Pet Product News names petfood, treat Editor's Choice Award winners

Pet Product News International announced the 40 winning products and product lines for its 2011 Editors’ Choice Awards in the November issue, which includes a number of petfoods and pet treats.

Winners in the petfood and pet product awards were selected based on innovation, function, design or a combination of the three.
Among the petfood winners are Alpha Dog and Cat Formulas by Natural Balance Pet Foods; Instinct Limited Ingredient Diets by Nature's Variety; and Timothy Complete Plus by Kaytee Products Inc. Pet treat winners include: Extreme! Natural Treats by F.M. Brown’s Sons; Freeze Dried Chicken Liver Plus and Freeze Dried Peanut Butter Plus treats by Pet ‘n Shape; Freezy Pups by Head of the Pack; Organic SuperVeggie Treats and Chews by Clear Conscience Pet; Oven Fresh Bites by Caitec Corp.; Petite Cuisine Grilled Treats by PetPlay; and Stewart Pro-Treat Plus by MiracleCorp Products.

Department of Agriculture proposes petfood manufacturer tax in Oregon

An Oregon, USA, House committee made no decisions about passing a proposed registration fee of US$150 on manufacturers of various petfood products sold in that state, according to StatesmanJournal.com.
The House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee referred House Bill 2120, proposed by the Department of Agriculture, without recommendation to the joint budget committee after hearing testimony on both sides issue.
"You can call it a fee; I consider it a sales tax," said Sen. Doug Whitsett, R-Klamath Falls, Oregon, USA. 

New safety reporting portal a good thing, but ...

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) just joined forces to launch a new online portal for anyone--manufacturers, consumers, researchers, health professionals, public health officials, etc.--to report a potential safety issue with a food for humans, pets or feed animals.
This new portal now encompasses the Reportable Food Registry, which manufacturers and regulators of human and petfood products have been required to use since September 2009 to report any food safety issue within 24 hours. (Read more about the requirements for petfood manufacturers here.)
According to an FDA/NIH statement, the new portal will make the Reportable Food Registry (RFR) more user friendly. Specifically, FDA says:
New, user-friendly software offers conveniences to reporters to the RFR. Reports can be pre-populated with contact information and saved as drafts or partially completed reports. Users can now view any previous submissions they have made to the Safety Reporting Portal.
For consumers and people other than manufacturers, probably the most helpful page on the new site is a directory that breaks down all the types of products and situations for which a safety problem can be filed.
If FDA's promises of a more user-friendly way for manufacturers to file required reports comes true, that's definitely positive. And, since I'm almost always in favor of transparency, to me the consumer access is a good thing, too.
My only concern is, does FDA have the manpower and other resources to process and properly investigate all the reports that will be filed? Will they simply go into an electronic black hole? Or, if a report comes in and the agency is too short-handed to launch a full investigation, will it put the responsibility and expense of disproving the complaint on the company named in the report?
What do you think?

Mars to only use sustainably sourced fish

Mars Petcare has committed to using only sustainably sourced fish by 2020 in its petfood products.
Dwindling global fish stocks prompted Mars to work with the World Wildlife Fund to develop its fish sustainability commitment.

Hill’s partners with home delivery company

VetCentric Inc., a delivery provider of prescription medications and veterinary therapeutic and wellness foods, announced its new affiliation with Hill's Pet Nutrition Inc.
Under the new arrangement, VetCentric partner clinics now offer pet owners access to the entire Hill's petfood product line, including Hill's Prescription Diets and Hill's Science Diet products.