As a responsible pet food company, it’s important to prioritize safety and maintain the highest standards possible by meeting pet food manufacturing regulations.
Read on to learn more about pet food regulations to ensure you’re producing safe, nutritious products for pets.
Why Are Pet Food Regulations Important for Manufacturers?
Failure to meet pet food manufacturing regulations can lead to serious consequences, such as product recalls and damage to your reputation. It’s clear that both pet and human food processing standards are now closely aligned, emphasizing the importance of providing safe, healthy options for our pets. By understanding pet food manufacturing regulations, you can ensure your facility is designed with safety in mind to prevent product contamination and maximize security.
Pet Food Is Highly Regulated
Pet food is one of the most regulated foods in the United States. Both federal and state regulations must be met to ensure the safety and quality of pet food. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) oversees finished pet food products and their ingredients, while almost all states require registration and strict adherence to labeling requirements. Before an ingredient can be used in pet food, it must be recognized and approved by the FDA or the Association of American Feed Officials (AAFCO). This ensures that only the best and safest ingredients are being used to nourish our pets.
Ingredients Used in Pet Food
As a pet food manufacturer, you play an essential role in ensuring the quality of ingredients you source from suppliers. For example, let’s take meat and bone meal, a common ingredient in pet food. You have the power to demand higher quality standards from meat renderers. If the meat meal doesn’t meet your criteria, your renderer’s product can be downgraded, quarantined, or even worse, your brand reputation can take a hit. By holding your suppliers accountable and understanding pet food regulations, furry companions end up with better quality food, giving you and your customers peace of mind.
Pet Food Manufacturing Regulations
The Food Safety Modernization Act
The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), passed in 2011, updated U.S. food safety regulations for the first time in over 70 years to ensure the prevention of illness in both humans and animals. Under FSMA, pet food manufacturers must implement good manufacturing practices, identify and evaluate potential hazards, and develop a food safety plan to ensure product safety from start to finish. This includes sourcing ingredients responsibly and even being prepared for a product recall if necessary. FSMA also requires compliance with foreign supplier and sanitary transportation regulations, ensuring that both finished pet food and ingredients meet U.S. safety standards, regardless of their origin.
State Regulations for Pet Food
Most states regulate pet food products under their animal feed laws. One way states do this is by adopting the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) model bill and regulations. State requirements for pet food following the AAFCO model include registration of each product before it can be sold in the state, as well as product label review and approval. This ensures that the necessary information is present on the label, such as the brand name, intended species, quantity of product, guaranteed analysis, nutritional adequacy statement, and feeding directions.
Manufacturers also have to provide a calorie content statement and assure that the use of certain terms, like “light” or “natural,” is not misleading. These regulations help protect consumers from false claims and ensure that the pet food they purchase meets specific nutritional standards.
Discover how the correct positioning of magnetic separators helps processing facilities ensure the safety of their pet food products.
Magnets That Remove Metal Contamination from Pet Food
Thanks to pet food manufacturing regulations, pet food companies are recognizing the importance of implementing metal fragment controls to ensure the removal of metal from the food. Manufacturers are also starting to demand that meat renderers supplying ingredients for pet food have metal fragment controls in place to remove metal from processing lines and prior to final packing.
At MagnattackⓇ, we have a range of magnetic separators proven to reduce the risk of metal contamination in pet food products:
Mag-RamⓇ Self-Cleaning Magnetic Separator
Featuring a large diameter magnetic ram, the Mag-Ram® Automatic Self-Cleaning Magnet captures and retains foreign metal fragments from dry products. With the Mag-Ram®, you have the flexibility to add as many magnet rams and/or rows as you need, adapting it to your specific pet food application and tonnage rates. The magnet can be programmed to clean during, before and after production runs.
RapidcleanⓇ Drawer Magnet
The Rapidclean® Drawer Magnet features open-ended magnetic bars that prevent frustrating blockages, and the cleaning process is made easy with the Rapidclean® Cleaning Tool. An optional stainless steel screen drawer is available to filter out non-magnetic contaminants. With the Rapidclean® Drawer Magnet, you can have peace of mind knowing that your final product is protected free from foreign metal contamination.
The Emulsion & Slurry Pipeline Separator
With its cutting-edge Acutex® Probe Magnets and fragment retention design, the Emulsion & Slurry Pipeline Separator is specifically designed for high-viscosity wet pet food products like meat emulsions and slurries This means it can effortlessly capture and retain even the smallest metal fines and fragments from your wet pet food processing lines.
The Bullnose Plate Magnet
The Bullnose Plate Magnet is typically installed in pet food applications processing chicken frames, whole muscle products, poultry, beef, lamb, venison, etc., prior to expensive processing machinery such as grinders, shredders, dicers, and emulsifiers.It is important to remove metal fragments before processing equipment to avoid costly damage, downtime for repair/maintenance, and loss of production.
Key Takeaways
Don’t let metal contamination ruin your reputation or product.
At Magnattack®, we have the perfect solution to keep your pet food safe and reduce the risk of recalls. Our innovative magnetic separators are tailor-made for the pet food industry. Whether it’s grains, protein meals, powders, or meat slurries, we can help you reduce risks of recalls and metal contamination in your final pet food product. Contact us today to learn more about our magnetic separators for the pet food industry.
