Right now, substances added to animal feed that affect gut microbiomes or reduce foodborne pathogens like salmonella are regulated as drugs — a process that can take years and cost millions. This bill would create a new category called "zootechnical animal food substances" and regulate them as food additives instead, which has a faster approval pathway through the FDA. These substances would need to work solely within the animal's gastrointestinal tract and couldn't be used to diagnose, cure, or treat disease. The change could accelerate the availability of innovative feed products for livestock producers while still requiring FDA safety review.
Corporate Benefits
- Zootechnical feed-substance approval pathway — Moved from FDA new-animal-drug review to the food-additive track
- Regulatory cost and time-to-market for livestock-producer feed additives — Reduced by the new pathway
Transparency & Accountability
- Mandatory product-labeling statement — 'Not for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease' required on covered substances
- Misbranding consequence for missing label — Substance treated as misbranded food if the required statement is omitted
Congressional Summary
Innovative Feed Enhancement and Economic Development Act of 2025 or the Innovative FEED Act of 2025This bill provides for the regulation of zootechnical animal food substances as food additives.The bill defines zootechnical animal food substance as a substance that is added to the food or drinking water of animals and that affects only the animal's gastrointestinal tract, with the intended purpose of affecting the byproducts of the animal's digestion, reducing foodborne pathogens, or altering the animal's gastrointestinal biome.The definition does not include substances that are used to treat or prevent diseases in animals, hormones, or active ingredients of animal drugs. Labels for zootechnical animal food substances must include a disclaimer that the substance may not be used to treat or prevent diseases in animals.
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- Senate
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in Senate
- Action Date
- 2025-05-22
- Date Added
- 2026-04-09
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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