News | October 31, 2024

FDA’s Final Guidance for AAFCO-Defined Ingredients

On Wednesday, October 23, the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) issued its final guidance to allow animal feed and pet food manufacturers to continue using ingredients published in the 2024 Official Publication (OP) for products sold in interstate commerce.

AAFCO is pleased that the FDA’s formal decision will ensure stability and continuity for our industry partners and state regulators during this transition period, and that the FDA acknowledges the OP as a comprehensive list of animal food ingredients recognized and adopted by most state laws.

The agency’s final document “Guidance for Industry (GFI) #293: FDA Enforcement Policy for AAFCO-Defined Animal Feed Ingredients” stated:

  • FDA generally does not intend to initiate enforcement action with respect to the food additive approval requirements of the FD&C Act for the ingredient, or animal food containing the ingredient, that is listed in the Official Common or Usual Names and Definitions of Feed Ingredients section of chapter six of the 2024 OP.
  • For ingredients listed in the 2024 OP that are not approved food additives or GRAS and that FDA did not review as part of the AAFCO ingredient definition request process, at this time, they are not aware of any safety concerns that would cause request that an ingredient be withdrawn from the OP.
  • The guidance describes FDA’s policy with respect to the use of certain ingredient names listed in chapter six of the 2024 OP on animal food labels.

Final guidance from FDA regarding draft GFI #294: Animal Food Ingredient Consultation (AFIC) is still pending. We will continue to update you as FDA shares additional information and final guidance decisions with its stakeholders. Please do not hesitate to reach out to aafco@aafco.org if you have any questions.