Pet Food Regulation India

To : The Honorable Minister for Environment & Forests

Dear Sir,

The pet food industry in India in recent times has been booming in India. The dismantling of restrictions on imports and reduction in international barriers have allowed a lot of International companies to enter the Indian market. Some of these companies no doubt have good reputation with lot of emphasis on QC, hygiene and R&D. However one can also find a lot of products from countries in the far east like China, Thailand, Malaysia etc, from companies no one has heard of. There are also a lot of local products from unscrupulous companies all wanting to make good of the situation, knowing that there is no legislation which could hold them accountable.

I lost my pet about 4 months ago after consuming one such imported food product. Vets and Pet shops continue to promote these products and consumers in the belief that these products are safe and misguided by these vets and traders end up purchasing products which may not meet the health hygiene and safety standards required.

I happened to look at a prominent pet food label for ingredients and these are really very vague, with the consumer not being able to determine what goes into them. many a times on these products imported from the far eastern countries, this data simply does not exist. Also to bring to your notice that in 2007 there was a massive pet food recall in the US and in our country the concept of "product recall" does not exist. There is no guarantee that the products we find on our supermarket shelves are not the same which were rejected in these product recalls.

I therefore request you to look into this matter and set up legislation and regulation which ensures that these products are safe and that unsafe products are not allowed to enter the market. it would also be helpful if a government / independent body could test these products and their contents and make the findings and results known to consumers through the Internet.

Thanking You