Root cause analysis (RCA): animal feeds and pet foods
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This page explains what animal feed and pet food are, and shares insights from Root Cause Analysis (RCA) investigations into feed safety incidents reported to the FSA. It highlights common hazards, root causes, and practical preventative measures to help feed businesses reduce the risk of future incidents.
Adapted edition
- Document type
- Reference Guide
- Format
- DOCX
- Pages
- 6
- Language
- English
- Version
- 1.0
- Updated
- 2026-09-16
- Category
- Safety & operations
- Licence
- Open Government Licence v3.0
Description
This page explains what animal feed and pet food are, and shares insights from Root Cause Analysis (RCA) investigations into feed safety incidents reported to the FSA. It highlights common hazards, root causes, and practical preventative measures to help feed businesses reduce the risk of future incidents. Consult the original guidance for current legal and operational details.
Contents
- What are 'animal feed' and 'pet food'?
- Preventing and responding to an incident
- Insight to common root cause findings - animal feed incidents
- Recognised challenges for producers and distributors
- Summary of feed types involved in incidents
- Summary of most commonly identified hazards
- Summary of root cause findings
- Interpretation of root cause analysis data
- Common root causes in animal feed and pet food incidents
- Microbial contamination of raw materials
- Other raw material contamination:
- Contaminants in manufacturing:
- Processing failures:
- Packaging/storage issues:
- Key preventative measures:
- Common RCA process errors
Source and licence
Food Standards Agency
AttributionFood Standards Agency, ‘Root cause analysis (RCA): animal feeds and pet foods’ (updated 10 September 2026), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
ChangesNeutral text-only adaptation from the official GOV.UK Content API body: headings, paragraphs, ordered and unordered list items and clickable source-link destinations in an appendix preserved. Images, logos, page design, accessible-format request widgets and linked attachments excluded; normalised whitespace, invisible format marks and typography.
Version history
- v1.016/09/2026