Blog
Animal Feed Regulations
What is Animal Feed?
Animal feed is food manufactured for animals.
Who Regulates Animal Feed?
The Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) is a part of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA ensures the safety of animal feed for millions of animals including chickens, turkeys, cows, pigs, sheep, fish, dogs, cats, and horses.
What is CVM's responsibility?
CVM develops regulations and guidelines for animal feed manufacturers to follow when making animal feed. These rules help the FDA to control the food we feed our pets and livestock while ensuring that feed manufacturers make quality food for animals.
It is CVM's responsibility to make sure animal feeds are:
• Pure and wholesome
• Produced under clean conditions
• Free of harmful substances
• Labeled appropriately and truthfully
What are medicated feeds?
Medicated feeds are animal feeds that contain FDA-approved drugs. Medicated feeds are fed to animals to treat or prevent diseases, or to improve growth and productivity within the animal. These types of feeds are especially useful in the farming industry. They are helpful because they allow the farmers to medicate an entire group of animals rather than to medicate each animal individually.
FDA is also responsible for making sure that approved medicated feeds are safe and effective for the animals that eat the feed and that the food products made from these treated animals, such as milk, meat, and eggs, are safe for people to eat.
Why is animal feed regulation important?
Regulating animal feeds is important because it helps keep the entire society healthy.
Interested in starting your own pet food business?
Come find out how to get started!