Pet Food Regulations: Page 49

President Obama's dog depicted in new campaign against petfood from China

Food & Water Watch, a group that lobbies for stricter food-import laws, has launched a campaign criticizing the safety of food and petfood imported from China, which the group hopes will attract attention with the help of a new poster figure. A recent article from Food & Water Watch features President Obama's dog, Bo Obama, in a photo in front of the White House, with the caption: “Is the First Dog being fed risky chicken treats from China?

Food & Water Watch hopes its article with Bo Obama will draw attention to the lack of regulation on the safety of petfood imported from China.

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Class-action lawsuit filed over 2010 Kroger petfood recall

Macuga, Liddle & Dubin filed a class-action lawsuit in federal court against the Kroger Company on behalf of all customers who purchased recalled petfood contaminated with aflatoxin. Beginning December 18, 2010, Kroger recalled a total of 10 petfood brands, more than 68,300 bags, which were possibly contaiminated with aflatoxin.

FDA seeks comment on antimicrobial drug use data collection

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is seeking public comment on how the agency can collect more detailed information on antimicrobial drug use in food-producing animals and how best distribute the information, as part of an effort to better correlate antimicrobial drug use to antimicrobial resistance. The Government Accountability Office said information currently collected by FDA does not provide sufficient data to analyze trends in antimicrobial resistance, so the agency is requesting that manufacturers provide an estimate on how much of each drug is being used on each species.

Petfood safety: Fortify weak links in your supply chain

As the former director of both the US Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Veterinary Medicine and Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, I have seen my share of pet and human food outbreaks caused by defective supply chains. In 2007, the largest petfood recall in history resulted from a single ingredient—wheat gluten—that had been intentionally adulterated with melamine for economic gains.

Even if you are fully confident in your supply chain to provide safe and wholesome products, how certain are you that there will not be disruptions when the new Food Safety Modernization Act takes effect?

FDA improves Reportable Food Registry to enhance food safety

The US Food and Drug Administration has added a Rational Questionnaire incorporating additional data elements to its Reportable Food Registry, in an effort to improve the registry's information gathering capabilities and enhance food safety. The Reportable Food Registry is an electronic portal for industry, including petfood industry members such as petfood and treat manufacturers, to report when there is reasonable probability that an article of food will cause serious adverse health consequences, allowing FDA to track patterns in animal feed and petfood and target inspections.

Consumer groups urge government action on food safety legislation

Ten consumer groups are urging the Obama administration to act on parts of the Food Safety Modernization Act, which gives the US Food and Drug Administration more control over food and petfood imports and the authority to set new petfood safety standards to prevent contamination. FDA regulations needed to fully carry out the Food Safety Modernization Act have been under review since December 2011 by the Office of Management and Budget, and consumer groups say there has been no explanation for the delay.

AFIA submits comments to FDA on Food Safety Modernization Act

The American Feed Industry Association submitted comments to the docket to the US Food and Drug Administration regarding the agency’s information collection activities as related to upcoming Food Safety Modernization Act implementation. The comments explained that many American Feed Industry Association members consider their quality assurance programs and food safety plans as proprietary and confidential.

FDA inspection at Diamond Pet Foods plant helps pet owner lawsuits

A US Food and Drug Administration inspection at Diamond Pet Foods' production plant found numerous health violations after a series of earlier petfood recalls for Salmonella contamination, which one expert says will be used to help support lawsuits against the company. The inspection, conducted six days after the first of eight recalls by Diamond Pet Foods, found violations at the Gaston, South Carolina, USA, facility such as failure to clean and maintain equipment and a lack of contaminant screenings on raw ingredients.

Petfood industry members discuss petfood production, safety

A recent roundtable discussion by Natural Pet Product Merchandiser brought together a petfood retailer, two petfood manufacturers and a petfood industry representative to discuss the petfood production and safety, including the impact of a petfood recall and controls to prevent one. Although the US Food and Drug Administration’s website shows more than 1,000 petfood and treat recalls since March 2007, Nancy K. Cook, vice president of Pet Food Institute, says this should not be a cause for concern to consumers.

New Zealand eel exported to US for novel petfood protein

Researchers in New Zealand are calling for petfood companies to stop exporting eel to the United States to be used as a novel protein source in petfoods. One local petfood company, Addiction Foods, exports a range of gourmet petfoods to the US and other markets, marketing them as hypoallergenic or "earth-friendly."

CDC explains food pathogen database, PulseNet

At the recent annual meeting of the Association of Public Health Laboratories in Seattle, Washington, USA, officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention explained how its foodborne pathogen database, PulseNet, aids in outbreak detection as well as future challenges CDC anticipates. PulseNet, launched in 1996, identifies the DNA information for foodborne pathogens, including those in petfood, using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis.

New pet illness complaints linked to Chinese chicken jerky treats

A new record of complaints from pet owners and veterinarians submitted to federal health officials shows nearly 1,000 dogs have reportedly been sickened after eating chicken jerky treats made in China, according to a recent msnbc.com article. Since November 2011, the US Food and Drug Administration has received almost 900 reports of pet illnesses and deaths.

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