News | March 3, 2026
AAFCO Unveils AI Advancement Tool To Improve Animal Feed Safety
Built on SWARM’s Agentic AI Platform, AAFCO’s Virtual Assistant Expedites Access to Regulatory Information
The Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) announces the official launch of the AAFCO Virtual Assistant, an Agentic AI system built on SWARM Engineering’s decision intelligence platform to modernize and streamline access to regulatory information for the animal food industry. By embedding governed AI within AAFCO’s trusted regulatory framework, the AAFCO Virtual Assistant enables regulators, manufacturers, and industry stakeholders to navigate ingredient definitions, labeling requirements, and safety standards with greater speed and consistency.
The AAFCO Virtual Assistant is a secure, domain-specific AI agent designed to provide instant and accurate regulatory guidance. Drawing exclusively from AAFCO-verified source materials, including its globally recognized comprehensive list of approved feed ingredients – the Official Publication, this tool empowers users to make forward-thinking decisions with confidence, clarity and compliance.
“Building on more than 115 years of scientific standards, our organization is embracing an AI-driven approach to transform the complex regulatory landscape. The AAFCO Virtual Assistant positions the animal and pet food industry to anticipate challenges, drive innovation and accelerate growth – all while maintaining the highest standards of compliance,” said Austin Therrell, executive director of AAFCO. “With SWARM’s support, industry partners, regulators, and manufacturers worldwide can now proactively navigate ingredient definitions, labeling requirements, and safety standards more efficiently to advance the health and wellbeing of people and animals.”
SWARM Engineering’s AI decision intelligence platform is purpose-built for complex and regulated environments. Unlike general-purpose AI tools, the AAFCO Virtual Assistant operates within a controlled regulatory corpus and is architected to ensure responses are grounded exclusively in AAFCO-approved materials. SWARM’s platform integrates secure retrieval frameworks, domain-trained reasoning agents, and structured compliance logic to transform static documentation into an interactive decision-support system.
“AAFCO has spent more than a century establishing the scientific and regulatory foundation that protects animal health and strengthens the integrity of the food supply chain,” said Shail Khiyara, chief executive officer of SWARM Engineering. “SWARM’s AVA builds on that foundation. It demonstrates that Agentic AI can operate responsibly within a governed regulatory framework, grounding every response in AAFCO-approved standards. It does not replace expertise. It reinforces it, transforming regulatory complexity into confident, defensible decisions at the moment they matter.”
The AAFCO Virtual Assistant is currently accessible to subscribers of the AAFCO Digital Publication Package, an annual subscription that bundles key AAFCO publications together in a convenient digital format. The digital package offers immediate access to the AI tool, the 2026 Official Publication, Pet Food Labeling Guide, Animal Feed Labeling Guide, and the Online Database of Ingredients. Learn more at aafco.org.
On the Horizon: AI Advancements for Animal Feed Label Compliance
The launch of the AAFCO Virtual Assistant marks the latest milestone in the organization’s efforts to be the trusted leader safeguarding animal and human health by modernizing regulatory standards through technology and AI advancements.
AAFCO recently issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) to identify qualified partners to develop an AI agent designed to evaluate compliance of animal feed labels with AAFCO model regulations and Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). The proposed AI agent will serve as a compliance assistance tool to ensure that animal feed labels meet regulatory standards and marketing claims are substantiated. Interested parties are encouraged to review the Request for Proposals and submit by March 19, 2026.
About AAFCO
The Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) has been guiding state, federal and international feed regulators with ingredient definitions, label standards and laboratory standards for more than 115 years, while supporting the health and safety of people and animals. Its members are charged by their state or federal laws to regulate the manufacture, sale and distribution of animal feeds and feed ingredients. Learn more at www.aafco.org.
About SWARM Engineering
SWARM Engineering is an AI decision intelligence platform designed to help organizations make faster, clearer decisions in complex and regulated environments. By combining optimization science, controlled AI architectures, and deep domain integration, SWARM transforms fragmented data and static documentation into real-time, actionable intelligence. The result is faster decisions, reduced compliance risk, and measurable operational clarity in high-stakes industries. Learn more at www.swarm.engineering.