President George W. Bush in October signed into law a bill requiring the Food and Drug Administration to write new regulations to help ensure the safety of pet food.

Under the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007, the FDA must establish pet food ingredient and processing standards within two years of enactment. The agency also must update pet food labeling standards to include nutritional and ingredient information. The bill allows the Association of American Feed Control Officials, veterinary medical associations, animal health organizations and pet food manufacturers to provide input in drafting the regulations.

The bill also requires the FDA, within one year of enactment, to establish an early warning and surveillance system to identify adulteration of the pet food supply and outbreaks of illness associated with pet food. The agency must ensure efficient and effective communications during a pet food—or human food—recall, work with the companies involved to collect and aggregate information, and post the information on the Internet in a single searchable database.

The bill also establishes an Adulterated Food Registry to which firms must report feed, food and pet food adulterations that cause serious adverse health consequences or death to humans or animals unless:

• The adulteration originated with the firm reporting it.
• The firm detected the adulteration prior to any transfer to another person of such food, feed or pet food.
• The firm corrected such adulteration or destroyed the food, feed or pet food.