinary Issues of Mutual Interest“. Every single meeting stated the exact same subject. Again, to learn exactly what was discussed at these 10 meetings a Freedom of Information Act request would need to be filed and we’d have to wait years for the response.

So…all we can do is speculate.

Perhaps by coincidence, since the first meeting (that occurred on July 19th 2021) there has been only one kibble recall. That one kibble recall was announced ten days after this first meeting (July 29, 2021). The manufacturer was Sunshine Mills, the cause was for aflatoxin contamination of the pet foods. To current day (August 17, 2022), no kibble recall has been issued in the past 13 months.

Perhaps by coincidence, in all of 2022 (through August 17, 2022) only 5,661 pounds of pet food has been recalled in 3 small recalls.

What we know for certain…

Our consumer association – Association for Truth in Pet Food – is an official stakeholder organization no different than the organizations that FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine has met 10 times with in the past year (other than who we represent). The BIG difference is that FDA CVM refuses to meet with us. We have requested, and requested, and requested meetings with FDA CVM for years – they have ignored all requests. The last meeting FDA CVM provided us was in 2014.

Our most recent request for a meeting was sent to FDA on April 12, 2022.

“As representatives of the pet food industry are provided, Association for Truth in Pet Food – a pet food consumer stakeholder organization – is requesting to establish quarterly meetings with FDA via webinar. Along with myself, we would include several (less than 5) pet owners, pet store owners and veterinarians on these calls. Please advise when we can schedule the first meeting.”

We sent a follow up email on May 23, 2022 and again on August 16, 2022. FDA CVM has not responded to any of these requests.

So…we know for certain that FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine welcomes frequent meetings with stakeholder organizations representing the pet feed industry, but does not welcome any meeting with a stakeholder organization representing pet food consumers.

Pet owners deserve equal time. Feel free to email the FDA CVM and ask them to give pet food consumers equal time and consideration. AskCVM@fda.hhs.gov.

Wishing you and your pet the best –

Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
TruthaboutPetFood.com
Association for Truth in Pet Food

Become a member of our pet food consumer Association. Association for Truth in Pet Food is a a stakeholder organization representing the voice of pet food consumers at AAFCO and with FDA. Your membership helps representatives attend meetings and voice consumer concerns with regulatory authorities. Click Here to learn more.

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