Everyone involved with pets should want the same thing — speedy innovation so that we continue to build products with new ingredients, new nutritional discoveries, new health claims and new products to improve the life of our family pets. Pet ingredient approval pathways are rarely challenged, and previous ingredients do not get reviewed regularly to update naming. Ingredients are often not submitted for GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) approval or feed additive review because of long timelines, prohibitive costs and low financial return. It is difficult to challenge and quickly change historical names of ingredients in the pet food industry.
Changes are happening. New 2024 Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) labeling requirements (PFLM – Pet Food Labeling Modernization), were announced which will affect the look of packaging and will cost billions to implement into the marketplace. The goal is that consumers will gain new knowledge about the food products they choose to give to their pets. We hope this goal is proven. Additionally, the PURR Act of 2024 (Pet Food Uniform Regulatory Reform Act) has been initiated in Congress to launch a new process to modernize how to eliminate “red tape” in regulations and allow pet food makers and consumers the “best nutritional outcomes.” The timeline of this new proposal is unknown, but we actively await new conversations surrounding these efforts. During the last five years, rapid communication with misinformation on heart disease has led to the demonization of a specific ingredient group with, now, some legal implications. Regulatory bodies have also pushed nutritional claims on copper without clear scientific agreement.
I feel that there needs to be regular scientific review by experienced experts to support new ingredients and nutritional information outside the influence of nonscientists or as most of us call them “armchair experts. When we compare our market with other markets, our processes appear controlling, rigid, unpredictable and often vague. Especially when it comes to ingredient listing.. These are just the opposite of what is needed for ongoing transparent innovation. In contrast, the human food industry has approved hundreds of new ingredients with a much simpler process compared to the limited numbers of ingredients approved for the pet market.
All together I am getting the feeling that small batch producers like Canine Health Forward are embracing these new legislative proposals. With the outcome not at a stage of clarity yet, allowing new innovative ingredients and much more transparent ingredient listings will not only help the consumer understand products but it will clearly set our company apart from the rest.