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How Contaminated Pig Ears Will Change the Way We Think About Pet Food Forever
Staring at an empty bulk bin that once held dried pig ears, it struck me that this is probably a common sight in every pet food store in America. Shelves and bins what once held the treats are now empty since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) made the dramatic announcement that told stores to stop selling them because…
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Who Are The Voices That Protect Your Pets And The Food You Feed Them?
In a 29-billion-dollar pet food industry that serves 84 million U.S. households with pets, how many people do you think there is that work directly with State and Federal pet food regulators? How many people do you think are advisors to the Association of Feed Control Officials (AAFCO), the association responsible for crafting model laws and regulations that are adopted…
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FDA Talks to Pet Food Industry About Food Safety ‘N Stuff (SPOOF)
Poor Michael R. Taylor. Alternatively known as the Food and Drug Administration's "food safety czar" or the guy voted by Americans they would most like to see thrown out of a job, he’s got to have one of the most nerve-wracking jobs of all time. Can you imagine going to work every day knowing you are responsible for food safety…
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The FDA answers pet parents top questions about pet food and animal drugs
Confused about cat food, perplexed by your pet’s puke, freaked out about pet foodborne illness, need the dope on animal drugs? Thankfully, our friends at the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) have been hard at work creating a fab new webpage for frazzled pet parents. It’s important that you get your answers straight from the…
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Tips from a nervous cook: How to make pathogen-free pet jerky treats
I admit it; I’m not in love with being in the kitchen, mainly because that place makes me nervous. I can’t help thinking about all the places in there where germs are lurking, waiting to contaminate something – mainly my food. Being a food safety nut has only magnified my fear of that place, but when I have to handle…
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The madness of recalls, FDA style
NOTE: This gem of an article was unearthed from my dusty old Drafts file. Although the recalled products news is ancient history (January 2013), the rest of the article is still relevant and contains important information about the inexplicable madness of how recalls are conducted. Not only that, jerky pet treats are still on the market today. Today, [January, 2013]…
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Carcinogen found in food prompts FDA warning, ignoring pet food risk
The FDA issued a softly worded request of food manufacturers to please, please try their darndest to see if they can’t reduce the amount of the genotoxic, neurotoxic, carcinogenic chemical known as acrylamide in their food stuffs. It was such a lovely worded request, I wondered if it was sent on embossed stationary, lightly scented with lavender. A frightening carcinogenic…
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Government glitches stall consumers from commenting on proposed pet food rule
It’s impossibly frustrating to find that, after you’ve mustered up the courage to submit a comment on the proposed rule for animal food (that will eventually decide the fate of pet food and animal feed safety); the Regulations.gov website crapped-out. In fact, it crashed – several times – last week. It’s back up again, so now is a good time…
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The proposed foreign supplier verification program hasn’t a hope in hell of helping pets
American pets lose out to big business interests I thought the Current Good Manufacturing Practice and Hazard Analysis and Risk-Based Preventive Controls for Food for Animals proposed rule for animal food was bad, but another new proposal, meant to protect consumers from U.S. importers who bring potentially dangerous and untested foreign pet food ingredients and products into America, will do…
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USDA plans to allow poultry from China for humans; FDA already says no probs for pets!
Senator Chuck Schumer rode the Obama administration up one side and down the other this Sunday for what he calls are “plans the USDA has” to green-light chicken raised and processed in China to be exported to the United States, despite China’s disgusting food safety record. Later that day, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS)…
