Policy Issues

You’ll often hear people in the animal food manufacturing industry say, “Safe feed equals safe food.” This is the mantra by which our industry lives and breathes. We have a responsibility not only to ensure the food that the country’s livestock, poultry and pets eat is safe, but to limit any risks for your families when handling pet food at home or consuming meat, milk, eggs and fish. We also work to ensure all 944,000 employees across the country know safety is everyone’s responsibility, so our industry can continually improve.

Safety has been ingrained in our culture since the industry’s roots more than 100 years ago. Today, animal food manufacturing facilities are regulated by both state and federal feed and food laws and go through a number of stringent procedures to ensure only the safest, highest-quality and nutritious ingredients make it to the marketplace. Not only that, many facilities take part in certification programs that go above and beyond what state and federal laws require, not because it’s something they should do, but because it’s the right thing to do.

On behalf of its members, the American Feed Industry Association regularly engages with national and state policymakers on legislative and regulatory issues, from labeling standards to medicated feeds to the sanitary transport of goods to workplace safety to ingredient quality to trade. We urge policymakers to move forward with responsible and science-based animal health and animal food safety regulations that enhance the care of animals and promote safer and more efficient workplaces. We also work to protect consumer choice in the marketplace and foster scientific research and innovation that will improve the quality and safety of the animal food products we manufacture.

How Is Feed and Pet Food Regulated in the United States?

Many states and the federal government began regulating the feed and pet food industry around the turn of the 20th century. Learn more about the history and evolution of state and federal feed laws and regulations.