(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Findings. 
Sec. 3. Pet food regulation. 
Sec. 4. Responsibilities. 
Sec. 5. Regulations. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) The pet food industry is a growing sector 
in the United States. Pet food exports have in-
creased by double digits over the last few years. 
(2) United States pet food manufacturers con-
tribute to the national economy by buying nearly 
$7,000,000,000 worth of agricultural products from 
farmers, ranchers, and farm-product processors 
every year. 
(3) Pet ownership has consistently grown in the 
United States, resulting in an increase in pet food 
sales and an accompanying increase in the interest 
by pet owners in how their companion animals’ food 
is regulated and produced. 
(4) Historically, pet food and livestock feed 
have been regulated under the same framework. 
However, as pet owners’ relationships with their pets 
have changed, so too has their understanding of 
pets’ nutritional needs and preferences. Pet food is 
specifically formulated to ensure complete nutrition 
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for the long and healthy lives of companion animals. 
Owning a companion animal provides profound men-
tal, social, and physical health benefits for pet own-
ers such as reduced blood pressure and stress levels, 
and research indicates that companion animals can 
play a role in managing depression. Before the en-
actment of this Act, the regulatory framework that 
was originally created for livestock feed no longer 
met the needs of pets or their owners. 
(5) Before the enactment of this Act, the regu-
latory framework governing pet food manufacture 
and sale, from ingredient approvals to labeling re-
quirements, was multifaceted and wildly incon-
sistent. Regulatory regimes varied by State, were de-
veloped in part by a combination of nongovern-
mental entities and State government agencies, and 
were overseen by the Food and Drug Administra-
tion’s Center for Veterinary Medicine. 
(6) Creating a more streamlined Federal regu-
latory process for new pet food ingredients allows for 
expedited advances for nutrition, greater innovation, 
and more functionality in a more predictable regu-
latory environment. 
(7) Replacing the patchwork of regulation of 
pet food with a uniform Federal regulatory frame-
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work improves marketplace certainty, allows for 
more consistent and predictable ingredient review 
and market introductions, and enhances companion 
animal nutrition. 
(8) The nationwide availability of nutritious, 
safe, and affordable pet food is substantially im-
proved through a unified comprehensive Federal sys-
tem of oversight of the manufacture and sale of pet 
food. 
(9) The manufacture of pet food and its mar-
keting and sale is undertaken throughout the United 
States and its territories and is interstate commerce. 
SEC. 3. PET FOOD REGULATION. 
Chapter IV of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic 
Act (21 U.S.C. 341 et seq.) is amended by adding at the 
end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 425. PET FOOD. 
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) The term ‘companion animal’ means a do-
mesticated canine or feline. 
‘‘(2) The terms ‘generally recognized as safe’ 
and ‘GRAS’ mean generally recognized as safe under 
section 201(s). 
‘‘(3) The term ‘pet food’ means any food manu-
factured and distributed for consumption by com-
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panion animals, including treats, nutritional supple-
ments, and pet food ingredients. 
‘‘(4) The term ‘pet food ingredient’ means an 
ingredient intended for use in pet food. 
‘‘(5) The term ‘pet food ingredient submission’ 
means a submission to the Food and Drug Adminis-
tration for a pet food ingredient that is a petition 
under section 409 for any food additive, a petition 
under section 721 for a color additive, or a GRAS 
ingredient notification under subpart E of part 570 
of subchapter E of chapter I of title 21, Code of 
Federal Regulations (or successor regulations). 
‘‘(b) PREEMPTION.—No State or a political subdivi-
sion of a State may directly or indirectly establish, main-
tain, implement, or enforce any authority or requirement 
relating to the marketing or labeling of pet food. 
‘‘(c) GRAS INGREDIENTS.— 
‘‘(1) INGREDIENTS
DEEMED
GRAS.—Ingredi-
ents that are intended for use in pet food, and are 
not specifically authorized for such use by the Food 
and Drug Administration as a food additive, a color 
additive, or otherwise as of the date of enactment of 
the PURR Act of 2024, are deemed to be GRAS 
if— 
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‘‘(A) such ingredients are identified as ac-
ceptable for use in pet food in chapter 6 of the 
2024 edition of the ‘AAFCO Official Publica-
tion’ (or any subsequent amendments thereto or 
editions thereof); and 
‘‘(B) there is no finding by the Food and 
Drug Administration that such ingredients are 
not GRAS. 
‘‘(2) VOLUNTARY NOTIFICATION.—A pet food 
manufacturer is not required to notify the Food and 
Drug Administration of GRAS ingredients used in 
pet food, but may voluntarily notify the Food and 
Drug Administration of such GRAS ingredients that 
have not previously been recognized by the Food and 
Drug Administration as GRAS for use in pet food. 
‘‘(d) TIMELY REVIEW.—Not later than 90 days after 
receipt of a pet food ingredient submission, the Secretary 
shall review such submission and issue an action letter 
that— 
‘‘(1) approves such submission or, in the case 
of a GRAS ingredient notification, does not object to 
use; or 
‘‘(2) sets forth— 
‘‘(A) the specific deficiencies in such sub-
mission; and 
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‘‘(B) where appropriate, the actions nec-
essary— 
‘‘(i) for such submission to be ap-
proved; or 
‘‘(ii) in the case of a GRAS ingredient 
notification, to resolve any concerns of the 
Secretary. 
‘‘(e) INGREDIENTS SOMETIMES PRESENT.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Pet food shall not be treat-
ed as misbranded by reason of stating in the pet 
food ingredient list on the product label that an in-
gredient of a type described in paragraph (2) is 
sometimes, but not always, present in the pet food. 
‘‘(2) TYPES OF INGREDIENTS.—Paragraph (1) 
applies with respect to the following types of ingredi-
ents: 
‘‘(A) Fat or oil ingredients. 
‘‘(B) Flavor ingredients. 
‘‘(C) Grain ingredients (including grain 
protein ingredients). 
‘‘(3) LANGUAGE TO BE USED.—For an ingre-
dient in pet food to be labeled as sometimes present 
for purposes of paragraph (1), such ingredient shall 
be identified by— 
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‘‘(A) words such as ‘or’, ‘and/or’, or ‘con-
tains one or more of the following:’; or 
‘‘(B) other words indicating that the ingre-
dient may not be present. 
‘‘(f) ORDER OF INGREDIENT LISTING.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Pet food shall be treated as 
misbranded unless the ingredients required to be de-
clared on the labeling of a pet food are listed by 
common or usual name in descending order of pre-
dominance by weight. 
‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—If an ingredient in pet food 
is present in amounts of 2 percent or less by weight, 
then instead of identifying the ingredient in the 
order required by paragraph (1), the ingredient may 
be placed at the end of the pet food ingredient list 
following an appropriate quantifying statement, such 
as ‘Contains ll percent or less of llllll’ 
or ‘Less than ll percent of llllll’, with 
the blank percentage filled in with a threshold level 
of 2 percent, or, if desired, 1.5 percent, 1.0 percent, 
or 0.5 percent, as applicable. 
‘‘(g) PERMISSIBLE MARKETING CLAIMS.—Pet food 
shall not be treated as misbranded by reason of the fol-
lowing claims in labeling and promotional materials for pet 
food, without premarket approval of such claims by the 
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Food and Drug Administration, if truthful, nonmis-
leading, and adequately substantiated: 
‘‘(1) Claims regarding hairball control. 
‘‘(2) Claims regarding tartar control, plaque re-
moval, and bad breath odor. 
‘‘(3) Claims regarding the ability of pet food to 
support general urinary tract health. 
‘‘(4) ‘Human grade’ claims for finished pet food 
(not for individual ingredients) if made under the 
following circumstances: 
‘‘(A) Every ingredient in the pet food and 
the finished product is— 
‘‘(i) stored, handled, processed, and 
transported in accordance with— 
‘‘(I) section 117 of title 21, Code 
of Federal Regulations (or successor 
regulations); and 
‘‘(II) the laws applicable to food 
for human consumption, including 
such laws relating to ingredients, 
process, or facility type; and 
‘‘(ii) manufactured in accordance with 
section 507 of title 21, Code of Federal 
Regulations (or successor regulations). 
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‘‘(B) Each facility that manufactures the 
finished pet food or an ingredient in the fin-
ished pet food is registered pursuant to section 
415 as a human food facility. 
‘‘(C) The ‘human grade’ claims clearly in-
dicate that the food is pet food, such as by stat-
ing ‘dog food’ or ‘cat treats’. 
‘‘(5) ‘Natural’ claims if made under the fol-
lowing circumstances. 
‘‘(A) Subject to subparagraph (C), the 
term ‘natural’ refers to a food or ingredient de-
rived solely from plant, animal, or mined 
sources— 
‘‘(i) in its unprocessed state; or 
‘‘(ii) having been subject to physical 
processing, heat processing, rendering, pu-
rification, 
extraction, 
hydrolysis, 
enzymolysis, or fermentation, but not hav-
ing been produced by or subject to a 
chemically synthetic process and not con-
taining any additives or processing aids 
that are chemically synthetic except in 
amounts as might occur unavoidably in 
good manufacturing practices. 
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‘‘(B) The term ‘natural’ is only used to 
reference the product as a whole when all of the 
ingredients and components of ingredients meet 
the description in subparagraph (A). 
‘‘(C) If the food or ingredient contains 
chemically synthesized vitamins, minerals, or 
other trace nutrients used as ingredients in pet 
food, a disclaimer— 
‘‘(i) identifies these ingredients; 
‘‘(ii) is juxtaposed with the term ‘nat-
ural’; and 
‘‘(iii) appears with the largest or most 
prominent use of the term ‘natural’ on 
each panel of the label on which the term 
appears, in the same style and color print 
and at least one-half the size of the term 
natural. 
‘‘(D) A disclaimer under subparagraph (C) 
is not required when the term ‘natural’ is used 
in reference to one ingredient and is not refer-
ring to the whole product. 
‘‘(h) GUIDANCE ON CERTAIN TOPICS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall issue 
guidance with respect to pet food addressing each of 
the following topics: 
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‘‘(A) Methods for substantiating nutri-
tional adequacy of pet foods. 
‘‘(B) Pet food metabolizable energy proto-
cols. 
‘‘(C) Affidavits for pet food testing pro-
tocol completion. 
‘‘(D) Data to support a calorie content 
claim. 
‘‘(E) Analytical variations (Avs). 
‘‘(F) Recommendations for use of mena-
dione sodium bisulfite complex (MSBC) in ani-
mal feed. 
‘‘(2) INITIAL GUIDANCE.— 
‘‘(A) TIMING.—Not later than 18 months 
after the date of enactment of the PURR Act 
of 2024, the Secretary shall issue initial guid-
ance under this subsection. 
‘‘(B) BASIS.—The initial guidance under 
subparagraph (A) shall be based on the guid-
ance contained in the 2024 edition of the 
‘AAFCO Official Publication’.’’. 
SEC. 4. RESPONSIBILITIES. 
Title X of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act 
(21 U.S.C. 391 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
the following: 
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‘‘SEC. 1015. RESPONSIBILITIES FOR PET FOOD REGULA-
TION. 
‘‘(a) DELEGATION OF RESPONSIBILITY.—The Sec-
retary shall delegate to the Director of the Center for Vet-
erinary Medicine responsibility for carrying out section 
425 and, as appropriate, other responsibilities and au-
thorities of the Food and Drug Administration with re-
spect to pet food. 
‘‘(b) DUTIES.—The responsibilities of the Director of 
the Center for Veterinary Medicine shall include— 
‘‘(1) conducting and coordinating science-based 
reviews of pet food ingredient submissions; 
‘‘(2) submitting an annual report to the Con-
gress on performance metrics, including performance 
on— 
‘‘(A) the review of submissions and 
issuance of action letters under section 425(d); 
‘‘(B) the issuance of initial guidance under 
section 425(h) and any subsequent revisions to 
such guidance; and 
‘‘(C) the proposal and finalization of initial 
regulations under section 5 of the PURR Act of 
2024 and any subsequent revisions to such reg-
ulations; 
‘‘(3) educating pet owners, veterinarians, and 
the companion animal industry about pet food; 
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‘‘(4) communicating and educating consumers 
on the safety of pet food; and 
‘‘(5) carrying out research to support and im-
prove policies and regulatory decisions regarding pet 
food. 
‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the terms ‘com-
panion animal’, ‘pet food’, and ‘pet food ingredient sub-
mission’ have the meanings given to those terms in section 
425.’’. 
SEC. 5. REGULATIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 
Human Services, acting through the Commissioner of 
Food and Drugs, shall— 
(1) not later than one year after the date of en-
actment of this Act, issue proposed regulations to 
implement the amendments made by this Act; and 
(2) not later than two years after the date of 
enactment of this Act, finalize such regulations. 
(b) CONTENTS.—The initial regulations promulgated 
to implement the amendments made by this Act shall in-
clude PF 1 through PF 12 of the ‘‘Model Regulations for 
Pet Food and Specialty Pet Food Under the Model Bill’’ 
in chapter 4 of the 2024 edition of the ‘‘AAFCO Official 
Publication’’. 
Æ 
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