Innovative FEED Act of 2025
The Innovative FEED Act of 2025 would create a new regulatory framework for zootechnical animal food substances—feeds or water additives that are intended to influence an animal’s digestion, gut microbiome, or other bodily functions (but not to provide nutrition). Under the bill, such substances would be treated as food additives rather than drugs, and would require premarket FDA review and regulation under the food additive provisions of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. The law would require comprehensive data in support of any proposed use, specify that FDA may set conditions on safe use (including how much may be used and how it is labeled), and mandate explicit labeling that the substance is not for diagnosing, curing, mitigating, treating, or preventing disease. It would also bar FDA from mandating that anyone use these substances. In short, the bill aims to regulate these feed additives more like food additives, with safety and labeling requirements, while preventing disease treatment claims.
Key Points
- 1Creates a new definition: “zootechnical animal food substance” is a feed or water additive that (a) acts in the gastrointestinal tract, (b) is intended to affect digestion byproducts, reduce human-pathogen risks in animals destined for food, or influence body structure/function without providing nutritive value, and (c) works solely within the GI tract.
- 2Excludes certain items from this category (e.g., medicines for disease, hormones, certain animal drugs, ionophores, and substances separately excluded by rulemaking).
- 3Treats zootechnical substances as food additives, not drugs, for interstate commerce; requires use under FDA regulation under the food additive regime.
- 4Adds enhanced information requirements for petitions seeking approval as a zootechnical additive, including data on the intended effect, the quantity needed, and full investigative reports with methods and controls.
- 5Gives FDA authority to issue safety/use regulations for these substances, including conditions of use, labeling, and maximum quantities; petitioner must be notified of FDA’s action and rationale.
- 6Requires specific labeling: “Not for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease in animals,” and may include statements about the intended effect on the animal’s body or function.
- 7Adds a misbranding provision: labeling that omits the required disease-not-for-use statement for zootechnical substances would be misbranding.
- 8Includes a general caveat that nothing in the bill authorizes the government to compel the use of any zootechnical substance.