The Council of Agriculture said yesterday that suppliers of substandard pet foods are set to face fines if their products are found to be potentially harmful to pets.
Animal Husbandry Division Deputy Director Wang Chung-shu (王忠恕) said the council had set standards to prevent pets from pathogenic microorganisms and animal health hazards.
The standards are scheduled to take effect at the end of July or in early August, he said.
Under the Animal Protection Act (動物保護法), the council is authorized to write the standards for allowable levels of pathogenic microorganisms and animal health hazards for pets’ safety.
Wang said that any pet food suppliers who violate the standards could be fined NT$50,000 to NT$250,000 based on the magnitude of the damage.
According to the new standards, the level of potentially harmful substances used by manufacturers to make pet food — including mycotoxins, heavy metals, pesticides, preservatives and antioxidants — will be regulated, with specifications on how much of the substances are allowed.
Wang cited aflatoxin, a type of mycotoxin, as an example, saying the allowable level will be 20 parts per billion, while the allowable level for melamine is to be 2.5 parts per million. Previously, there were no clear guidelines on the use of such substances in pet food.
He said that pet foods are also not allowed to contain poisonous materials such as salmonella, listeria, excessive E coli and Clostridium perfringens.
According to the council, Taiwan has recorded two major pet food poisoning cases in the past.
The first case was in 2004 and 2005. Many dogs suffered kidney failure after they were fed pet food containing melamine. Compensation was about NT$300 million (US$9.58 million) after a legal settlement. The second case, in 2010, killed more than 100 dogs after they ate pet food containing aflatoxin. The food was not properly stored, leading to the food becoming hazardous.
To tighten monitoring of the local pet food market, the council is scheduled to launch a mechanism in October to ask local and foreign suppliers to report the ingredients in their products online.
Action by the council was partly prompted by the fast-growing pet food industry, which has sales amounting to about NT$5 billion (US$) a year.
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