A recent FOIA request has forced FDA-CVM to admit facts many already suspected. In 2020, records were requested from FDA-CVM for "all records from FDA for cases where dogs or cats are confirmed to have died from salmonella after eating raw dog or raw cat food." The date range for the request for records was January 2017 through December 2019. Three years later in May 2023, FDA responded stating, "The Center For Veterinary Medicine has conducted a search and did not locate any records responsive to your request." Shocking. FDA-CVM has conducted an outright war against the raw pet food sector over the past five years. There are several issues with FDA-CVM's approach with a "zero tolerance policy." First, FDA-CVM considers even "non pathogenic" salmonella to be an "adulterant" for pet food. This means that even if the salmonella serotype is benign or known to be a serotype that will likely never cause a health issue to humans or pets,
After years and a growing amount of citizen petitions from members of the public, FDA is holding a "virtual public meeting" on February 9, 2023 to discuss their ongoing relationship with AAFCO. As we know, AAFCO is a collection of public regulators who FDA refers to as their "regulatory partners". These public regulators are creating regulations and law in private, and those regulations are specifically designed for products in FDA regulatory jurisdiction. In addition to holding the public meeting, FDA is accepting electronic or written comments through March 9, 2023. To electronically submit comments to the docket, visit regulations.gov and type “FDA-2022-N-3122” in the search box. While calendar records reveal FDA-CVM employees found an abundance of time to personally meet with lobbying groups over the years, many citizens have reported that FDA-CVM has completely ignored dozens (or possibly hundreds) of their questions over the past few years. For those that have