Feed 101: We Never Stop Learning

This week, the American Feed Industry Association had another successful Feed 101 learning session at the US Department of Agriculture with Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) staff.

I am joined by Paul Davis, Ph.D., AFIA’s director of quality, food animal safety and education, to discuss the Safe Feed/Safe Food certification programwhich is a voluntary, independently certified program that can be used by animal food manufacturers to optimize their food and pet food safety capabilities and exceed US government safety regulations.

A quick background: nearly two decades ago, AFIA set out to develop a program that would establish and promote universally accepted food safety guidelines that would help ensure continuous improvement in delivering a safe and profitable -useful feed and pet food supply for the growth and care of animals. That goal evolved into the mission of the Safe Feed/Safe Food certification program, launched in 2004.

Davis explained to FAS staff the importance of this certification to the animal feed industry and how the program will impact the work of FAS. As FAS negotiates with foreign governments about market access for animal feed products, product safety is often at the forefront of those governments’ minds. It is critical for foreign entities to understand that the US pet food industry takes feed and pet food safety seriously and has a program that exceeds government standards, proving the industry’s diligence, commitment and capability.

AFIA developed the Feed 101 program w in 2019 and worked to educate government agency staff about what AFIA is, who its members are, the main products we represent and specialty topics such as trade, sustainability and food safety. I appreciate the commitment of both AFIA and FAS staff to collaboration and continued education about animal feed through our seminars and I look forward to continuing the program and bringing trending animal feed topics to the staff of FAS in the future.