1 00:00:01,200 --> 00:00:05,280 The American Association of Feed Control Officials, 2025 annual. 2 00:00:05,280 --> 00:00:09,280 Meeting was earlier. In August and I attended again 3 00:00:09,360 --> 00:00:12,400 this year and so today's episode we're kind of running down some 4 00:00:12,400 --> 00:00:14,960 of my takeaways from this year's meeting. 5 00:00:14,960 --> 00:00:17,560 If you are new here, thank you so much for being here. 6 00:00:17,560 --> 00:00:19,880 My name is Jessica. I am a certified canine 7 00:00:19,880 --> 00:00:22,920 nutritionist and holistic pet health coach and this is the Pet 8 00:00:22,920 --> 00:00:26,440 Parenting Reset where I bring you all kinds of incredible 9 00:00:26,440 --> 00:00:31,560 information for making better choices for your pets, for their 10 00:00:31,560 --> 00:00:35,840 health and for their happiness or hopefully an extended life, 11 00:00:35,840 --> 00:00:41,480 but certainly a healthier life. With that, let's jump into AFCO. 12 00:00:41,560 --> 00:00:44,840 So AFCO is not a regulatory body. 13 00:00:45,240 --> 00:00:47,840 We talk about this all the time on the podcast they provide. 14 00:00:48,640 --> 00:00:51,880 They have been contracted for, I don't know, over 100 years, 15 00:00:52,120 --> 00:00:57,480 something like that to by the FDA, excuse me, by the FDA too, 16 00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:03,760 provide guidelines for not just pet food, but feed, which is why 17 00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:06,360 it's the association of feed control officials. 18 00:01:07,160 --> 00:01:11,400 So all you know, livestock feed, all the things, they cover it 19 00:01:11,400 --> 00:01:12,200 all. And. 20 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:15,280 So it's a crazy time. It's a crazy, crazy time. 21 00:01:15,280 --> 00:01:17,560 We've talked a little bit about the Per Act in the past. 22 00:01:17,560 --> 00:01:19,800 If you've missed those episodes, you can certainly go back to 23 00:01:19,800 --> 00:01:21,200 them. And the Per Act is still in 24 00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:23,560 Congress. But it is basics. 25 00:01:23,640 --> 00:01:27,320 It's dissolving the memorandum of understanding, our MOU 26 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:33,040 between FDACVM, which is the Center for Veterinary Medicine 27 00:01:33,040 --> 00:01:38,560 at the FDA, Food and Drug Administration with AFCO that 28 00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:41,120 has been in place for a very, very long time. 29 00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:47,320 Some of the things that were talked about this year were kind 30 00:01:47,320 --> 00:01:51,560 of follow up from last year because last year was like, Oh 31 00:01:51,560 --> 00:01:54,400 my gosh, what is happening? Like people in the room were 32 00:01:54,400 --> 00:01:57,520 silent because nobody knew what was going on, what is happening. 33 00:01:57,520 --> 00:01:59,320 And I think we're still kind of in that place. 34 00:01:59,320 --> 00:02:04,240 But AFCO is definitely grasping to remain relevant and the FDA 35 00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:06,840 is saying that they are still going to work with AFCO, just 36 00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:09,560 not in the same ways. Anyway, we're going to get into 37 00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:13,400 all of that really quickly. I want to present to you a 38 00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:16,320 really incredible product that I have been using for Kim, and I 39 00:02:16,320 --> 00:02:20,440 want to say thank you because without sponsors, this podcast 40 00:02:20,440 --> 00:05:23,520 may not continue. OK, so welcome back. 41 00:05:23,520 --> 00:05:27,560 And so the AFCO 2025 Annual Meeting opened up with a keynote 42 00:05:27,560 --> 00:05:34,760 speaker, Timothy Shell, who is the acting FDACVM director. 43 00:05:34,760 --> 00:05:37,200 Some of the things he said. So first of all, he said a lot 44 00:05:37,200 --> 00:05:40,000 without saying anything, which is always interesting because 45 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:41,680 politicians kind of have a knack for that. 46 00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:45,200 And he definitely, there was a lot of political speech speak at 47 00:05:45,200 --> 00:05:50,160 this AFCO meeting all around because so FDACVM actually 48 00:05:50,160 --> 00:05:54,080 brought in, I think it was over 20 people to the meeting. 49 00:05:54,080 --> 00:05:56,080 It was a very well attended meeting. 50 00:05:56,080 --> 00:05:59,400 It was in Omaha this year, which actually was a really cute 51 00:05:59,400 --> 00:06:02,000 little city. Cara and I, Cara from Rawpaw 52 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:06,040 Adventures and I did a live. We were supposed to do 2, but we 53 00:06:06,040 --> 00:06:07,400 ran out of time on the second day. 54 00:06:07,440 --> 00:06:11,480 We did a live on the first day to kind of recap what we heard 55 00:06:11,480 --> 00:06:13,160 that day. So that was super fun. 56 00:06:13,720 --> 00:06:17,280 But some of the things he did say is that he was speaking 57 00:06:17,280 --> 00:06:19,080 specifically about color additives. 58 00:06:19,080 --> 00:06:22,360 And what he said is that what happens in the human space will 59 00:06:22,600 --> 00:06:26,720 be mirrored in the animal space. So for example, the red dye, the 60 00:06:26,800 --> 00:06:30,600 the one red dye that has been banned and they've given, I 61 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:34,200 don't know how many years to get that out of human food that is 62 00:06:34,200 --> 00:06:36,960 going to be mirrored in the pet space. 63 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:40,760 I don't know any more than that. But it sounds like their 64 00:06:40,760 --> 00:06:44,000 intention. Is that any anything happening 65 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:47,400 in the human food space as far as like banning additives, 66 00:06:47,400 --> 00:06:51,680 banning colors, dyes, banning things that are in food that 67 00:06:51,680 --> 00:06:55,520 that is going to translate into pet food, which is a really good 68 00:06:55,520 --> 00:06:57,520 thing in my opinion. Hopefully they follow through 69 00:06:57,520 --> 00:06:58,880 with that. That's obviously something he 70 00:06:58,880 --> 00:07:01,640 just said out loud and was I don't know if it's on paper 71 00:07:01,640 --> 00:07:05,720 anywhere. And then of course he he just 72 00:07:05,800 --> 00:07:09,840 made note, made mention that the grass system that generally 73 00:07:09,840 --> 00:07:13,680 recognizes safe system is obviously something that is a 74 00:07:13,680 --> 00:07:16,400 big deal right now. That is being talked about by 75 00:07:16,400 --> 00:07:20,120 the Health and Human Services Secretary, Secretary Robert F 76 00:07:20,120 --> 00:07:22,960 Kennedy Junior, and talking about looking at this and really 77 00:07:22,960 --> 00:07:25,520 seeing if it is a good system or not. 78 00:07:25,960 --> 00:07:29,760 Timothy Shell seemed to feel that whatever happens in the 79 00:07:29,760 --> 00:07:33,360 human space will also take place in the pet food space, in the 80 00:07:33,360 --> 00:07:37,400 feed control space. And then they talked about 81 00:07:37,400 --> 00:07:41,040 animal food ingredient consultation, replacing the AFCO 82 00:07:41,120 --> 00:07:44,240 MOU. So this is something that the 83 00:07:44,240 --> 00:07:48,440 FDA will take over, has taken over from AFCO, which is a big 84 00:07:48,440 --> 00:07:50,240 part of what AFCO did for the FDA. 85 00:07:50,240 --> 00:07:54,080 So again, AFCO representatives kind of grasping at straws and 86 00:07:54,080 --> 00:07:56,280 we'll talk about a little bit later on as well. 87 00:07:56,440 --> 00:08:00,520 One of the things that I found most interesting is that 88 00:08:00,520 --> 00:08:04,200 especially in his in Timothy Shell's speech, but it was kind 89 00:08:04,200 --> 00:08:07,440 of throughout and some of the other speakers saying this as 90 00:08:07,440 --> 00:08:11,760 well, they all said that we were all there for one common goal 91 00:08:12,040 --> 00:08:16,440 and that goal being to provide the safest food possible. 92 00:08:17,440 --> 00:08:20,440 I disagree. I am not there for that reason. 93 00:08:20,480 --> 00:08:24,520 I am there because I want the healthiest food possible. 94 00:08:24,720 --> 00:08:29,120 And so I think that they're missing the mark a little bit, 95 00:08:29,120 --> 00:08:32,039 but that is what they think they're there for. 96 00:08:32,520 --> 00:08:36,200 That is their goal. Their goal is to take waste, 97 00:08:36,440 --> 00:08:40,480 industrial waste, and make it as safe as possible in their eyes, 98 00:08:41,280 --> 00:08:45,800 for animals to eat. So that is very disconcerting 99 00:08:45,800 --> 00:08:47,800 for me. But that's what happened with 100 00:08:47,800 --> 00:08:50,040 that. There were, gosh, there was so 101 00:08:50,040 --> 00:08:53,040 much being talked about. Let's see here, I'm going 102 00:08:53,040 --> 00:08:57,080 through my notes in this book. So one of the things that I 103 00:08:57,080 --> 00:09:01,440 found interesting, they ratified a new definition of fish. 104 00:09:01,880 --> 00:09:05,640 Fish is undecomposed whole fish or flesh derived from the 105 00:09:05,640 --> 00:09:07,280 skeletal muscle, with or without. 106 00:09:07,600 --> 00:09:10,520 Accompanying bone exclusive and of any. 107 00:09:10,520 --> 00:09:14,480 Added heads, fends, tails, skin, bones, and viscera, except in 108 00:09:14,480 --> 00:09:17,600 such amounts as might occur unavoidably and processing. 109 00:09:17,920 --> 00:09:20,120 It shall be suitable for use in animal food. 110 00:09:20,120 --> 00:09:23,360 It is intended for use in animal food as a source of protein, 111 00:09:23,360 --> 00:09:25,560 consistent with good feeding practices. 112 00:09:25,560 --> 00:09:28,400 If it bears a name descriptive of its kind, it must correspond 113 00:09:28,400 --> 00:09:30,760 there too. So again, one of the things that 114 00:09:30,760 --> 00:09:35,280 I don't like, because I work with someone, I wouldn't want to 115 00:09:35,280 --> 00:09:38,960 feed this to my family. That also means my pets. 116 00:09:38,960 --> 00:09:42,680 But I work with so many animals that have sensitivities and to 117 00:09:42,680 --> 00:09:47,040 allow people to allow manufacturers to just put fish 118 00:09:47,040 --> 00:09:49,360 on a label is not at all transparent. 119 00:09:50,560 --> 00:09:54,640 Now it does say if it bears a name descriptive of its kind, it 120 00:09:54,640 --> 00:09:59,920 must correspond there too. Meaning that if a particular 121 00:09:59,920 --> 00:10:04,360 fish is defined, then it has to say that particular fish. 122 00:10:04,440 --> 00:10:06,640 I feel like all fish should should be defined. 123 00:10:06,680 --> 00:10:10,000 Like if we don't know what it is, then why are we feeding it? 124 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:14,160 So just having something that says fish is very concerning for 125 00:10:14,160 --> 00:10:16,920 me, but it is obviously allowed because there is a definition 126 00:10:16,920 --> 00:10:20,280 for it and you may have seen it if you looked at ingredient 127 00:10:20,280 --> 00:10:23,320 labels. Something else that I find very 128 00:10:23,320 --> 00:10:29,320 interesting that AFCO ratified the official method for 129 00:10:29,400 --> 00:10:34,080 fluorine, FLUORINE in animal feed. 130 00:10:34,360 --> 00:10:37,080 This is an ion selective electrode method that was 131 00:10:37,080 --> 00:10:40,480 developed to analyze for fluoride in animal feed. 132 00:10:40,480 --> 00:10:42,960 But the results of the method are to be expressed as or 133 00:10:42,960 --> 00:10:45,640 reported as fluorine. This means that the method 134 00:10:45,640 --> 00:10:48,400 actually detects fluoride and not fluorine. 135 00:10:48,760 --> 00:10:51,400 Therefore guarantees or specifications for fluorine are 136 00:10:51,400 --> 00:10:55,200 actually for fluoride. Isn't that confusing and they're 137 00:10:55,200 --> 00:10:59,480 just saying OK, well it is what it is so we'll define it as such 138 00:10:59,680 --> 00:11:02,360 instead of saying no, fix it, No, fix it. 139 00:11:02,360 --> 00:11:04,160 That's what I'm saying, no fix it. 140 00:11:04,280 --> 00:11:10,960 Also anything black soldier fly larvae and black soldier fly 141 00:11:11,240 --> 00:11:15,880 larvae oil. These are probably going to be 142 00:11:15,880 --> 00:11:19,440 very common. I don't know in pet food, but it 143 00:11:19,440 --> 00:11:22,600 seems like it they might eventually because they've been 144 00:11:22,600 --> 00:11:26,920 ratified in the definition for AS part of what can be like an 145 00:11:26,920 --> 00:11:28,520 ingredient. It's an ingredient definition. 146 00:11:28,640 --> 00:11:31,360 But what's interesting to me, and if you don't know this, if 147 00:11:31,360 --> 00:11:35,640 you are not following along, which nobody is, consumers are 148 00:11:35,640 --> 00:11:40,440 the biggest percentage of people affected that need 149 00:11:40,440 --> 00:11:43,680 representation in feed and food for for pets. 150 00:11:44,280 --> 00:11:47,640 And yet they have absolutely no representation and it is 151 00:11:47,640 --> 00:11:50,520 terrifying. So you might look at there might 152 00:11:50,520 --> 00:11:54,160 be like, I don't know, maybe even an organic certification, I 153 00:11:54,160 --> 00:11:55,960 don't know. This is speculation on my part 154 00:11:56,200 --> 00:11:59,840 for a food that has black soldier fly larvae or black 155 00:11:59,840 --> 00:12:03,560 soldier fly larvae oil. And then you don't know because 156 00:12:03,560 --> 00:12:09,040 the truth is the definition says that those larvae which are 157 00:12:09,040 --> 00:12:14,200 approved to be used in adult dog and adult cat foods, those 158 00:12:14,320 --> 00:12:18,960 larvae are exclusively fed feed grade materials. 159 00:12:19,400 --> 00:12:22,240 So even though you might look at this and say, OK, well it's a, 160 00:12:22,360 --> 00:12:25,800 it's a healthy protein source, but those larvae are only fed 161 00:12:25,800 --> 00:12:29,160 feed grade materials. Just like when we talk about 162 00:12:29,440 --> 00:12:32,960 what a cow eats or what a pig eats and that affecting its 163 00:12:32,960 --> 00:12:36,120 nutrients and that affecting the energetics and that affecting 164 00:12:36,160 --> 00:12:41,960 you or your pets consuming that food, same goes with this. 165 00:12:41,960 --> 00:12:44,520 And so it's not going to be expressly written. 166 00:12:44,520 --> 00:12:46,120 That's just part of the definition. 167 00:12:46,200 --> 00:12:47,960 And by the way. Definitions. 168 00:12:47,960 --> 00:12:51,120 Of ingredients in pet food is available for purchase. 169 00:12:51,120 --> 00:12:54,200 They are not free. You can purchase them as a 170 00:12:54,200 --> 00:12:56,360 consumer. You have to purchase them as a 171 00:12:56,360 --> 00:12:59,000 manufacturer. And I believe it's 250. 172 00:12:59,000 --> 00:13:00,560 Dollars a year. Something like that. 173 00:13:01,760 --> 00:13:03,960 If you want to know what that is. 174 00:13:03,960 --> 00:13:08,680 So I'm I'm not going to go through everything that was 175 00:13:08,680 --> 00:13:10,720 talked about obviously at the AFCO meeting. 176 00:13:11,080 --> 00:13:13,120 Just pulling up some of the big ones. 177 00:13:13,360 --> 00:13:17,560 One of the things that I did circle is that there was a new 178 00:13:17,560 --> 00:13:22,960 ingredient beta mayonnaise. I have no idea how to say that 179 00:13:22,960 --> 00:13:27,840 word. It is a strain of bacteria and 180 00:13:27,920 --> 00:13:32,280 the intended use says utility information not evaluated for 181 00:13:32,280 --> 00:13:35,480 grass that generally recognizes safe system. 182 00:13:35,480 --> 00:13:39,400 And then the FDA's letter says FDA has no questions. 183 00:13:39,960 --> 00:13:43,600 So I'm sure this is very common. And maybe to somebody else is 184 00:13:43,600 --> 00:13:46,880 like, OK, whatever. But to me it's saying that like 185 00:13:47,320 --> 00:13:50,360 not even evaluated in the generally recognized safe 186 00:13:50,360 --> 00:13:53,720 system. And the FDA is like, OK, first 187 00:13:53,720 --> 00:13:56,480 of all, we don't like the grass system to begin with. 188 00:13:56,760 --> 00:13:59,440 But then if we're not even using it, what are we using again? 189 00:13:59,440 --> 00:14:04,560 Rent Red dye #3 is going it has a sunset date of January 1st, 190 00:14:04,560 --> 00:14:08,080 2027. So it is going to be a withdrawn 191 00:14:08,080 --> 00:14:10,160 ingredient. And then here we go. 192 00:14:10,440 --> 00:14:15,320 OK, so according to the per act, the FDACVM is going to be the 193 00:14:15,320 --> 00:14:20,040 final arbitrator regulating food safety labels, labeling and 194 00:14:20,040 --> 00:14:22,280 advertising. The states will continue 195 00:14:22,280 --> 00:14:26,920 testing, working with the FDA, inspections and education and 196 00:14:26,920 --> 00:14:30,600 they are touting this as regulatory harmony. 197 00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:36,680 Is is specifically what a quote I heard and the FDA and the FTC 198 00:14:36,680 --> 00:14:39,400 already are. They're already responsible for 199 00:14:39,960 --> 00:14:44,400 the authority of I can't read my own handwriting of claims. 200 00:14:44,400 --> 00:14:50,280 They codify the language for the OP, which is the like regulation 201 00:14:50,280 --> 00:14:53,720 book that AFCO created. So they already codified that 202 00:14:53,720 --> 00:14:55,520 language. So they're, they're just going 203 00:14:55,520 --> 00:14:58,240 to continue using it basically they're not going to create 204 00:14:58,240 --> 00:14:59,720 their own. They're going to say, OK, we've 205 00:14:59,720 --> 00:15:01,520 been using this forever. We're just going to go ahead and 206 00:15:01,520 --> 00:15:06,200 continue using it as our own. And the states still choose to 207 00:15:06,200 --> 00:15:09,240 work with the FDA. And then federally they're going 208 00:15:09,240 --> 00:15:12,000 to codify pet food labeling. So that's kind of like the 209 00:15:12,400 --> 00:15:16,560 highlight of the per act is that there's going to be like one 210 00:15:16,800 --> 00:15:22,280 federal food labeling regulation, whereas right now 211 00:15:22,360 --> 00:15:26,640 every individual states of 50 states have their own, which is 212 00:15:26,640 --> 00:15:28,760 very difficult for manufacturers, especially small 213 00:15:28,760 --> 00:15:32,200 manufacturers. So yeah, the the and then they 214 00:15:32,200 --> 00:15:36,040 talk, they went back to 19 O 9. So it has been more than 100 215 00:15:36,040 --> 00:15:39,040 years. Nineteen O 9 is when AFCO 216 00:15:39,600 --> 00:15:45,960 originally started basically contracting for the FDA and the 217 00:15:45,960 --> 00:15:47,800 whole point. Of AFCO. 218 00:15:48,080 --> 00:15:51,600 Was to get all of the states on one page and it has been over 219 00:15:51,600 --> 00:15:53,360 100 years and they haven't been able to do that. 220 00:15:53,520 --> 00:15:55,920 So it does kind of make sense that the federal government 221 00:15:55,920 --> 00:16:00,160 wants to take it back over. So let's get to the second day 222 00:16:00,160 --> 00:16:01,360 at AFCO. Yeah. 223 00:16:01,560 --> 00:16:06,240 So they were supposed to give updates on HPP because there's 224 00:16:06,240 --> 00:16:08,800 no definition for HPP. They were supposed to give a 225 00:16:08,800 --> 00:16:11,840 definition for jerky and still has not been defined. 226 00:16:11,840 --> 00:16:14,480 And they're supposed to be a definition for gently cooked, 227 00:16:14,680 --> 00:16:17,320 which is also not defined. None of that has happened. 228 00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:20,440 They requested work groups. They don't have official work 229 00:16:20,440 --> 00:16:22,320 groups. What's interesting with all of 230 00:16:22,320 --> 00:16:25,880 this is that we use HPP in human food manufacturing. 231 00:16:25,880 --> 00:16:30,880 So I feel like there should be some definition somewhere of it. 232 00:16:30,920 --> 00:16:33,000 I don't know. And then jerky, like how long 233 00:16:33,000 --> 00:16:35,120 has jerky been sold? And there's no definition for 234 00:16:35,120 --> 00:16:37,000 it. That's kind of crazy as well. 235 00:16:37,480 --> 00:16:40,720 And then gently cooked. So I think along the same lines 236 00:16:40,720 --> 00:16:45,760 as as and then the common food index, we added dates, pumpkin 237 00:16:45,760 --> 00:16:48,000 seeds, honeydew, cantaloupe and spinach. 238 00:16:48,480 --> 00:16:51,760 What was really funny was somebody was like, I'm shocked 239 00:16:51,760 --> 00:16:55,000 we added honeydew in cantaloupe because who knows what that 240 00:16:55,000 --> 00:16:58,160 actually is. And I was like, what like don't 241 00:16:58,160 --> 00:17:00,080 we know about? Actually, I don't know, maybe 242 00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:01,560 I'm wrong on that. You can let me know. 243 00:17:01,560 --> 00:17:04,640 But also they brought up, which is so silly. 244 00:17:05,240 --> 00:17:07,800 They brought up food versus feed again. 245 00:17:07,920 --> 00:17:11,040 Now, the reason I say this is so silly is because it's like, yes, 246 00:17:11,040 --> 00:17:16,839 as a consumer, I absolutely want to look at this again. 247 00:17:16,839 --> 00:17:21,000 But as like AFCO, this is done, this is handled. 248 00:17:21,000 --> 00:17:25,440 This is, they've already decided that these two words are to be 249 00:17:25,440 --> 00:17:28,119 used interchangeably. So anywhere you see the word 250 00:17:28,119 --> 00:17:32,280 food, they mean feed and vice versa is what they're saying. 251 00:17:32,520 --> 00:17:35,200 These two words are interchangeable. 252 00:17:35,400 --> 00:17:37,720 As far as AFCO is concerned, that's handled. 253 00:17:37,720 --> 00:17:40,040 That's done. I don't like it, but it's 254 00:17:40,040 --> 00:17:42,280 handled and it's done. So that's why I say it's silly. 255 00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:45,800 But somebody actually got on the mic and said, who even cares 256 00:17:45,800 --> 00:17:50,200 about this anymore? And I was like, wow, like, tell 257 00:17:50,200 --> 00:17:56,520 me, tell me there are no consumers on these panels 258 00:17:56,520 --> 00:17:59,000 without telling me there are no consumers on these panels, 259 00:17:59,320 --> 00:18:01,800 right? Because even though consumers 260 00:18:01,800 --> 00:18:08,400 are the largest group affected by pet food and feed regulation, 261 00:18:08,800 --> 00:18:12,880 they have no, no say. They have no presence in 262 00:18:13,640 --> 00:18:17,960 regulation whatsoever. And it drives me up the wall. 263 00:18:19,640 --> 00:18:23,960 And manufacturers, even even healthy pet food manufacturers 264 00:18:24,040 --> 00:18:25,920 don't care either. They're like, leave it the way 265 00:18:25,920 --> 00:18:29,160 it is because they can use feed grade ingredients and still call 266 00:18:29,160 --> 00:18:33,440 it food. And some of our some of the 267 00:18:33,440 --> 00:18:36,720 foods that we feed, some of the foods that I even recommend are 268 00:18:36,720 --> 00:18:41,840 technically they have feed grade ingredients on them because this 269 00:18:41,840 --> 00:18:43,640 is just the way of the world for pet food. 270 00:18:43,680 --> 00:18:47,920 But some of the. Reasons that were given for not 271 00:18:47,920 --> 00:18:54,240 going back to redefine this is that one, it's too much work. 2 272 00:18:54,640 --> 00:18:58,400 Does anybody care? That was actually asked and then 273 00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:01,200 it was admitted by almost everybody that yes, it is very 274 00:19:01,200 --> 00:19:03,240 confusing, but Nope, they are not fixing it. 275 00:19:03,240 --> 00:19:07,680 So pet food manufacturers may be fine with that, industry may be 276 00:19:07,680 --> 00:19:10,240 fine with that. Feed control may be fine with 277 00:19:10,240 --> 00:19:13,000 that. As a consumer, I'm not fine with 278 00:19:13,000 --> 00:19:15,040 that. I want to know the difference. 279 00:19:15,040 --> 00:19:20,680 I want, I want a pet food package or a pet feed package to 280 00:19:20,680 --> 00:19:23,320 say if it is food grade or if it is feed grade. 281 00:19:24,720 --> 00:19:27,680 That's what I want. So on the second day, to kind of 282 00:19:27,680 --> 00:19:31,160 close out the day, we had a presentation from Doctor Kathy 283 00:19:31,160 --> 00:19:36,400 Gross. She is a PhD diplomat from the 284 00:19:36,400 --> 00:19:38,320 American College of Animal Nutrition. 285 00:19:38,320 --> 00:19:41,840 She recently retired after a 32 year career at Hills Pet 286 00:19:41,840 --> 00:19:46,560 Nutrition and she gave a presentation on pet obesity. 287 00:19:46,600 --> 00:19:48,680 And here are some of my takeaways from her talk. 288 00:19:48,720 --> 00:19:52,520 She still believes that reducing reducing calories is the way to 289 00:19:52,520 --> 00:19:56,520 combat this, that reducing calories will keep pets a 290 00:19:56,520 --> 00:19:58,960 healthy weight. I think this is a very short 291 00:19:58,960 --> 00:20:01,800 sighted argument. Obesity is an inflammatory 292 00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:06,280 disease and she did not talk about that and there was a lot 293 00:20:06,280 --> 00:20:09,560 of irony going on. She also could not seem even 294 00:20:09,560 --> 00:20:12,320 though she had trends and graphs and. 295 00:20:13,200 --> 00:20:17,240 Showing like. Pet obesity and time overtime 296 00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:19,520 blah blah blah. Somehow she could not see the 297 00:20:19,520 --> 00:20:23,160 correlation between the overweight epidemic starting and 298 00:20:23,160 --> 00:20:25,080 the timing of ultra processed foods. 299 00:20:25,080 --> 00:20:28,840 She also barely mentioned anything about a species or no. 300 00:20:28,840 --> 00:20:31,120 She didn't say anything about a biologically or a species 301 00:20:31,120 --> 00:20:35,760 appropriate diet. There was one mention it was 302 00:20:35,760 --> 00:20:38,440 like an afterthought. She gave like, all of these 303 00:20:38,440 --> 00:20:42,280 things, like, I don't know, 15 things that needed to be done to 304 00:20:42,520 --> 00:20:45,440 combat pet obesity. And the last thing she said with 305 00:20:45,440 --> 00:20:49,840 like a second, like a blip on the screen was like, maybe we 306 00:20:49,840 --> 00:20:51,360 should consider fresh foods. I don't know. 307 00:20:51,360 --> 00:20:53,720 We need to look into that more. It wasn't even a definitive. 308 00:20:53,720 --> 00:20:55,000 It was just like, I don't know, maybe. 309 00:20:55,320 --> 00:21:00,760 And then went on with her talk. It was very, very short sighted. 310 00:21:00,760 --> 00:21:03,680 And the idea that just a reduction in calories is going 311 00:21:03,680 --> 00:21:07,120 to do it is asinine to me as a health coach or just, I don't 312 00:21:07,120 --> 00:21:10,360 know, as a human walking this planet, understanding how 313 00:21:10,360 --> 00:21:15,480 inflammation plays a key role in everything and how kibble is the 314 00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:18,200 most inflammatory food that we could be feeding our pets 315 00:21:18,200 --> 00:21:20,760 believe, yeah, pretty much the most inflammatory food that we 316 00:21:20,760 --> 00:21:22,080 could possibly be feeding our pets. 317 00:21:22,080 --> 00:21:26,440 But so anyway, AFCO was very frustrating this year. 318 00:21:28,680 --> 00:21:32,920 It's a lot of just sitting there being bored, and every once in a 319 00:21:32,920 --> 00:21:35,600 while you're like, Oh my God, did I just hear what I heard? 320 00:21:36,840 --> 00:21:39,360 That's the AFCO meeting. But the reality is we need more 321 00:21:39,360 --> 00:21:42,720 consumers there. We need a bigger presence. 322 00:21:42,720 --> 00:21:48,280 We need to let people know that we actually care in a meaningful 323 00:21:48,280 --> 00:21:50,400 way. You know, one thing that did 324 00:21:50,400 --> 00:21:52,520 happen this year that I'm very grateful for. 325 00:21:52,720 --> 00:21:56,120 So 2024 I had to pay $500 to attend. 326 00:21:56,440 --> 00:22:02,160 They reduce the fee for consumers to $250 this year. 327 00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:07,360 And so I feel like, and that was that took a lot of talking. 328 00:22:07,360 --> 00:22:11,640 Like Susan had to really push, Kathy Doctor, Kathy Alanovi had 329 00:22:11,640 --> 00:22:14,400 to really push. And I think they listened and 330 00:22:14,400 --> 00:22:18,080 they're like, OK, well, let's see, let's give it a go. 331 00:22:18,600 --> 00:22:22,120 And I know you know, Cara with Rawala Adventure, she also came 332 00:22:22,120 --> 00:22:24,400 this year. So she had the benefit of paying 333 00:22:24,400 --> 00:22:26,920 half what I paid last year to go. 334 00:22:26,920 --> 00:22:30,400 And then of course, you have travel, you know, airfare and 335 00:22:30,400 --> 00:22:33,200 hotel and all of that, that has to be paid as well. 336 00:22:33,200 --> 00:22:35,360 So it's not cheap. And so I get why people don't 337 00:22:35,360 --> 00:22:37,880 go, but and it's boring and it's frustrating. 338 00:22:37,880 --> 00:22:42,840 But when we don't attend, the only like they get to do what 339 00:22:42,840 --> 00:22:47,680 they want and they get to look and say, well, you're not 340 00:22:47,680 --> 00:22:49,120 attending so you obviously don't care. 341 00:22:49,920 --> 00:22:53,720 And that's one of the biggest like takeaways for me is like, 342 00:22:54,600 --> 00:22:58,600 no, it's not fun. And no, I am not happy about the 343 00:22:58,600 --> 00:23:05,080 things I'm hearing, but I have every intention to continue 344 00:23:05,080 --> 00:23:10,440 showing up because I do care. And I, I don't know, that's just 345 00:23:10,440 --> 00:23:13,240 my way, my message, especially to healthy pet food 346 00:23:13,240 --> 00:23:15,200 manufacturers, please show up as well. 347 00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:17,720 Some of them do, but not all of them. 348 00:23:17,720 --> 00:23:21,920 And you know, please show up because what you do matters. 349 00:23:22,960 --> 00:23:27,400 Consumers, please show up. We are the biggest percentage 350 00:23:27,400 --> 00:23:29,800 that is affected by this and we're not showing up. 351 00:23:31,080 --> 00:23:33,800 And no, they don't make it easy. They do not make it easy. 352 00:23:33,800 --> 00:23:36,520 They don't want us there. That's exactly why we have to be 353 00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:39,600 there. So I hope I didn't ramble too 354 00:23:39,600 --> 00:23:43,520 much, but that's kind of the highlights from the AFCO 2025 355 00:23:43,520 --> 00:23:45,680 Annual Annual meeting. Let me know if you have any 356 00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:50,040 questions about that and let me know if any of this frustrates 357 00:23:50,040 --> 00:23:52,160 you as much as it frustrates me. I don't know. 358 00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:55,360 I know that like these AFCO updates, this is just a second 359 00:23:55,360 --> 00:24:00,120 one, but they're, they tend to be like the ones that people 360 00:24:00,120 --> 00:24:03,520 don't get into as far as episodes go as much as other 361 00:24:03,520 --> 00:24:05,160 episodes. But I just, I mean, it's 362 00:24:05,160 --> 00:24:07,440 important guys. Like this is this is the 363 00:24:07,440 --> 00:24:13,680 regulation and it's still our only connection to FDACVM at the 364 00:24:13,680 --> 00:24:15,080 moment. I don't know how that's going to 365 00:24:15,080 --> 00:24:17,800 look moving forward. I don't think anybody does. 366 00:24:17,800 --> 00:24:20,960 But that's another reason why I'm attending is to figure out 367 00:24:21,840 --> 00:24:24,680 what this is going to look like moving forward because we need 368 00:24:24,680 --> 00:24:29,440 to know consumers or pets are being affected by everything 369 00:24:29,440 --> 00:24:31,320 they do. And so we need to know what 370 00:24:31,320 --> 00:24:32,800 they're doing. So with that, I'm going to go 371 00:24:32,800 --> 00:24:35,160 ahead and end today's episode. I want to say thank you again to 372 00:24:35,160 --> 00:24:38,240 Legacy Biome for being sponsor for this week's podcast. 373 00:24:38,240 --> 00:24:41,200 And if you have any questions about APCO, if you have any 374 00:24:41,200 --> 00:24:43,680 questions about Legacy Biome, reach out to me. 375 00:24:43,760 --> 00:24:45,520 Instagram is the best way to do that. 376 00:24:45,800 --> 00:24:48,920 Of course, I'm at the pet parenting reset guys. 377 00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:53,080 I just can't wait for next week. We have another incredible guest 378 00:24:53,360 --> 00:24:57,040 coming next week and I have so many more ahead for the rest of 379 00:24:57,040 --> 00:24:59,440 the year for you guys. With that, please give your pet 380 00:24:59,440 --> 00:25:03,080 some extra love from me today. And here is a message from 381 00:25:03,080 --> 00:25:05,880 Legacy Biome one more time. All right, pet parents, you 382 00:25:05,880 --> 00:25:08,040 already know that I talk. All the time about. 383 00:25:08,120 --> 00:25:11,920 Needing to stop as much. As we possibly can feeding our 384 00:25:11,920 --> 00:25:14,560 fur babies garbage, for lack of a better word. 385 00:25:14,560 --> 00:25:17,040 That's what we talked about here a lot. 386 00:25:17,360 --> 00:25:19,560 And again, doing the best we can. 387 00:25:20,120 --> 00:25:23,120 That is the message. Above any and everything else, 388 00:25:23,360 --> 00:25:26,040 the more we learn, the more we know we need to make some 389 00:25:26,040 --> 00:25:30,480 changes and this episode is powered by Legacy Biome. 390 00:25:30,640 --> 00:25:35,120 This is no BS and This is why I. Think you need legacy Biome? 391 00:25:35,120 --> 00:25:39,640 So legacy Biome offers premium. When I say premium, I mean 392 00:25:39,640 --> 00:25:44,440 premium FMT, fecal microbiota transplant capsules. 393 00:25:44,440 --> 00:25:46,640 These are products. 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Legacy Biome is your weapon. 415 00:26:49,520 --> 00:26:53,320 Heck, you can just use it proactively to build a 416 00:26:53,400 --> 00:26:56,760 bulletproof gut and immune health. 417 00:26:56,760 --> 00:27:00,880 So don't worry, that's handle. This FMT is administered 418 00:27:01,080 --> 00:27:04,960 rectally, often through veterinarians offices, but we 419 00:27:04,960 --> 00:27:06,320 don't always have access to that. 420 00:27:06,640 --> 00:27:11,080 So what's the next best thing? FMT capsules that are enteric 421 00:27:11,080 --> 00:27:12,840 coded that you can get delivered. 422 00:27:13,040 --> 00:27:14,920 Straight to your home from the most.