The Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) membership approved a proposal from Kansas State University's Olathe Innovation Campus (K-State Olathe) to provide the scientific review for a new animal food ingredient submission pathway. The new pathway replaces AAFCO's former Ingredient Definition Request process that ended with the expiration of AAFCO's Memorandum of Understanding with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last year.
"AAFCO's partnership with K-State Olathe begins a new era of innovation and proficiency for the animal feed industry," said Austin Therrell, executive director of AAFCO. "This new pathway will offer a regulatory review process that is straightforward and comprehensive to bring ingredients to market safely and more efficiently than our previous process with FDA."
The new ingredient approval pathway will be led by Dr. Haley Larson, Ph.D., and will include a scientific review panel comprised of subject matter experts from universities across the U.S. and independent consultants to provide diversity and representation of all animal species. Together, this panel will evaluate potential ingredient submissions from industry and provide recommendations back to AAFCO membership for final approval.
Approved ingredients will then be included in AAFCO's Official Publication, which is considered the most comprehensive list of approved feed ingredients in the world, and recognized by state, international regulatory agencies, and the animal food industry.
"We're honored to partner with AAFCO and apply our scientific and technical expertise to ensuring the safety and quality of animal food ingredients," said Ben Wolfe, K-State Olathe's dean and CEO. "We look forward to working closely with AAFCO to implement this transformative approach and foster a regulatory environment that benefits producers, consumers and the broader community."
AAFCO said the new pathway is intended to complement FDA's current GRAS Notice program and to provide the feed industry with another option to bring new and innovative products to the market. AAFCO and K-State Olathe have outlined procedures to ensure ingredients are not submitted through multiple channels.
"We understand the animal feed industry has much to consider when introducing a new proposed ingredient," added Therrell. "We're committed to a collaborative process that is safe, scientific and streamlined to meet the industry's demand for new ingredients while upholding AAFCO's unwavering standards for animal and human health."
Therrell noted this new process is completely separate from the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Animal Food Ingredient Consultation (AFIC) process. The FDA established a new regulatory framework for animal food ingredients under the Animal Food Ingredient Consultation (AFIC) program, announced through Guidance for Industry (GFI) 294. The AFIC program replaces the collaboration process with AAFCO, which ended on October 1, 2024.
"The new KSU/AAFCO pathway is just another option for the industry to bring ingredients to the market, and isn’t dependent on any of the existing FDA pathways," explained Therrell to Petfood Industry. "FDA’s GRAS Notice program is voluntary, so approval through the AAFCO process would meet the FDA GRAS standard under 21 CFR 570 Subpart E, and publication in AAFCO’s Official Publication would make the ingredients legally recognized by the states."
Adapted from a press release.
