REGULATING AWAY YOUR PET'S HEALTH

Several agencies regulate pet foods. There's the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture), FDA (Food and Drug Administration), AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials), and each state has its own feed regulatory agency.

One of the main reasons there is so much bureaucracy and regulation is because pet owners are feeding just one commercial food meal after meal. Regulator's know this puts dogs and cats at risk so they create laws and statutes to permit enforcing "completeness," safety, and honesty in labeling.

But regulators' most important task, safety, is not being accomplished, nor is it possible so long as they approve the "complete and balanced" claim.

It is sad indeed that fostering, condoning, promoting, and regulating the "100% complete" claim has killed and maimed untold thousands of pets. Regulators, by approving this claim, tacitly visit upon pet owners' the resultant emotional anguish and medical costs. That is not protecting the public.

This is not to say regulators do not have the best of intentions. Unfortunately, they begin with the wrong starting premise, namely that it is perfectly appropriate for dog and cat foods to be labeled "complete" and that people should feed such foods relentlessly. Regulators come out of the same educational milieu that nutritionists, veterinarians, and food manufacturers come from, so how could they think differently?.

The costs to producers in attempting to comply with minutia imposed upon it by federal and state agencies drives the price of dog and cat foods up. So too does the scraping of tons of packaging due to picayune label requirements that constantly change (what words to use, how big the font, where to place words, etc.). This does not mention the environmental toll of sending perfectly good packaging to landfills.

Regulators, nutritionists and the pet food industry are not going to change any time soon. The "complete and balanced" claim has become The System, the way things are to be. Once a bloated bureaucracy and industry are in place, truth, health, and advance take a second seat to salaries, grants, egos, profits, security, and status quo.

The burden is on you, if you desire the best pet food, to sharpen up, see the obvious, and take control of your own pet's destiny. No expert, pet food company, or regulator is going to do it for you

Thought for the day: "Old age means realizing you'll never own all the dogs you wanted to." – Joe Gores

Word for the day: cofactor - noun: a compound that enables necessary biochemical reactions in the body that would otherwise not occur. For example, certain vitamins, accessory nutrients, and minerals act as cofactors for enzyme activity. Without enzymes speeding biochemical processes, life could not occur.