European Union Regulation 767/2009 on placing on the market and use of animal feeds sets out basic rules for the way information about petfood should be provided to the consumer. Common principles set out in this legislation are that information communicated about products must be truthful, objective and quantifiable, and it must also not mislead or deceive customers.

Both the American Animal Hospital Association and World Small Animal Veterinary Association have recently published guidelines for the nutritional assessment of pets as part of routine physical examinations. The role of nutrition in animal health has long been a very important but often underutilized component of veterinary medicine.

The fourth annual National Pet Obesity Awareness Day Study from the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention (www.petobesityprevention.com) shows more than 50% of US dogs and cats are now overweight or obese. Specifically, the survey highlights these preliminary data.

Despite the expectation that the Food and Drug Administration will phase out its participation in the Association of American Feed Control Officials feed ingredient definition process by 2012, there are still many ingredients in the definition pipeline. During its “mid-year” meeting in January, AAFCO took action on a number of new and proposed ingredients, at least a few of which have impact on petfoods.

The proposed AAFCO calorie content regulation, as amended

GoodGuide studied 1,500 products in 50 brands of dog and cat food to rate the top products in dry and wet petfood, and Science Diet took the number one spot for both dog and cat food brand. Ratings take into account things like concern for the environment, personal health and social responsibility to come up with scores in the categories of health, environment and society.

The Pet Food Industry Association of Southern Africa (PFI) has vowed to eliminate petfood fraud in 2011 and protect South African pet owners from "rogue petfood manufacturers." PFI "will put all its forces and energy behind cleaning up any illegal practices in the petfood industry that harm the image of the industry and may possibly place pets at risk," according to an association statement.  

Last month, I reported on the activities of the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) Pet Food Committee during its annual meeting in Portland, Oregon, USA, in early August. This month I cover items that occurred outside of the Pet Food Committee session but still may affect petfoods.

The Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) held its annual meeting in Portland, Oregon, USA, July 31 through August 2, 2010. The Pet Food Committee (PFC) session generated many newsworthy items.