[mind over matter]

Thoughts?

[Charles.C]

Dear MOM,

The petfood business is one gigantic example.

Admittedly, i have occasionally eaten this also but only in the interests of science. Not highly recommended although i personally preferred canned tuna petfood to sardine .

Rgds / Charles.C

[KTD]

In the US, FDA requires that HACCP be followed by the final producer for pet food production (WIP producers are not sepcifically required to do so by regulation). Expectation is that the product may very well be eaten by people in dire straits. However, since the raw materials are often rejects from human food production - quality and/or food safety concerns - I am not exactly sure how that works...

[GMO]

As PP have said, even petfood has to be safe for human consumption but there are even grey areas within human food. Some issues get assigned as food safety concerns when really they're quality issues, I would cite in this many moulds, hair contamination, even some pest contamination. For example, if you had some stored product insect contamination of an item which is then cooked, because the insects are likely to be very small (so not a significant physical hazard), and cooked (so not a significant microbiological hazard), there really isn't that much of a food safety risk, however, I don't think the courts would consider it fit for human consumption!

[Charles.C]

KTD, on 03 February 2012 - 01:01 AM, said:

In the US, FDA requires that HACCP be followed by the final producer for pet food production (WIP producers are not sepcifically required to do so by regulation). Expectation is that the product may very well be eaten by people in dire straits. However, since the raw materials are often rejects from human food production - quality and/or food safety concerns - I am not exactly sure how that works...

Dear KTD,

The product was being co-packed and inspected for a famous Australasian company. The customer's SOP required "personal" testing for "random" batches and their QA reps were only too happy to demonstrate the correct method of sensory evaluation. I do admit however that none of my coworkers were willing to verify my taste score. A question of where the buck stops again.

For USA (i think)(added - correction FEDIAF is European Federation ) the FEDIAF haccp procedure even extends to ISO 22000 details.

Rgds / Charles.C

[KTD]

Dear Charles C.

There as GOT to be a better way...might be time to anoint a QA poodle!

[mind over matter]

A petfood maybe safe for human consumption, but not fit for a meal.

[Pet Food Guy]

I am currently working on a Food safety / quality management system for a new Pet Food Company in USA. I am basing it on demands in the SQF code. we will be seeking SQF approval in a few months when we have some records for Verification and Validation. All of the Big time retailers (Think of words ending in MART) are requiring GFSI type certification. FSMA has picked on this industry since the peanut butter incident in Georgia a few years back. We have to make pet food people safe, because of Direct-Human-Contact. We fall Under SQF food categories 8 (processing of manufactured meats and poultry) & 22 (Processing of Cereal Grains and nuts). I have been leeching information off of this site for the last couple of months, sorry it took so long to write. I've really enjoyed reading the sage advise that you guys provide. As soon as I learn to navigate this site a little better, I'll start asking a bunch of SQF related Questions. My Background is Lab and Quality Control Management. I shifted into Food Safety when I found out that a 4-day course course could double my Salary! I had already built a HACCP program and a Quality Control Manual for my last Pet Food Company. SQF is a challenge.

Oh and from a bacterial standpoint our dry pet food is clean. I've been shipping pet food to EU nations for the last 5 years, passing their strict enterobacteriaceae requirements. (Extrusion 194 F min. Drying 200 min. for 20 min.) Our biggest challenge is preventing contamination from raw materials. The Pet Food Treat industry is what raised the salmonella alarm. The true CCP in this Industry is Mycotoxin poisoning. Dogs and cats are sensitive to them. Aflatoxin is FDA regulated @ 20ppb. I included the "kill Step" in my HACCP mostly to please customers. The day of my last AIB audit I passed a greyhound eating roadkill on the way to work. Makes you think, right? And to answer a question above yes we do employ dogs for taste tests!
Hi,
PetFood Guy