Is AAFCO intentionally hindering Human Grade pet foods? – Truth about Pet Food

False information on the AAFCO website is misleading pet owners. Is it intentional?

When a pet owner visits the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) website, there is a menu item titled “Consumers“. When you visit the Consumers page, there is a category listed titled “AAFCO Talks Pet Food“, explained as “The AAFCO Talks Pet Food site contains a treasure-trove of information for consumers.”

“…a treasure-trove of information for consumers.” A treasure-trove of false information?

What if a pet owner sees the claim Human Grade on a pet food label and decides to look up the term on the AAFCO website? Or, what if a pet owner reads a post from a veterinarian or consumer advocate that explains the quality differences between Human Grade pet food and Feed Grade Pet Food, and visits the AAFCO website to verify that this quality of pet food actually exists. That pet owner finds the AAFCO Talks Pet Food webpage “Human-Grade” and reads this:

“There have been “human-grade” claims on some pet foods for a few years. This term has no definition in any animal feed regulations.”

Right there on the AAFCO website – a direct lie to consumers. Human grade does have a legal definition; AAFCO itself defined Human Grade pet food in January 2016 (more than 4 years ago). As evidenced by the official minutes from the Ingredient Definitions Committee meeting held on January 19, 2016:

“Human Grade: Every ingredient and the resulting product are stored, handled, processed, and transported in a manner that is consistent and compliant with regulations for current good manufacturing practices (cGMPs) for human edible foods as specified in 21 CFR Part 117.”

More than 4 years AFTER officially defining human grade pet food, on pages specifically for consumers, AAFCO continues to tell pet owners human grade pet food “has no definition“. Further, the AAFCO webpage dismisses human grade pet food and discourages pet owners from considering it with:

“Extremely few pet food products could be considered officially human edible or human-grade. A pet food that actually met these standards would be expensive.”

Why would AAFCO have false information on their website for consumers? Is the organization of “Feed Officials” intentionally trying to hinder the human grade pet food market? Intentionally trying to discount veterinarians and advocates that recommend human grade pet food? Is AAFCO promoting feed grade pet foods by lying to consumers about human grade pet food?

Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,

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

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