The Food and Drug Administration are making food safer for pets, for the first time.
The FDA has issued a new rule that manufactures have to create procedures to prevent animals from foodborne illnesses reported CNN on Oct. 25.
There are laws set in place to prevent humans from contamination in their food, but nothing for pet food. The FDA is ensuring that animal food is just as protected as food humans consume.
Daniel McChesney, the director of the Office of Surveillance and Compliance at the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine, said, "Unlike safeguards already in place to protect human foods, there are currently no regulations governing the safe production of most animal foods."
McChesney stated that over the last few years, there have been a number of pet food recalls.
The FDA released a statement on their website, FDA.gov concerning the issue of animal food safety. The release mentioned a contamination in 2007, which sickened and killed dogs and cats around the country, when melamine, a chemical used to make plastic, was added to dog food imported from China.
The rule will help keep not just animals safe but people too, since people can catch whatever disease or sickness their pets have.
Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
