It’s A Matter of Time Until It Happens – Truth about Pet Food

March 4, 2022 Kar-Bay-Inc 0 Comments

Two years ago Purdue University released a study that found 8% of pet owners have tasted their pet’s food.

Knowing that the FDA allows pet food to violate federal law and include ingredients made from this…

…and this…

…and knowing that most pet owners are unaware that rendered decomposing animal carcasses dumped onto the ground are allowed by FDA into pet food, we alerted the FDA to the Purdue University study.

We asked the FDA if the agency will continue to ignore the human health risk of these ingredients – or will they finally enforce law? We also suggested that at the very least FDA should “promptly implement a required warning label on any pet product that contains condemned animal material, diseased animal material or material from animals that have died other than by slaughter.“

The FDA responded with a big NO. “Pet food and pet treats are labeled for pet consumption not human consumption. As we explained in our response to your Citizen Petition ‘…as long as hazards are controlled, and the animal food is not otherwise adulterated, we do not believe that the use of diseased animals or animals that died otherwise than by slaughter to make animal food poses a safety concern…’ In addition, we do not intend to require labeling specifically related to ingredients derived from animals that died other than by slaughter.”

Then we found what appeared to be a marketing campaign of a celebrity eating Hill’s Science Diet. We again emailed FDA, however no response has been received.

Now, another study has found that 39% of pet owners have eaten their pet’s food. A pet owner survey – conducted by OnePoll on behalf of ElleVet – stated “39 percent” of pet owners “test the product on themselves first, with food (56%) and treats (53%) being the most common things pet owners will taste first.”

It is only a matter of time before something terrible happens to a human that is taste testing an illegal ingredient pet food. And when it does – the responsible party will be the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine for refusing to warn consumers to what is actually in their pet’s food.

The following email was sent to FDA today – 3/4/22:

This email is being sent to document that the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine continues to allow pet foods to contain ingredients sourced from diseased animals or animals that have died other than by slaughter (illegal per the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act) while knowing that pet owners are consuming the pet foods.

In 2020, we provided FDA CVM with a study performed by Purdue University that found 8% of pet owners have eaten pet food. In February 2022 we alerted FDA CVM of an apparent marketing campaign of a celebrity publicly announcing he tastes his pet’s food. And today we share news of another study conducted on behalf of ElleVet that found “39%” of pet owners have consumed their pet’s food or treat.

This email documents FDA CVM’s continued refusal to warn pet owners of products containing illegal waste ingredients directly allowed by FDA CVM selective enforcement of law, despite numerous requests from consumers and advocates for transparency.

It is only a matter of time before something terrible happens to a person consuming a pet food, when it does – sole responsibility lies with FDA CVM.

Pet owners can contact the FDA at: 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

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