1. The pet food industry overview:

1. Acronyms and the role played within the Industry:
   1. AAFCO Association of American Feed Control Officials
      Private advisory body with representatives from state, federal and foreign governmental agencies and the livestock and pet food industry. Most states have adopted legislation based on the AAFCO model
   2. CVM Center for Veterinary Medicine primary mandate is in the regulation of animal drugs, medicated feeds and food additives
   3. FDA Food and Drug Administration and its CVM administer legislation prohibiting unsubstantiated health claims. FDA further ensures pet foods are packaged under sanitary and the label contains the appropriate information which includes the ingredient list
   4. CFIA Canadian Food Inspection Agency regulates the movement of inedible meat products and certification of imported pet foods containing animal products.
   5. HC Health Canada enforces legislation prohibiting unsubstantiated health claims in advertising and labeling
   6. The Competition Bureau of Canada requires the label on all per-packaged retailed pet foods be bilingual, have a net quantity declaration in metric and the dealers name and address.
   7. PFI Pet Food Institute a lobby group representing manufacturers of commercially prepared dog and cat food
   8. NRC National Research Council. An academic panel reviews the relevant published research on various species of animals and then periodically establishes and publishes recommended nutrient intakes based on this information
   9. CVMA Canadian Veterinary Medical Association
      A professional association that has established the CVMA Pet Food Certification Programme which sets nutritional and quality standards for participating Canadian pet food manufacturers.
   10. NAFTA North American Free Trade Agreement can over ride any of the regulatory legislation if it gives one partner an advantage over the other.

2. Private Label vs. Name Brand Manufacturers (the line between the two is not clear cut):
   1. Private Label manufacturers make pet foods for companies that have the formulations but not the manufacturing facility or the type of facility capable of producing certain types of pet food, e.g. canned food, gravy pouches. Some private label companies may also do livestock, poultry, and swine rations.
   2. Name Brand Manufacturers formulate and manufacturer their own pet food labels. Some may still contract out specialty products and they may also do private label products for other pet food producers.
   3. Many of the large multinational companies are a conglomerate of all or part of the above for example Mars Inc (Waltham) with the purchase of Doane Pet Care Co (Private Label) and Royal Canin/Medical covers private label, grocery, specialty pet store and veterinary prescription diets and along with Nestles SA manufacturer almost 50% of the worlds pet foods.

3. Ingredients :
   The pet food industry relies on ingredient manufacturers or merchandisers who are known to the industry and generally respected. These have developed a reputation within the industry of providing quality ingredients that meet the nutrient profiles, safety and, digestibility requirements and are compatible with the manufacturing process to produce a consistent end product. The ingredients in a single batch of premium dog food could come from over 20 different manufacturers and/or merchandisers. To avoid costly mistakes most pet food manufacturers will select their ingredients from as few sources as possible and avoid using different qualities of the same ingredient source.
   The "common or usual" ingredient names are those defined in the AAFCO official publication. The following are some definitions of common listed ingredients
   1. Animal by-products: are the clean undecomposed parts of the carcass other than meat derived from slaughtered animals. If it bears a name descriptive of kind, it shall correspond thereto. It shall be labeled with guarantees for minimum crude protein, minimum pepsin digestibility
   2. Animal meat meal rendered (meat meal) product obtained by rendered animal tissues, exclusive of hair, horn, hoof, hide trimmings, manure and stomach contents �����.If it bears a name descriptive of kind, it shall correspond thereto . It shall be labeled with guarantees for minimum crude protein, minimum pepsin digestability, and max. moisture and ash.
      The following can be supplied fresh, frozen, or as a rendered meal
      Poultry by-product: viscera, heads, beaks, feet and lower legs
      Animal by-product: organ meats
      Poultry: Clean combination of flesh and skin with or without accompanying bone, derived from the parts or whole carcasses or a combination thereof, without feathers, heads, feet and entrails. Quality can vary related to the amount of bone present
      Animal: clean flesh derived from slaughtered animals, limited to parts of the striate muscle that is skeletal or found in tongue, esophagus, diaphragm or heart. Quality can vary related to amount of collagen present.
   3. Animal digests are products resulting from chemical and/or enzymatic hydrolysis of clean and undecomposed animal tissue
   4. Corn gluten meal dried residue of corn after the removal of the larger part of starch and germ and the separation of bran by the process of wet milling of corn starch or syrup. Labeled with guarantees for min. crude protein and max moisture. Crude protein can range from 41 to 60%
   5. Soy protein isolate is dried product obtained by removing most of the non protein constituents from selected sound cleaned dehulled soybeans .Contains no less than 90% protein
   6. Soybean meal product obtained by grinding flakes after obtained after oil extraction may contain conditioning agent not to exceed 0.5% .Crude fiber less than7%

4. Terms with no accepted definition:
   1. "Human -grade "is a misleading term in that it implies that the ingredients are suitable for human consumption. This is true in as far as they originate for a federally inspected plant. For example a poultry slaughter plant may have a large order for chicken breasts so there may-be a lot of legs and thighs which become available to a pet food manufacturer with a contract. Once the pet food manufacturer picks up the poultry products (fresh or frozen) the chicken is no longer considered suitable for human consumption as there is no requirements for special handling of the chicken to insure it is maintained safe for human consumption
   2. Whole food ingredients generally imply that the ingredient was purchased in its natural state from a wholesaler or through a contract with the primary producer and then processed.

1. Quality control measures regulated by law are in place at all levels: the ingredient manufacturer, the merchandiser / distributor, and the pet food manufacturer. These often just involve keeping detailed records of and samples from each batch of product made or sold so that if problems arise they can be investigated. Specific routine tests are required or voluntarily done at each level and cover common problems associated with that particular ingredient. Some of these tests are moisture, nutrient levels, mycotoxins, oxidization/rancidity, microbial contamination, and/or presence of common toxic compounds e.g. heavy metals. Despite the complexity, problems can still go undetected until the product is in the consumer's home. Unfortunately these can be devastating because they have slipped through the testing procedures in place.