Pet Food Safety: Page 85

Market Trends and Reports

Safety focus: shipping and distribution of petfood products

Keywords like collaboration, cloud computing and responsiveness will dominate the petfood supply chain landscape — is your company prepared? How will you ensure that a worry-free product is always being delivered safely, efficiently and in a timely manner to consumers?

Keywords like collaboration, cloud computing and responsiveness will dominate the petfood supply chain landscape in 2012. Is your company prepared?

Pet Food Recalls

Mycotoxins: the threat within the supply chain

With the recent recall of a series of dog food lines, pet owners across the country have had more on their minds than what to get their Great Danes or Labrador Retrievers this past holiday season. In the last month of 2011, three major recalls of well-known petfood brands were made due to aflatoxin levels that were detected above the acceptable limit.

Aflatoxin is not new to our industry and seems to remain a constant threat to the petfood bowl.

FDA misses deadline for key Food Safety Modernization Act provisions

January 2012 marks the one-year anniversary of President Obama signing into law the Food Safety Modernization Act, which aims to prevent petfood recalls and ensure a safe petfood supply.One of the key implementation dates from the Act was January 4, after which date the following significant steps were to have been taken by the US Food and Drug Administration: guidance for very small business exemptions from HARPC requirements;guidance related to intentional adulteration of food and mitigation strategies; “National Agriculture and Food Defense Strategy” issued to Congress and public; study concerning unique identification numbers for food facilities and brokers; designation of “high-risk foods” for which additional recordkeeping would be required; designation of five “Food Safety Centers of Excellence” to respond to outbreaks; grocery store recall posting requirements; and regulations for a Foreign Supplier Verification Program.

Market Trends and Reports

Preview: Petfood Forum and Petfood Workshop 2012

The global petfood industry continues to grow, thanks to continuing humanization of pets. Make sure you’re keeping up with the latest consumer trends and needs—plus all you need to know about pet nutrition and petfood packaging, safety and processing—by attending Petfood Forum 2012 and Petfood Workshop: New Product Development.

Concurrent sessions on Tuesday, April 3

Pet owner unhappy with melamine-tainted petfood lawsuit settlement

A woman whose cat died from eating tainted petfood is unhappy with the settlement pet owners received compared to the compensation lawyers received in a class-action lawsuit related to the 2007 melamine-tainted petfood imported from China, NBC reported. Kathy Forcier's cat, who died from eating "Special Kitty" food purchased at Walmart, was one of as many as 50,000 dogs and cats sickened or killed by the 2007 melamine-tainted petfood incident, in which as many as 150 Menu Foods petfood brands were recalled.

US FDA issues two more aflatoxin-related dog food recalls

The US Food and Drug Administration posted an "updated" recall notice on its website, dated December 14, with two additional petfood recalls and corrected petfood product lot numbers, all related to dog food with elevated aflatoxin levels. These most recent recalls, for O'Neal's Feeders Supply's Arrow Brand dog food and dog food from Petrus Feed and Seed Stores Inc., come in addition to December recalls by Cargill, Proctor and Gamble's Iams, and Advanced Animal Nutrition dog food also for high aflatoxin levels.

Recent aflatoxin petfood recalls may increase safety regulations

A series of recent recalls in the US for high aflatoxin levels in petfood is increasing the pressure to tighten government food safety rules in proposals that are currently under review by the Food and Drug Administration, according to a report from Reuters. The act, signed into law this year, focuses on preventing petfood contamination, starting with petfood ingredients, rather than just responding to contamination.

FDA forms Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance

The US Food and Drug Administration and the Illinois Institute of Technology’s Institute for Food Safety and Health created the Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance to develop training courses and materials on preventing contamination for both human and animal food, including petfood, during production. The materials to be developed by the alliance will help industry members, particularly small- and medium-size manufacturers, comply with new preventive control rules of the FSMA.

Pet Food Market

FDA's new food safety alliance: help for the 'little guys'?

To help US food, feed and petfood producers be prepared to meet new regulations under the Food Safety Modernization Act and prevent foodborne illnesses, the US Food and Drug Administration has announced a new Food Safety Preventive Controls Alliance. Forged from a partnership with the Illinois Institute of Technology's Institute for Food Safety and Health, the alliance's mission is to develop training courses and materials aimed at preventing contamination of human and animal food during production, FDA says.

Pet Food Recalls

Advanced Animal Nutrition recalls dry dog food for high aflatoxin levels

Advanced Animal Nutrition has recalled lots of its dry dog food brand, Dog Power, for aflatoxin levels that are above the acceptable limit. The petfood manufacturer is recalling 50-pound bags of Dog Power Adult Maintenance Formula 21-12, Dog Power Hunters Formula 27-14 and Dog Power Hi-Pro Performance Formula 26-18.

Pet Food Safety

How do you solve a problem like glucosamine in petfood?

Glucosamine hydrochloride and chondroitin sulfate have been ingredients in petfoods for most of the last 20 years. However, neither ingredient ever has been formally approved or otherwise sanctioned for that purpose. This should not stop interested states from meeting and agreeing to uniform labeling requirements.

China petfood may contain dangerous preservative levels, consumer group finds

In a sampling of petfood, the Consumers' Foundation found some dog food sold in China may contain preservatives that could affect the health of dogs if too much is consumed, according to The China Post. The foundation found that eight out 20 dry dog food and canned dog food products purchased from retailers in September 2010 were found to contain sorbic acid.

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