On May 30, 2024, the AAFCO Pet Food Committee held a virtual meeting where a vote was taken to pass or fail a proposed voluntary limited copper claim in pet food.
The proposition is:
“Low Copper. Dog food labeled as ‘low copper’, ‘low copper’, or words with similar designations must:
1) Be certified as nutritionally adequate for one or more life stages in accordance with Regulation PF7; and
2) Contains a maximum of no more than 15 mg copper/kg DM and no more than 3.75 mg copper/1,000 kcal of metabolizable energy; and
3) Place on its label the Test Guarantee in accordance with Regulation PF4 of the guarantee for the maximum amount of copper in dog food.“
What all this language means is that – if approved – a pet food can voluntarily implement a maximum level of copper (it won’t be required – it’s voluntary) and put ‘Low in Copper’ on their label to alert pet owners.
but, AAFCO voted against itrefuses to establish a voluntary limited copper pet food.
A few months earlier, in January 2024, a paper was published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (JAVMA) saying that their research indicates that the pet “liver copper concentrations” is not problematic. Three of the four authors are employees of Hill’s Pet Food. Dr. Leslie Hancock – co-author and chief medical officer of Hill’s pet food says “although there is an increase in copper concentrations, it is not clinically significant.”
The paper – which certainly influenced the AAFCO vote – claimed current regulations allow any level of copper (above the minimum) in pet food “does not result in hepatic copper toxicity.”
But…
The publication Retraction Watch says JAVMA received seven letters “crying badly” regarding the validity of Burol’s paper. Significantly, the letters began to scream evil on the paper “within weeks” of January 2024 publication date – before the AAFCO vote in May 2024.
Letters challenging the paper’s validity were forwarded to Dr. Leslie Hancock (Hill’s vet and co-author of the paper). And…the paper was withdrawn on May 21, 2024 (about 1 week before the AAFCO vote). Hill’s veterinarian, Dr. Hancock said:
“With deep regret, we acknowledge that during our data analysis, we did not have all the necessary information, which leads to an oversight when interpreting the results.”
What some have said about Hill’s paper:
A veterinarian from California – Dr. Keith Richter – said “The authors state that the purpose of this study was to ‘examine the effects of age, sex, breed, liver histopathology, and year of death on liver copper concentrations in dogs fed commercial dog food’. We believe that the real underlying goal is to prove that commercial dog foods are not responsible for increased copper concentrations in the liver and copper-related hepatopathies.”
Dr. Daniel Langlois – an associate professor at Michigan State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine told Retraction Watch “This is a hugely flawed study. “The authors’ conclusions were also completely overstated, and they immediately disseminated their results and conclusions to a number of veterinary news outlets whose final message was the regulations for dietary copper supplementation is not involved in the etiology of copper-associated hepatopathy in dogs.”
again, these challenges from the veterinary community about this paper are happening BEFORE AAFCO voted to squash the voluntarily restricted claims on the copper pet food label. The paper was withdrawn about a week before the crucial AAFCO vote.
Who knew that paper was so challenging?
Hill’s paper co-author/veterinarian Dr. Leslie Hancock. As Retraction Watch puts it, the letters “crying badly” was passed to Dr. Hancock ‘within weeks’ of publication.
Did the Hill vet alert AAFCO or FDA to the challenges his paper received or to the retraction before the vote?
We do not know. AAFCO is a private organization, we cannot file a Freedom of Information Act request for additional information.
But we know that Dr. Hancock has easy access to AAFCO voting members IF he chooses to do the right thing. Dr. Hancock participated in the AAFCO working group discussing the topic of copper levels in pet food before the AAFCO vote. In his participation in this AAFCO working group, Dr. Hancock has had partnerships with members of AAFCO and FDA. That is, he could have easily alerted them – before the vote – that the study was flawed.
Or did AAFCO and the FDA know that the paper that says copper levels in pet food are not the foundation of liver disease in pets is flawed, and they voted against it anyway?
Again, we don’t know.
Either way, pet owners deserve to have this topic reopened with AAFCO. We sent the following message to the AAFCO Pet Food Committee:
On behalf of pet food consumers, we are asking the AAFCO Pet Food Committee to rescind the recent vote regarding the voluntarily regulated copper pet food label claim. As the foundation for this request, is the retracted science submitted by a member of the Copper Claim Workgroup – Dr. Leslie Hancock.
Published by Dr. Hancock et al paper “Sixteen years of canine hepatic copper concentrations within normal reference ranges in dogs fed a wide range of commercial diets” in January 2024 (in JAVMA) . However after many members of the veterinary community challenged the validity of his research, the paper was retracted on May 21, 2024.
We assume that during the participation of Dr. Hancock on the AAFCO Working Group, he based much/some of his input to the group on the wrong study. Thus, his participation in the working group may influence voting members – again based on false science. We request that members of the Pet Food Committee be informed of the retraction of the study by Dr. Hancock, give letters from the veterinary community challenging the study, and another vote to be taken.
One more thing…
At the summer 2023 AAFCO meeting, there was a veterinarian who argued and argued with the Pet Food Committee against any restriction of copper in pet food. He argued that there was no science to prove a maximum level for copper, he argued that pet owners would be confused by the ‘low copper’ claim and put their pets at risk, he argued that there was no evidence that any domestic animals had become ill. by copper levels in pet foods, he argued that manufacturers and AAFCO would be sued for causing copper deficiency in pets.
Guess who that arguing vet is? Dr. Leslie Hancock of Hill’s Pet Food, co-author of the flawed paper.
The next AAFCO meeting will be held in early August. We will keep pet owners posted on any discussions on this topic.
Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,
Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Buyer Beware of Author, Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
TruthaboutPetFood.com
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