WASHINGTON, DC, US — US senators introduced legislation on June 8 that would create a new category for animal food additives that do not impact animal nutrition, allowing them to be regulated as food additives not drugs, lessening the time it takes to get them to market.

The Innovative Feed Enhancement and Economic Development (Innovative FEED) Act of 2023 would amend the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act to establish the new category of zootechnical animal food substances that act in the animal’s gut to provide health benefits, reduce emissions or address human food safety concerns.

For many years, the American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) has called on the Food and Drug Administration to update its policies so that these substances did not have to go through FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine’s drug approval process.

“Our industry is bringing forward innovative animal food solutions to benefit animal health, human food safety and the environment, and now, thanks to the leadership of several Senate leaders, we have the legislative solution needed to provide a modernized regulatory pathway to meet marketplace demands,” said Constance Cullman, president and chief executive officer of the AFIA. “We fully support the Innovative FEED Act and hope Congress will quickly approve this bill, giving our farmers and ranchers the tools they need and putting our international counterparts on notice that we are fully equipped to compete in the future.”

 Without congressional approval, the FDA does not believe it has the authority to regulate these products as feed ingredients. Regulating them as animal drugs limits innovation and the animal food industry’s ability to provide solutions to public health and environmental challenges, the AFIA said.

US farmers and ranchers need access to these technologies, it said. Dozens of countries are already safely using these feed ingredients, yielding results in terms of improved animal production and well-being, the AFIA said.