PET Food Processing - December 2022 - 25

REGULATORY
One step at a time
T
The process of getting new animal food ingredients
recognized and approved is a slow and steady one.
By Leah Wilkinson | petfoodprocessing@sosland.com
The US pet food industry is accelerating at an impressive
rate, with innovation providing safe, high-quality and
improved nutritional products for over 135 million dogs
and cats in America and even more around the world.
This innovation is occurring to meet consumer demand,
address supply chain challenges, and help manufacturers
make progress on their sustainability goals. Sometimes,
the regulatory system gets blamed for slowing down that
innovation. While not always moving at the same pace,
there is a flurry of activity currently happening in the
regulatory space that will make the ingredient review
processes in the United States work smarter, faster and
more efficiently so it does not slow down your business.
Most people in the pet food industry recognize that
the process of getting new animal food ingredients reviewed
by the US Food and Drug Administration's
(FDA) Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) and
the Association of American Feed Control Officials
(AAFCO) can be slow and confusing. Under federal law,
any substance added to or expected to become a component
of animal food, either directly or indirectly, must
be an approved food additive (published in the Code of
Federal Regulations) unless it is Generally Recognized
as Safe (GRAS) for that intended use.
AAFCO plays a role in animal food ingredient reviews
through its process of establishing ingredient
definitions, which are then published annually in the
AAFCO Official Publication. Though they are not approved
food additives under federal law, the FDA has
a long history of accepting these AAFCO-defined ingredients
for use in the country, provided there are no
safety concerns. To ensure there are no safety concerns,
the CVM acts as the reviewer to determine that any new
AAFCO-defined ingredient is safe for its intended use
under a Memorandum of Understanding.
The American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) has
focused its policy activities in the last several years on
improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the ingredient
review processes at the FDA and AAFCO. In recent
years, it has become quicker and more affordable
to get ingredients approved in other countries than here
at home, and that is no longer acceptable. The AFIA has
been working hard to fix a several issues to, hopefully,
get our system back on track.
Boosting FDA's resources
Part of the slowness of ingredient reviews stems from a
lack of focus and resources at the CVM for animal food
www.petfoodprocessing.net | December 2022 | PET FOOD PROCESSING 25
Before animal food
ingredients can
end up in pet food
products, they must
go through a long
process of approvals
by the CVM and
AAFCO.
©Lightfield Studios - stock.adobe.com
http://www.petfoodprocessing.net
PET Food Processing - December 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of PET Food Processing - December 2022
