AAFCO Pet Food Committee decisions 2019-2023 — PF3(e) struck, PFLM framework adopted, PF74→PF4 renumbered, Familiar Household Unit added

Chronological summary of AAFCO Pet Food Committee (PFC) and Model Bills and Regulations Committee (MBRC) decisions on pet food / specialty pet food regulations, 2019-2023, sourced from five official committee PDFs downloaded via Tokyo xray VPS from aafco.org wp-content/uploads (the public PDFs were unreachable from CN due to GFW blocking aafco.org, and from Seoul due to LAN routing issues; Tokyo VPS accessed them directly).

Timeline of committee decisions

2019-01-22 — Pet Food Committee Midyear, Savannah GA

Key motions passed at PFC:

1. Strike PF3(e) (refer to MBRC) — PF3(e) had been in the

AAFCO OP "since the 70s or 80s"; the workgroup report was accepted and forwarded to MBRC for action.

1. Revise PF4(g) (refer to MBRC) — Feeding directions

revisions proposed by workgroup.

1. Pet Food Label Workshop at Pet Food Forum — AAFCO to

conduct 1-day workshop on May 2, 2019 (Katie Simpson chairs workgroup).

1. FASS proposal accepted and referred to AAFCO board.

Chair transition: Kristen Green (KY) stepped down as PFC Chair; Liz Beckman (WA) + Jason Schmidt (LA) became co-chairs moving forward.

2020-01-21 — Model Bills and Regulations Committee Midyear, Albuquerque NM

Five regulatory revision recommendations:

1. Add Regulation 6(h) — Carriers + move SUIP 17 to deleted.
2. Revise Model Bill Section 7 — Adulteration (Attachment B).
3. Revise Regulation PF3 — Brand and Product Names

(Attachment D).

1. Revise Regulation PF5 — Ingredients (Attachment E).
2. Revise **Regulation PF7 — Nutritional Adequacy and Feeding

Protocols** (Attachment F).

These attachments contained the earliest draft language of the modern PF sections. They were accepted as proposals and moved toward the 2022 PFLM draft cycle.

2022-09-28 — DRAFT: Model Regulations for Pet Food and Specialty Pet Food

First consolidated draft of the Pet Food Label Modernization (PFLM) regulations. Editor: Lizette Beckman (WA).

PF1 Definitions (11 definitions): (a) All Life Stages (b) Family (c) Immediate Container (d) Ingredient Statement (e) Principal Display Panel (f) Pet Nutrition Facts (g) Specialty Pet Nutrition Facts (h) Veterinary Diet (i) Food supplement (j) Food Mixer (k) Daily Food

PF regulation list (note PF74 numbering bug — was PF7+4 or PF7.4):

• PF1. Definitions and Terms
• PF2. Label Format and Labeling
• PF3. Brand and Product Names
• PF74. Intended Use and Nutritional Adequacy Claims ← numbering typo
• PF5. Pet and Specialty Pet Nutrition Facts
• PF6. Ingredients
• PF7. Drugs and Pet Food Additives
• PF8. Feeding Directions
• PF9. Determination of Calorie Content
• PF10. Descriptive Terms
• PF11. Manufacturer or Distributor; Name and Address
• PF12. Handling and Storage Instructions

2023-04-03 — FINAL: PFC + MBRC Model Regulations for Pet Food and Specialty Pet Food

Final adoption draft. Key changes from 2022-09-28:

1. PF74 → PF4 (numbering fixed) — "Intended Use Statement

and Nutritional Adequacy Claims" renumbered to PF4 (the "74" was a typo for "7.4" / "PF7 subsection 4" in the draft that got corrected to standard PF4).

1. New definition (d) "Familiar Household Unit" added:

"means a typical feeding unit in volume or count (e.g., can, measuring cup, treat, or piece)" — this is the new concept that supports the per-unit calorie / nutrient disclosure requirement of PFLM.

1. PF2(7) revised to "Name and address of the manufacturer

or distributor as stipulated in Regulation PF11" (was PF9 in draft).

1. PF2(8) added: "Handling and Storage Instructions may be

displayed as stipulated in PF12."

1. PF8 renumbered to Feeding Directions (was PF8 in draft —

no change).

1. PF9 renamed to "Determination of Calorie Content for Dog

and Cat Foods" (was generic "Determination of Calorie Content" in draft — narrowed scope).

PF1 Definitions (12 definitions, alphabetical): (a) All Life Stages (b) Daily Food (c) Family (d) Familiar Household Unit ← NEW (e) Food Mixer (f) Food Supplement (g) Immediate Container (h) Ingredient Statement (i) Pet Nutrition Facts (j) Principal Display Panel (k) Specialty Pet Nutrition Facts (l) Veterinary Diet

2023-07-31 to 08-02 — AAFCO Annual Meeting, Baltimore MD

Agenda book (4.6 MB PDF, 4132 lines extracted):

• Appendix A (pages 23-69): the new Model Regulations for

Pet Food and Specialty Pet Food — directly embeds the 2023-04-03 final PFC/MBRC text as Appendix A of the 2023 Annual Meeting agenda book.

• Board recommends acceptance of PFC e.(i) — strategic affairs

bylaws revision (officer term Midyear-to-Midyear).

• Board recommends acceptance of MBRC d. — Reg 4(d)

antibiotics/quantitative guarantees revised language.

The 2023 Annual Meeting was the formal vote where the PFLM package was approved by AAFCO membership for inclusion in the 2024 Official Publication.

Key regulatory changes (2019 → 2023)

Pet food label modernization (PFLM) — what it changes

PFLM is the multi-year project that:

1. Replaces the "Guaranteed Analysis" panel with a new "Pet

Nutrition Facts" box (PF5 in final).

1. Adds "Pet Nutrition Facts" box with serving size (calorie-

based) and per-calorie nutrient disclosure (similar to human nutrition facts).

1. Requires Familiar Household Unit labeling (e.g., "per

treat" or "per cup") for accurate feeding direction.

1. Standardizes the **"complete and balanced" / "for a specific

life stage"** claim format under PF4.

1. Calorie content statement required in **kcal per familiar

household unit** (PF9 final).

The 2024 AAFCO Official Publication (aafco.org, downloadable through their Digital Publication Package) embeds the full PFLM regulation set.

Source PDFs

Source: pdf-raw/aafco/ (downloaded via Tokyo xray VPS 206.237.120.227 curl). All 5 PDFs verified SHA-256 from Seoul-side download match Tokyo-side byte-for-byte.