Search Results

In the U.S. political landscape, the impending arrival of 2024 carries immense significance for legislative bodies at every level. As a pivotal year divisible by four, it heralds the onset of a multitude of electoral processes. Chief among these is the presidential election, an event that invariably captures the attention of the nation and sets the course for its future trajectory. Beyond the presidency, the electoral stage is set for the renewal of the House of Representatives, with all 435 seats up for grabs. Simultaneously, the Senate will see 33 regular seats, alongside an additional special election, collectively shaping the balance of power and influencing the legislative agenda for years to come. Additionally, there are gubernatorial races in 11 states that add another layer of complexity to the electoral landscape, as voters weigh competing visions for state governance and leadership.  

In 2004 Facebook, Gmail and Firefox were launched and our use of electrons for social, academic and business purposes changed forever. The horizon was wide open for imagination to influence innovations and as a society we have never looked back. That same year, animal food manufacturers started their quest to modernize the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) regulatory oversight of animal food additives. In 2004, products were being developed that would improve animal productivity and wellness and reduce pathogens in human foods derived from animals. But there was no regulatory equivalent to the electronic highway to bring these products to the marketplace, farmers where stuck with the governing equivalent of floppy discs as CVM policy blocked the delivery of these exciting products into the hands of U.S. animal owners. Farmers and ranchers in other countries had the regulatory tools to use these scientific advances for the betterment of human health, animal health and the environment while U.S. farmers chugged along hampered by archaic federal policies.

September 30. Each year, the date comes and goes across the world. To some, it may be a birthday, an anniversary or finally the date of the concert you have been waiting for. To many, it is just another day on the calendar. But for those in Washington, D.C., the date looms larger and larger each year. Why is it important and why should the animal food industry care?

Last week, former Florida Republican Congressman Ted Yoho, a veterinarian, penned an op-ed for Agri-Pulse, which inaccurately describes the current regulatory process for new animal food ingredients and calls into question the industry’s need for a legislative solution. The op-ed comes as Congress looks to reauthorize the Animal Drug User Fee Act before its Sept. 30 deadline, which, currently, in the Senate, contains a key, bipartisan-approved bill that would streamline regulatory reviews for new animal food ingredients that act within animals’ gut microbiomes to bring about food safety, production or environmental benefits.

On Tuesday, the American Feed Industry Association’s Louise Calderwood participated in a listening session at the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Veterinary Medicine on the regulation of animal foods with certain claims. This issue is one the AFIA has been following for quite some time (see related blog posts here and here), given its hindrance to getting products to the marketplace that would help the U.S. get one step closer to meeting its food security and climate goals.

Remember the opening scene from the iconic television series, Star Trek? You know the one, where the Starship Enterprise glides by as the narrator exclaims that her intrepid crew will “boldly go where no man has gone before!” What the average viewer might not know is that the fictional craft USS Enterprise’s inaugural voyage started in 2245 and by the time her third pilot, the illustrious James T. Kirk, manned her helm in 2264, she had been engaged in interplanetary exploration for 19 years. Almost as long as the American Feed Industry Association has been urging the Food and Drug Administration to modernize its approach to the use of marketing claims for innovative animal food additives with proven efficacy and safety!