The meeting of AAFCO's Pet Food Committee (PFC) was held Wednesday afternoon, with a very busy agenda. This committee is responsible for updates to the model pet food regulations that form the de facto standards for commercial pet foods. Sure, it sounds dry and boring--and indeed the pace of change often seems to match glacier movement before global warming! But if are interested in why the food you feed your pets is the way it is, it's important to understand this process. But first, a little political drama: the chairman ...

Little Big Cat is coming to you today from beautiful Reno, Nevada; I'm attending the mid-year meeting of AAFCO, the Association of American Feed Control Officials. If that organization sounds familiar, it's because you've seen it on virtually every can, bag, roll, and every other form of commercial pet food you've ever bought. AAFCO sets the standards for pet food regulation in the U.S. (and essentially for Canada). Although AAFCO is not itself a regulatory body, its members--volunteers from each state--are the regulators and enforcers of state laws affecting animal ...