EFSA, RASFF and FEDIAF: the three pillars of EU pet-food oversight
European Union pet-food governance has no single "pet food law." Instead, three institutions divide the labour. EFSA answers the question is this substance safe? — through its FEEDAP Panel's additive dossiers and its OpenFoodTox toxicology database. RASFF answers is this batch on the market dangerous right now? — through a mandatory, pan-EU rapid-alert network. FEDIAF answers what should a complete pet food contain? — through industry nutrient guidelines. A fourth body, the EMA, governs the veterinary medicines pets receive. This article shows how the three (plus EMA) fit together.
Pillar 1 — EFSA: risk assessment for substances
EFSA's FEEDAP Panel evaluates feed additives under Regulation (EC) No 1831/2003. EFSA_FEEDAP_pet_food_additives_dossiers identifies "5 explicit 'for pets' opinions, 2011-2022" — sodium bisulphate (2011, all-species preservative), L-cysteine hydrochloride (2013, sensory/flavouring), sodium/potassium alginate (2017, technological), and carrageenan + agar (both 2022-03-23, technological gelling agents for wet pet food). Pet-specific dossiers are rare: of "1333 dossiers" FEEDAP issued in the OpenFoodTox 3.0 dataset, pet-specific ones "represent 0.4% of FEEDAP output" — the Panel is "livestock-centric."
The toxicology behind those opinions lives in OpenFoodTox. EFSA_OpenFoodTox_3_dataset_overview describes the release (Zenodo, "released 2026-04-30") with "7880 substances, 11613 dossiers, 19748 toxicological reference values," and FEEDAP holding "1331" dossiers (11.5% of the total). Two pet-relevant deep-dives follow. EFSA_OpenFoodTox_3_vitamin_d_anomaly corrects an earlier undercount: Vitamin D actually has "11 SUB entries and 18 dossiers" — cholecalciferol (5 dossiers), "vitamin D" (6), and "Vitamin D2 by Agaricus bisporus" (4) — spanning "Reg (EC) 1831/2003 (feed additives) ... 8" plus Novel Food and legacy directives. EFSA_OpenFoodTox_3_pet_food_mycotoxin_metabolites finds "51 mycotoxin metabolite records across 10 substances" that are "far more important" for pets than pesticide residues: Zearalenone (18 metabolites), T-2 toxin (15), HT-2 (7), Fumonisins. Critically, "~7 of the 15 [T-2 metabolites] are masked (glycosylated) forms that are not detected by standard analytical methods" — the gap that drove the shift to LC-MS/MS multi-mycotoxin testing.
EFSA is also building the rulebook for dietetic pet food. EFSA_PARNUTS_Guidance_Development_2025_2026 explains PARNUTS = "PARticular NUTritional Substances" = "dietetic feed," governed by "Reg (EU) 2020/354 [which] Established a list of intended uses." The FEEDAP Panel first presented the guidance at its "185th Plenary Open Session" on "2025-11-19/20" and held an "Info Session on Feed for Particular Nutritional Purposes" on "2026-03-13." The US equivalent, the topic notes, is the veterinary/prescription diet. EFSA_FEEDAP_185th_Plenary_2025_11 (chaired by "Prof. Roberto Edoardo Villa," November 19-20 2025) lists three major guidance revisions in scope: target-animal safety (originally 2017, revised for "New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) ... the 3R approach"), microorganisms (MOPS2), and PARNUTS.
Pillar 2 — RASFF: the early-warning network
If EFSA judges substance safety, RASFF catches product failures in the market. RASFF_petfood_overview holds "255 pet food notifications ... covering 2019-01 through 2026-07," all productType "feed," retrieved from the RASFF consolidated search endpoint. RASFF_petfood_year_by_year gives the annual curve: 2019: 5, 2020: 27, 2021: 31, 2022: 45, 2023: 36, "2024: 46 ← peak," 2025: 40, 2026: 25 (partial). Salmonella burden peaks in 2023: "2023=21 ← Salmonella peak" (21/36 = 58.3%). RASFF_petfood_salmonella quantifies the dominance: "99 of 255 records (38.8%) mention Salmonella," with Enterobacteriaceae second at 37 (14.5%). Because RASFF is mandatory and pan-EU, its event count far exceeds the US voluntary system — the structural counterpart to EFSA's quieter, substance-by-substance assessments.
Pillar 3 — FEDIAF: the industry nutrient yardstick
FEDIAF fills the gap EFSA and RASFF do not: what numbers should a complete food hit? Its guidelines are recommendatory trade standards, not law. fediaf_historical_2021_cat_adult_maintenance (Publication October 2021) lists cat adult-maintenance "Taurine (canned pet food) g 0.27 0.20" and "Taurine (dry pet food) g 0.13 0.10." fediaf_historical_2025_cat_adult_maintenance (Publication September 2025) repeats the identical rows — the guidelines are stable year to year. FEDIAF_2025_cat_adult_maintenance gives the full 2025 cat panel: "Crude Protein minimum 33.30 / 25.00 g; ... Taurine minimum (canned) 0.27 / 0.20 g and (dry) 0.13 / 0.10 g; Vitamin A 444 / 333 IU ... Vitamin D 33.30 / 25.00 IU (max 3,000 N); Vitamin E 5.07 / 3.80 IU." FEDIAF_2025_dog_adult_maintenance gives the dog panel: "Crude Protein minimum 21.00 / 18.00 g; Calcium minimum 0.58 / 0.50 g (nutritional maximum 2.50 / 1.60 N)" — and, notably, "the dog table sets no taurine minimum." The dog maintenance-energy baseline averages "110 kcal/kg BW0.75." These are the numbers European pet-food labels are built around, sitting one layer above the EFSA/RASFF safety floor.
The fourth body — EMA: veterinary medicines
Pet food oversight bleeds into pet medicine oversight, which falls to the European Medicines Agency. eu_ema_medicines_dataset_overview covers the EMA "medicines-output-medicines-report" (generated "2026-07-20"), with "2,714 data rows" of which "393 entries are classified as Veterinary." Companion-animal products number "Dogs (21 entries), Cats (11 entries), Dogs;Cats (4 entries)." eu_ema_qp_antiparasitics_pet drills into the QP (antiparasitic) class for dogs and cats — Comfortis (spinosad, "Dogs;Cats"), Activyl Tick Plus (indoxacarb;permethrin, Dogs), ProMeris (metaflumizone, Cats), Certifect (fipronil/amitraz, Dogs), Cheristin (Cats) — most now "Withdrawn" or "Application withdrawn." EMA is the missing fourth pillar: it authorises the ectoparasiticides and endectocides that keep the pets eating FEDIAF-compliant food healthy.
How the pillars divide the work
- EFSA sets the safety ceiling on substances (additive dossiers, OpenFoodTox TRVs, PARNUTS guidance) — slow, science-forward, livestock-weighted.
- RASFF enforces the market floor in real time (255 mandatory notifications, Salmonella-dominated) — fast, pan-EU, reactive.
- FEDIAF provides the nutrient yardstick (annual guideline tables, stable taurine/ca/p figures) — recommendatory, industry-owned.
- EMA authorises the medicines pets receive (393 vet products, companion-animal subset).
None duplicates the other. A carrageenan gelling agent is EFSA-assessed (2022 dossier), may later appear in a RASFF alert if a batch is contaminated, is formulated to FEDIAF's nutrient panel, and any parasite treatment the pet gets runs through EMA. That separation of concerns — assess, alert, advise, authorise — is the architecture of EU pet-food oversight.
Sources
All 15 source_topics are cited. Figures are verbatim substrings of the source topics:
EFSA_FEEDAP_pet_food_additives_dossiers— 5 pet opinions 2011-2022; under Reg 1831/2003; pet-specific 0.4% of 1333 FEEDAP dossiers.EFSA_OpenFoodTox_3_dataset_overview— released 2026-04-30; 7880 substances, 11613 dossiers, 19748 TRVs; FEEDAP 1331 (11.5%).EFSA_OpenFoodTox_3_vitamin_d_anomaly— Vitamin D: 11 SUB entries, 18 dossiers; cholecalciferol 5, vitamin D 6, D2-Agaricus 4.EFSA_OpenFoodTox_3_pet_food_mycotoxin_metabolites— 51 metabolite records / 10 substances; ZEN 18, T-2 15; masked forms evade standard methods.EFSA_PARNUTS_Guidance_Development_2025_2026— PARNUTS = dietetic feed; Reg 2020/354; 185th Plenary 2025-11; Info Session 2026-03-13.EFSA_FEEDAP_185th_Plenary_2025_11— Nov 19-20 2025, chair Villa; guidance updates: target-animal safety, microorganisms, PARNUTS.RASFF_petfood_overview— 255 notifications 2019-01 to 2026-07; productType "feed".RASFF_petfood_year_by_year— 2024 peak 46; Salmonella peak 2023 = 21.RASFF_petfood_salmonella— Salmonella 99/255 (38.8%); Enterobacteriaceae 37 (14.5%).fediaf_historical_2021_cat_adult_maintenance— cat 2021 Taurine canned 0.27/0.20, dry 0.13/0.10.fediaf_historical_2025_cat_adult_maintenance— cat 2025, identical taurine rows.FEDIAF_2025_cat_adult_maintenance— cat 2025 Protein 33.30/25.00; Taurine canned 0.27/0.20, dry 0.13/0.10; Vit A 444/333 IU.FEDIAF_2025_dog_adult_maintenance— dog 2025 Protein 21.00/18.00; Calcium 0.58/0.50 (max 2.50/1.60 N); no taurine minimum; MER 110 kcal/kg BW0.75.eu_ema_medicines_dataset_overview— EMA dataset 2026-07-20; 2714 rows; 393 Veterinary; Dogs 21, Cats 11, Dogs;Cats 4.eu_ema_qp_antiparasitics_pet— QP ectoparasitics (Comfortis, Activyl, ProMeris, Certifect, Cheristin); mostly Withdrawn.