Pet Food Processing - September 2024 - 62

ASSOCIATIONS
association of
AMERICAN FEED
CONTROL OFFICIALS
Supporting the animal feed and pet food industry one regulation at a time.
CONTACT AAFCO
1800 S. Oak Street
Suite 100
Champaign, IL
61820-6974
(217) 356-4221
aafco@aafco.org
www.afco.org
F
For more than 110 years, the Association of American
Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) has been promoting
a safe feed supply through unified system-based regulation,
feed ingredient standards and laboratory operations.
The association's mission is to guide state, federal
and international feed regulators with ingredient definitions
and label standards.
The independent, non-profit organization serves as a
forum for animal feed and pet food manufacturers and
state and federal agencies to develop uniform regulatory
language for animal feed ingredients. It also provides a
key framework for animal feed and pet food ingredient
definitions and hosts biannual meetings through which
industry members can learn and connect with other industry
stakeholders.
One of AAFCO's top priorities is its pet food label
modernization (PFLM) initiative. Earlier this year,
heads of departments of agriculture unanimously voted
to support AAFCO's revised Model Regulations for Pet
Food and Specialty Pet Food. The revised regulations
were approved by AAFCO in July 2023, and set new
suggested labeling guidelines around nutrition information,
ingredient statements, and storage and handling
instructions to ensure consistency and transparency on
pet food labels. These new model regulations aim to
make pet food labels more closely resemble those on human
foods.
Knowing the process would be long and
arduous, AAFCO recommended a six-year enforcement
discretion period to allow state regulatory programs
time to incorporate the guidelines into their state laws
and provide pet food manufacturers time to make the
necessary label and packaging updates to their products.
AAFCO and key stakeholders have worked together
since 2015 to develop the revised guidelines. During the
process, they have conducted multiple rounds of consumer
research and gathered feedback from pet food
manufacturers and industry partners to understand how
pet food labels could better communicate important
information.
In
addition,
AAFCO
recently
announced its
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the US
Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which outlines the
organizations' responsibilities for defining ingredients in
animal feed and pet food and has been in place for 17 years,
will not be renewed following its expiration on Oct. 1.
Through the MOU, the FDA accepted and reviewed
AAFCO Feed Ingredient Definition requests.
" AAFCO believes that its ingredient definition process
has been a shining example of successful collaboration
and partnership between states and the federal
government, " said Austin Therrell, executive director of
AAFCO. " Although we are disappointed that the MOU
is not being renewed, we are committed to being a conduit
between the FDA and state regulatory programs,
and to our work to provide standardization to the animal
food industry. "
While AAFCO continues to shift its focus as regulaAssociation
of American Feed Control Officials
62 PET FOOD PROCESSING | September 2024 | www.petfoodprocessing.net
tions evolve, its commitment to safeguarding animal
and human health by promoting a safe animal feed and
pet food supply remains steadfast.
http://www.afco.org http://www.petfoodprocessing.net
Pet Food Processing - September 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pet Food Processing - September 2024
