AAVN October E-Newsletter

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AAVN Newsletter October 2020

From the President's Desk

Dear Colleagues,

I hope that, wherever you may be, you are enjoying the fall weather!

Your membership is important to the AAVN! We rely on your support to provide benefits like our annual Symposium, this monthly e-newsletter and the AAVN list serve. We are also planning some new additions for 2021, such as two webinar series - one for members and other veterinary practitioners and one for our student members.

You should have received an email notice with a link to confirm your account on our new website. Please take a few minutes to renew before October 31st, as an additional fee of $15 will be added after that date. If you are not planning to join this year, please let us know so we can remove your name from the reminder list.

If you didn’t receive that email/ have questions, please contact Jen at aavnexecutive@gmail.com

As always, please don't hesitate to contact us with any ideas/ suggestions or feedback!

Thank you, as always, for your commitment to the profession.

Martha G. Cline, DVM, DACVN

AAVN Executive Board – President (2017 – 2021)

Report from the 2020 AAFCO Annual Meeting

David A. Dzanis, DVM, PhD, DACVN

The Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) held its Annual Meeting "virtually" on August 5-7, 2020. As a "deliberative body," topics of discussion within AAFCO often take years to conclude, hence many items arise repeatedly over multiple meetings. In that light, there are not a lot of new topics upon which to report compared to my presentation at the AAVN Symposium from a few months ago. Still, it may be interesting for those so inclined to follow the progression of proposals as they jump the various hurdles within the AAFCO process.

The full membership voted to accept new pet food regulations clarifying how to incorporate the names of ingredients into product variety names and percentage claims. This is the final step proposals must pass before they are enacted and appear in the AAFCO Official Publication. Perhaps more pertinent to AAVN members, AAFCO also voted in amendments to its model pet food regulations and protocols as they pertain to the nutritional adequacy feeding trials. Moving forward, dog foods that are substantiated to be "complete and balanced" for puppies or all life stages via the feeding trial method must be based on trials using large size dogs. In the case where a trial was successfully completed but on a small or medium breed dog (e.g., Beagles), then the product is further required to meet the calcium and phosphorus maximum levels as stipulated in the AAFCO Dog Food Nutrient Profiles for growth of large size dogs. Normally, foods that are substantiated for nutritional adequacy by this method are not bound to meeting the nutrient levels as dictated in the Profiles, but this is now the exception.

The Pet Food Committee accepted a new guidance document pertaining to therapeutic dog and cat foods. It closely mimics the FDA Compliance Policy Guide issued in 2016, but from AAFCO's perspective. Briefly, it limits sales of these products to only under a valid veterinarian-client-patient relationship (i.e., either by or on the order of a veterinarian). Also, although the guidance allows for information on the diet and its effect on disease to be communicated to the veterinary professional, it restricts this same information from appearing on the label or in other consumer-oriented materials. This item now has two more steps (i.e., approval by the AAFCO Board of Directors and full membership) before it becomes official guidance.

Also in the Pet Food Committee, it was reported that the work to amend the guidance that allows for "human grade" claims on pet food labels is almost complete. Implementation of a new procedure whereby the Agricultural Marketing Service within USDA will inspect and certify human grade pet foods is expected soon.

The reports from the Pet Food Labeling Modernization Working Group note significant progress, and final recommendations are anticipated soon. Once in place, these new labeling requirements will have a dramatic impact on how nutrient content, nutritional adequacy, safe handling directions and ingredient declarations will appear on the pet food label. However, it still may take years while the recommendations are further deliberated up the chain, final regulations are promulgated, and the rules become enforceable at the state level.

On the non-pet food side, an item that is also moving towards its final hurdle at the next meeting is a proposal to define and set labeling requirements for livestock "treats." Labels for products identified as "snacks" or "treats" for poultry, horses, etc., will only be required to bear guarantees for crude protein, crude fat, and crude fiber, except when further guarantees are needed to support nutrient content claims (e.g., "with calcium").

On the ingredient front, krill meal is now an acceptable ingredient, but for extremely limited use. It may be used ONLY in dry adult dog foods at levels not to exceed 3% (i.e., NOT for puppy foods, cat foods, wet foods, etc.). The definition for dried black soldier fly larvae has been amended to allow for inclusion in swine feeds as well as those for salmonids and poultry. However, there is yet to be an indication that black soldier fly larvae (or any other insect-based ingredient) will be available for inclusion in pet foods anytime very soon.

Similarly, little progress has been made with respect to use of hemp-derived ingredients in animal feeds. Definitions for hemp biomass (i.e., hemp materials post-CBD extraction) and hemp seed meal are reportedly in the pipeline, but no timetables for expected completion of the process have been announced.

Because of limitations on time, two items on the agenda in the ingredient Definitions Committee that were not discussed were the status of menadione sodium bisulfite complex (MSBC) in feeds other than for poultry, and a proposed table intending to standardize "common names" of vitamins (e.g., "vitamin B1" for thiamine mononitrate and thiamine hydrochloride). One state strongly objects to use of MSBC in pet foods and non-poultry livestock feeds. Although the state has promised to hold off on enforcement action for a year while the matter is further deliberated by AAFCO, this issue may eventually have wider implications for product formulation nation-wide, which may potentially impact animal health. At this time, a source of vitamin K activity is in fact required in fish-based cat foods that are complete and balanced by virtue of meeting the AAFCO Cat Food Nutrient Profiles, and there are other circumstances where inclusion of a vitamin K source in an animal feed formulation is prudent if not essential per se. However, with few viable options to MSBC available, there is potential for this to have a significant impact on the availability of some products in the marketplace.

With respect to the table of "common vitamin names" the original concept was to wholly replace all chemical-sounding vitamin names with the common names on pet food label ingredient declarations. However, this format would not only be contrary to FDA law, but could also cause problems with matters such as ensuring that appropriate sources of vitamins are actually used. With luck, a policy to allow BOTH the common and chemical names to appear in the label ingredient declaration will be worked out.

Summary of the Global Animal Nutrition Summit

(August 11- 15, 2020)

The Global Animal Nutrition Summit was organized by Drs. Adronie Verbrugghe, Anna Kate Shoveller and Sarah Abood, several graduate students and members of Verbrugghe’s and Shoveller’s nutrition teams.

The total number of registered attendees was 260+ for this first-time event (amazing!)

The event was held virtually and hosted at the University of Guelph in Canada. Presentations were pre-recorded and all speakers were available remotely during the live-streamed conference for Q&A. Conference attendees were given access to recorded material for several months.

The Graduate Student Day (Aug. 11^th) featured 5 speakers and 6 hours of content.

The Summit (Aug. 12-14^th) featured 5 keynote speakers, 15 mini-reviews (oral abstracts) and 35 posters for 15 hours of scientific content over 2.5 days

The Fueling Wellness Symposium (Aug. 15^th) had 17 speakers across 3 different tracks and was designed for general practitioners, veterinary health care teams and equine enthusiasts

Sponsored awards were given to 3 presenters of mini-reviews (oral abstracts), and 10 presenters of posters (2 each in 5 different research categories).

Summary of the 24^th Annual ESVCN Congress

September 17-19, 2020

ESVCN (European Society of Veterinary and Comparative Nutrition) went virtual for the first time ever! It was hosted by the very capable team at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat Munchen (in Munich, Germany);

The event was o rganized by Drs. Britta Dobenecker, Andrea Ellis (Executive administrator of ESVCN), Ronald Corbee, Pat Harris, Georgina Crossman, Linda Böswald, and with the support of other board members.

The total number of registered attendees: 343 delegates (a new record for this annual event!) There were several streams and dozens of presentations of high caliber nutrition research.

Presentations were pre-recorded and all speakers were available remotely during the live-streamed conference for Q&A. Conference attendees will be given access to recorded material for some period of time.

2020 Award Recipients

Helmut Meyer Award (for best oral presentation): Dr. Jürgen Zentek, University Berlin (“Mango peels and apple pectin as feed compound for weaner piglets”)

Josef Leibetseder Award (for best poster presentation): Ratchaneewan Khiaosa-Ard, Danube University (“Vinegar test as a simple method to assess the availability of Magnesium in supplemental sources”);

ESVCN-Waltham Student Award for Best Oral Presentation in Companion Animals: Vivian Pedrinelli, University of Sao Paulo (“Serum metabolomics analysis reveals that weight loss in obese dogs results in similar metabolic profile than that of dogs in ideal body condition”);

Purina Cat Nutrition Award for Best Oral Presentation in the field of Cat Nutrition: Tania Miltenburg (“Effects of hydrolysed poultry byproduct meal in extruded diets on serum angiotensin converting enzyme activity and aldosterone in cats”).

The 2021 ESVCN Congress is scheduled to take place in Portugal on September 9-11 at the University of Tras-os-Montes and Alto Douro in Vila Real, Portugal. Mark your calendars now and save the date!

AAVN Symposium: Call for Abstract Reviewers

The AAVN Clinical Nutrition & Research Symposium will be held in 2021. A virtual component of this Symposium is a certainty given the impact of COVID-19 and further details will follow as we monitor the situation. Please SAVE-THE-DATE for June 9 and 10, 2021.

The AAVN is seeking 5 members to volunteer their time to anonymously review abstracts for our annual Clinical Nutrition & Research Symposium. If you are able to volunteer for this important task, or interested in learning more about this opportunity, please email AAVNSymposium@gmail.com (please do not reply to this email) by November 15, 2020.

If you are an author, co-author, or mentor to a person submitting an abstract this year, please refrain from volunteering.

Important Information About

AAVN Membership Renewal

The AAVN is now processing membership renewals online via our new website! All active members should have received an email notice with a link to login to your profile, update your information and renew your membership. (Please note that student members will not receive this notice and will not have profiles on the website.)

Due to the late start to this process, memberships will not expire until September 30th. A late fee of $15 will be applied after October 31st.

Also, a reminder that the AAVN Executive Board has voted NOT to increase dues for the 2020-2021 membership year. The cost for an active membership will remain level at $85, retired members and 2nd year new graduates will be $42.50. Please note that first year new graduates, life and honorary members do not pay dues.

For AAVN Student Chapter Members & Faculty Advisors: Student Chapter Constitutions Due 10/15

In order to standardize our chapters across institutions, the AAVN Student Member Committee has developed a template constitution for each chapter.

To maintain an active student chapter (NEW & EXISTING) during the 2020 – 2021 academic year, student chapters must review and fill-out the AAVN Student Chapter Constitution Template, available on the AAVN website. Edits to this template may be made. Please use “Track Changes” under the Review tab of Microsoft Word when editing this document.

Documents should have been submitted BY OCTOBER 15^th to the Executive Director of AAVN (aavnexecutive@gmail.com) with a register of officer and faculty advisor names (as well as contact information). If the information was not received by this date, an existing student chapter has been placed in inactive status.

A student chapter can be activated by submitting the required information

If you have any questions about filling out this template, please email Martha Cline (marthagcline@gmail.com).

New feature for the AAVN Newsletter: “Dig and Discover”

Dr. Sarah Abood

Have you ever found yourself hopping down the bunny trail of hyperlinks on the internet? If you don’t know what I’m talking about, go check out the blog posts by Dr. Brennan McKenzie at his website, SkeptVet.com. I highly recommend setting a timer, though, because once you click on one hyperlink to access an article that was referenced, you may soon discover that 30- or 60-minutes has gone by and you’re many pages away from the place where you started! This always happens to me when I investigate what’s new at SkeptVet.com. More recently, Dr. Laura Gaylord introduced me to an organization I hadn’t heard of before-the Pet Sustainability Coalition. I think it is a good example of a website that more AAVN members might be interested in but unfamiliar with; this got me thinking, what if we periodically shared information about interesting websites that could be useful to the AAVN membership? If you discover a new or unusual website that has useful information you can utilize in your day-to-day work, please consider sharing it with us through the e-newsletter!

Call for news! How has the COVID19 pandemic changed teaching & learning in veterinary medicine?

More than a few nutritionists and veterinary students have started the Fall semester for the 2020-2021 academic year, and everyone’s experiences are very different in terms of how, when and where that educational content is delivered. This is a general call for AAVN members to share some of what your experiences have been like, from either the perspective of a didactic or clinical instructor, or as a learner in the classroom, lab or teaching hospital. If you have already written about this, please share OR if you are willing to do a little Q&A with the editor, please contact Sarah Abood at aboodsarah@gmail.com.

A Friendly Reminder from the Newsletter Editor

Your colleagues would enjoy hearing about interesting nutrition-related cases that you've seen in your daily practice, or some different learning activities you've instituted in a nutrition course. Please consider sharing a short write-up that we can include in a future newsletter.

AAVN Announcements

Are you planning on publishing an article or making a nutrition presentation some time in 2020? We'd love to announce it for you! Please send to the Executive Directors at aavnexecutive@gmail.com or the E-newsletter editor aboodsarah@gmail.com