admin     2013年3月22日 11:33

The United States is always finding ways to strengthen the food safety measures that are already quite well regulated there, but they may have failed to stress that the U.S. pet food has an excellent record for being healthy and safe.

Undoubtedly, pet food manufacturers’ goal is to sell pet food that is primarily safe to eat and nutritionally balanced. U.S. pet food manufacturers always follow the strict compliance with the production process, so that their products can consistently meet the standard safety targets. The rare incidents with U.S. pet food safety have been the greatest proofs of those efforts.  In the United States, the number of human food safety incidents is much higher than that of dogs and cats or other animal food safety incidents. From the latest analysis report released on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) website, from more than 1700 cases of food recalled incidents occurred during 2009 to 2012, only 63 cases involves dog and cat food.  Since 2010, FDA Web site discloses details of some food safety related incidents.  This helps the public to determine which incidents are caused by pathogens, or at least the presence of pathogens.  During 2010 to 2012, 300 cases of salmonella played a role, but only 39 cases involve dog and cat food. In addition, there are 12 cases of human food recalls because of E. coli and 27 cases due to C. botulinum, but no cases of pet food recall events are related to these pathogens. The United States annually produces an enormous amount of pet food, so these small figures are indeed quite impressive.

U.S. food safety control starts before the actual production process. During product development, nutrition and palatability will be the clear objective for the recipe research.  U.S. pet food is designed to meet comprehensive nutrition requirements and to ensure dogs and cats enjoying longer, healthier and happier lives.

Pet food manufacturing facility will first assess raw materials suppliers to ensure that those materials meet the company's specific requirements. Companies then develop and follow proper material handling process to create a finished product. Production process is closely monitored, and complies with all production parameters to ensure that the finished product is absolutely nutrition secured. At the same time, safety data has been continuously recorded throughout the production process.

When the product leaves the factory, safety supervision does not stop. The company will continue to track products, receive customers’ feedback, and respond proactively. These comprehensive measures help to safeguard U.S. commercial pet food’s good safety record. But we do not stop to pursue improvement：we want to make sure the United States have more effective security measures and keep the admirable safety record for pet food.

The members of American Pet Food Association companies understand the importance of safe food production and will share data and findings to avoid using safety to compete within the industry. In the past few years, the United States Pet Food Association has brought US pet food industry together in many occasions. They jointly work out the best pet food safety and create a guideline for pet food safety, achieving the aim of “cooperation and sharing”.

U.S. pet food industry intends to implement Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). Since 1983 the establishment of U.S. Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, the food safety law is very significant. The establishment of FSMA will generate new requirements in food industry for both human food and pet food. U.S. Pet Food Association will be updated detailed regulations in FSMA’s relevant column.

Although the U.S. pet food industry tries to do everything, it is still unable to lower the probability of food safety incidents occurrence to zero. Sometimes, pet owner s may find problems after feeding their pets, but this does not mean pet diseases are caused by pet food. In most cases pet disease is not caused by pet food but other factors.  Nevertheless, when a pet is experiencing health problems, pet owners should promptly bring it in for veterinary care. In veterinary hospital, veterinarian will conduct a comprehensive checkup to diagnose the cause and then design the medical treatment the pet. If the pet owner has doubt with the pet food, or suspect that the pet’s health problems are associated with its diet, he or she shall contact the food manufacturers whose contact information should be on the label. Of course, after you contact the pet food manufacturer, you can still reflect your concerns to the relevant regulatory authorities of United States for their assistance.

Pet food industry around the world supplies tons of cat and dog food every day. U.S. pet food annual production is about 106 billion meals. They comply strictly in accordance with food safety standards during manufacturing process, and make their greatest effort to avoid pet food recall events.

U.S. pet food industry is committed to producing nutritious and safe pet food. Under the care of high-quality pet food in the United States, our cats and dogs will have a healthier and happier life.

                                                - Article by the American Pet Food Institute