In August, The Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) held its annual meeting. It took eight years but the revised AAFCO Dog and Cat Food Nutrient Profiles were accepted. The new nutrient profiles will be published in 2016. Pet food companies will need to comply with the new nutrient profiles within two years.
During the meeting several key topics were discussed. One of them was the term “human-grade”. AAFCO offers very little guidance as to what the term can accurately include which leaves manufacturers and consumers confused. Documentation is required from the Food and Drug Administration to verify if a product is “human-grade”. The FDA announced that they will no longer assess “human-grade” qualifications. In the United States, it is now up to individual states to define “human-grade” and determine whether or not products may use that term. AAFCO is trying to create guidance information to clarify the term but expect it will take in excess of one year.
Inaccuracies on pet food labels were another topic of discussion. Mislabelling products is not an isolated occurrence. There is the lawsuit against Blue Buffalo and studies abroad reporting false labeling. Mislabeling can include food lacking ingredients on their ingredient list or including ingredients that are not on the ingredient list. Unfortunately, this discussion remained private so no conclusions and/or actions may be published.
Changes have also been made to pulse fractions. Lentils and peas may now be considered acceptable pulse fractions. The Ingredient Definitions Committee has agreed to remove the definition for feed-grade fat product. The original purpose of this definition was to categorize (and allow the usage of) fat ingredients that would only partially meet other existing definitions. The FDA found that the term was being misused to distribute fats that were not suitable or safe for consumption. It is thought that this deletion will have consequences as the industry will have to quickly find suitable fat products.
The updated “Pet Food and Specialty Pet Food Labelling Guide” is almost complete. This document explains several pet food regulations. A Pet Food Labeling Workshop is also being planned for 2017. This should provide valuable information for many in the pet food industry. Another information source is AAFCOs new website, AAFCO Talks Pet Food. This site is designed to answer consumer questions and concerns.
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