On July 21, 2022 we filed a Citizen Petition with FDA requesting the company abide by federal regulation in regulating pet meals. Particularly we quoted quite a few federal legal guidelines in reference to deceptive pet meals ingredient names.
Our intent with submitting this Citizen Petition was to nudge the FDA (by means of correct process) to supply pet meals customers with transparency to what’s included within the pet meals merchandise they buy. We requested the FDA require pet meals producers to incorporate the time period ‘feed grade’ on the label if the ingredient(s) doesn’t meet the authorized necessities of meals.
We offered the FDA with the instance of ‘rooster’ utilized in pet meals. Our Petition acknowledged: “the feed grade pet meals ingredient ‘rooster’ which doesn’t conform to the Poultry Merchandise Inspection Act holds the identical widespread or typical title as ‘rooster’ that does conform to the Poultry Merchandise Inspection Act – thus it’s ‘confusingly comparable’ to a different meals. Authorized basis requires it to be given its personal widespread or typical title that distinguishes it from totally different meals.”
The law we quoted to FDA, that’s particular to animal meals states:
“The widespread or typical title of a meals, which can be a coined time period, shall precisely determine or describe, in as easy and direct phrases as doable, the essential nature of the meals or its characterizing properties or elements. The title shall be uniform amongst all equivalent or comparable merchandise and is probably not confusingly much like the title of some other meals that isn’t fairly encompassed inside the identical title. Every class or subclass of meals shall be given its personal widespread or typical title that states, in clear phrases, what it’s in a approach that distinguishes it from totally different meals.”
However…FDA mentioned “no”. Repeatedly, the company mentioned “no”. Simply considered one of their many no’s: “we don’t suppose that elements that conform to definitions that clearly apply solely to animal meals are an imitation of elements outlined by the PPIA (Poultry Merchandise Inspection Act).”
The FDA’s response operates beneath the premise that when “rooster” seems on a pet meals label, customers perceive it to imply “pet meals rooster“—a definite and fully totally different product from the ‘rooster’ they’re conversant in.
The FDA response operates on the premise that pet meals customers, regardless of seeing engaging labels with photographs of grilled or roasted rooster and the slogan “Made with Actual Hen,” perceive that “actual” within the context of pet meals is a non-literal time period.
One of many arguments we made in our Petition, was the dietary variations between USDA inspected and handed rooster and condemned, diseased rooster. A dietary distinction between these two very totally different qualities of elements would require the inferior ‘rooster’ to have a unique ingredient title. Law specific to animal food states:
Title 21, Chapter I, Subpart E, Half 501.3 Id Labeling of Animal Meals in Packaged Type
“(1) A meals shall be deemed to be an imitation and thus topic to the necessities of part 403(c) of the act if it’s a substitute for and resembles one other meals however is nutritionally inferior to that meals.”
“(4) Dietary inferiority consists of:
(i) Any discount within the content material of a vital nutrient that’s current in a measurable quantity.”
We argued there’s certainly a dietary distinction between USDA inspected and handed rooster and condemned, diseased rooster. FDA responded with:
“now we have no motive to suppose
that there’s such a distinction.”
Their response – signed by FDA veterinarian Dr. William T. Flynn, Deputy Middle Director – is regulatory madness. It’s insane to conclude there aren’t any dietary variations between condemned, diseased meat and USDA inspected and handed meat.
The company’s perception that thousands and thousands of U.S. pet meals customers perceive that photographs of roasted rooster or label claims like “Made with actual rooster” are meaningless is each naive and absurd.
We’re not performed with this concern, we don’t settle for FDA’s absurd response. We shall be consulting with trusted people and can determine what our response shall be. When that’s determined, we’ll alert pet house owners.
To learn FDA’s full response to our Citizen Petition Click Here.
To learn the preliminary Citizen Petition Click Here.
To share your opinion with FDA concerning this Citizen Petition, Docket No. FDA-2022-P-1643 you’ll be able to electronic mail the company at: AskCVM@fda.hhs.gov (observe – reference the docket quantity in your electronic mail).
Susan Thixton
Pet Meals Security Advocate
Writer Purchaser Beware, Co-Writer Dinner PAWsible
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