Members who produce human grade pet food will receive an email from Next Gen PFMA, their representative in AAFCO, this week with details of a new proposal where USDA and FDA will work together to validate human grade pet food claims. Before now, manufacturers of foods using ingredients designated for human consumption have experienced a laborious process to register their products with each state’s department of agriculture.
This proposal between the FDA and USDA, supported by AAFCO members, who are the state feed regulators, intends to streamline state pet food registration efforts for human grade pet foods. Currently, most state departments of agriculture do not have the resources nor the knowledge to certify a human grade pet food; the regulators are trained in feed law.
Several Next Gen PFMA members producing human grade pet food have expressed frustration over 1. how laborious the states can make the human grade registration process and 2. how much variation there is between the registration processes in different state departments of agriculture. In a personal communication, one member stated the approval process took 7 months; with the USDA AMS program, a 1-2 day site visit will accomplish the same outcome – validation of human grade claims.
Members will receive an email detailing the program within the week. Please provide any feedback to support@ngpfma.org; the Executive Director role is to forward issues, have discussions with AAFCO leaders, and help Next Gen PFMA members gain traction in the marketplace.
Manufacturers of human grade pet food, as well as all manufacturers of pet foods using real ingredients as defined by federal law, are encouraged to join Next Gen PFMA – as a group we are stronger and will continue to grow!
USDA AMS to verify human grade pet food claims
Thank you! For very small makers of human-grade pet food, this is a welcome change (we hope). We, too, lost sales opportunities for 5 months before finally opting to remove all references to human-grade food rather than go through the cost-prohibitive process of proof required by one state, not all. We have faith it will be obvious to consumers that our food is better than most food deemed fit for human consumption. That said, we are hopeful we can once again use the human-grade language and logo. We appreciate all of your efforts on our behalves.