Documenting safety and efficacy for traditional Chinese herbs for use in dogs and cats: Draft preparation of a regulatory dossier

Traditional Chinese herbs (TCH) have been used for more than 3,000 years. They have gained increasing interest to improve performance in livestock, and have been documented to improve health and prevent, treat, and cure disease or ameliorate disease symptoms. However, limited knowledge is available regarding the modes of action as compared to modern medicine, and their impact on the health and well-being of companion animals. Pet food is highly regulated, and novel ingredients must acquire a definition by specific regulatory agencies in order to be legally used in pet foods. Thus, this proposal has two major goals: 1) To systematically review the use of TCH as supplements or feed additives for dogs, cats and other monogastric animals, and their subsequent effect(s) on metabolism and overall health; and 2) to prepare a regulatory dossier for selected TCH for intended use, ingredient review, comparative safety data in dogs and cats if sufficient literature is available. Julia Pezzali will manage all aspects of the proposed project work (e.g. systematically review the literature and prepare the regulatory dossier) under the guidance of the Principal Investigator and the industry collaborator. The company will highly benefit from having the expertise of the Principal Investigator, who will be supervising the intern, on the use of specific additives on pet foods and the regulatory pathway necessary for approval of TCH. This will potentially create new opportunities for future research, which will benefit the Principal Investigator, the University and the industry partner.

Faculty Supervisor:

Anna Kate Shoveller

Student:

Partner:

Charmy Box Inc.

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Manufacturing

University:

University of Guelph

Program: