Why does weird random meat keep popping up in dog food? A tale of 52 regulatory bodies.

“A dog with two owners is never fed.” –Portuguese proverb about shared responsibility.

… so what happens when there are 52 bodies regulating what dogs are fed?

The pet food regulatory system in the U.S. is a bit of a hot mess. Which might explain why multiple university studies found more than half of pet foods may not be truthfully labeled. Or a 2023 study that found dog DNA in 2 of 6 brands tested.

So how did we get here? Let's take a sniff around and try and make some sense of this.

Pet food regulation in the U.S. is kind of like a dog turd at the park. It's been there for as long as anyone can remember, nobody really wants to take responsibility for it, and when you start investigating it closely, the whole thing stinks to high heaven.

Responsibility for regulating pet food is shared between the FDA and each of the 50 states, with guidance from an organization called AAFCO. The problem is, AAFCO can make suggestions, but has no authority to enforce them. Each of the 50 states have 50 different sets of laws, regulations, and enforcement policies.

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The FDA is responsible for national regulation, but doesn't require premarket approval for pet foods before being sold. And while there is a law requiring pet foods to be truthfully labeled, safe to eat, produced under sanitary conditions and not containing any harmful substances… enforcement hasn’t exactly been great. An FDA response to a pet advocacy group even said: “we do not believe that the use of diseased animals… to make animal food poses a safety concern and we intend to continue to exercise enforcement discretion.” Uhhh... 🤢

But surely someone is working to fix this... Right? RIGHT?? Things seemed promising with the recently introduced PURR Act of 2025, which is supposed to simplify pet food regulation and consolidate all regulatory authority under the FDA. Which sounds great, until you get to the “ingredients sometimes present” section - basically a big loophole that AAFCO warns would reduce transparency even further and allow manufacturers to get away with changing, adding, or omitting ingredients without disclosure to consumers.

It seems like common sense, but maybe someone needs to say it: Dogs and their parents deserve to know what’s in their food. On behalf of all dogs, the Nose of Justice calls on elected officials to modernize pet food regulation with a single body assuming responsibility for regulating pet food – but in a way that holds pet food manufacturers accountable.

What’s on the label should match what’s in the bag. No more, no less.