FDA proposes rules to make animal food safer

http://www.mystatesman.com/news/ap/business/fda-proposes-rules-to-make-animal-food-safer/nbYNp/

Category: Food safety

Level: National

This article concerns policies that affect individuals and families.

This article discusses new rules from the FDA to  make pet food safer.

My views:

Tainted animal food makes many pets ill every year and kills 600. I fully support the FDA making new rules to ensure that the companies who sell pet food must follow a set of sanitation practices and have food safety plans. This will ensure the safety of the food we give to our pets. Not only are pets important to American families, the expense incurred when a pet falls ill can be detrimental to the financial health of the family.

My dog was very ill off and on for a year and we had a hard time diagnosing him. The first thing a vet looks at is the food, so we switched him to very expensive prescription food. With fears that even that may be harming him, I made his dog food every week. Once we discovered that he was still getting ill, we found that he had a very rare parasite we were finally able to treat him. If we had more confidence in the pet food supply chain, I know we would have been able to help him sooner.

The new rules will not only keep pets safe, however, they will also keep people safe as well. If pet food is contaminated with pathogens, pet owners can become sick after handling it. Protecting the pet supply chain will prevent people from getting sick as well.