LONDON — The Pet Food Manufacturers’ Association (PFMA) announced earlier this month it is in the “final stages” of developing a new certification for raw pet food producers in the United Kingdom. The project is designed to serve as a tool to help manufacturers produce safe, raw pet diets.

The certification program will be rolled out in the coming months, PFMA said.

“In 2017, PFMA launched its Guidelines for the Manufacture of Raw Pet Food,” said Greg Ban Praagh, chairman of PFMA. “This was our first best practice guideline, which we developed in conjunction with Defra, the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) and the Food Standards Agency (FSA). The new certification scheme is a continuation of this work and is the gold standard for producing commercial raw pet food.”

The raw pet food certification initiative was developed by 17 commercial pet food manufacturers that are PFMA members. According to PFMA, its raw pet food manufacturer members make up 80% of the total raw pet food market in the United Kingdom.

“Safety and standards are core elements of PFMA’s Pet Food Vision and where we strive for excellence,” added Michael Bellingham, chief executive of PFMA. “It is through initiatives such as this that we continually seek to raise the bar.”

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