It’s been a busy summer for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Aside from pet food recalls, it is preparing some pending regulations around pet food ingredients and standards. 

Recalls

Ainsworth Pet Nutrition is voluntarily recalling five varieties of Rachel Ray™ Nutrish® wet cat food, the FDA announced on June 4, noted AAHA's accredited members’ only Facebook page. 

The recalls are due to potentially elevated levels of vitamin D.

Eleven incidents of illness have been reported to-date. The symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea, increased thirst and urination, and muscle tremors or seizures.

Consumers can contact Ainsworth’s Consumer Care Team with questions.

Other FDA recalls are available on its website. 

Regulation buzz

The FDA plans to release ingredient definitions and standards for animal food in September. Until that happens, there’s a lot of buzz about what the FDA should do, reported The Hill.

Advocacy groups want the FDA to issue tougher standards.

The Pet Food Institute, which represents 90% of dog and cat food manufacturers, has concerns about the FDA modeling human labeling standards, noting that serving sizes differ, it told The Hill.

And the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) believes a federal standard could positively impact state regulatory efforts, it told The Hill, but with the caveat that human and animal standards differ, and should be considered. (State standards are based on AAFCO’s pet food labeling standards.)