American Feed Industry Association hosts Pet Food Conference

At the 2012 International Feed Expo/International Poultry Expo, recently held in Atlanta, Georigia, USA, the American Feed Industry Association hosted the annual Pet Food Conference.
The Pet Food Conference covered topics ranging from regulatory issues to the technical aspects of production, food safety, marketing and use of ingredients. The conference featured expert speakers from companies and organizations, including Euromonitor International, ADM Alliance Nutrition, Novus International, Eurofins Scientific, Trouw Nutrition USA, DSM Nutritional Products, SPF North America, American Proteins, Pet Food Association of Canada, National Renderers Association, the Association of American Feed Control Officials, and the Food and Drug Administration. Dr. Dan McChesney, FDA-CVM, spoke to attendees about the Food and Drug Administration's progress on the Food Safety Modernization Act, which charged the agency with improving the safety of food prevention within the U.S. “As the risk goes up, we need to be certain we’re controlling it,” he said. McChesney advised feed facilities to identify what controls are already in place compared to what is required by the Food Safety Modernization Act. Most importantly, he said, the facility is required to reconcile any differences and to document those controls. “Whatever you have identified as a hazard, you have to have a preventive control to address that hazard,” said McChesney.  Dr. McChesney also addressed the upcoming change to the Association of American Feed Control Officials’ feed ingredient approval process, with the Food and Drug Administration set to step aside from the process in 2012. “The AAFCO process is not going away without anything to replace it,” he said.
Dr. McChesney will speak about the Food Safety Modernization Act and petfood regulation at the upcoming Petfood Forum, taking place April 2-4, in Schaumburg, Illinois, USA.