After thousands of dogs and cats died in the United States allegedly because of pet food made from contaminated wheat gluten, Japanese consumers became worried about the food they give to their pets.

Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) and Ministry of Environment (MOE) established the Act on Ensuring of Safety of Pet Animals Feed, which became effective on June 1st, 2009. On April 28th, MAFF and MOE established standards and specifications for pet food.

The outlines of the standards are as follows.

I. Standards for constituents

Note:

1. MRL (Maximum Residue Limit) of ethoxyquin for pet food for sale as dog food is 75 mg/kg
2. Above contents shall be calculated on the premise that the moisture content of the pet food being tested is 10%.

II. Standards for manufacturing

1. Raw materials containing hazardous materials or contaminated with pathogenic microorganism, or suspected as such, shall not be used.
2. Pet food for sale shall be heated or dried in a way that is sufficiently effective in removing microorganism.
3. Propylene glycol shall not be used for pet food for sale as cat food.

III. Standards for labelling

Following information shall be labeled on pet food for sale,

1. Name of the pet food,
2. Raw materials,
3. Expiration (best-before) date: The date until when all the expected qualities are fully sustained, if stored under the designated conditions,
4. Name and address of the manufacturer, seller, or importer,
5. Country of origin.

IV. Transitional measures

The pet food manufactured before December 1st, 2009 shall be exempted from the standards for constituents and the standards for manufacturing, and those manufactured before December 1st, 2010 shall be exempted from the standards for labeling.

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