If you make animal feed or pet food, you are regulated under feed law, not (only) under human food law. The gateway is registration with the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) as a feed business operator — a separate regime from registering a food business. This applies whether you make compound feed and feed materials for farm animals (SIC 10.91) or pet food (SIC 10.92).
Farm-animal feed covers compound feed, feed materials and premixtures fed to livestock such as cattle, pigs, poultry and sheep. Pet food is made for companion animals and often uses Category 3 animal by-products — parts of animals fit for but not destined for human consumption — as its raw material, which brings the animal by-products rules into play as well. Work through the sections below for whichever you make; if you make both, all of them apply.
Feed law is devolved. APHA registers and enforces feed controls in England; in Scotland, Food Standards Scotland has been responsible for feed official controls since 1 April 2021; in Wales, local authorities act under Food Standards Agency oversight; and in Northern Ireland, DAERA runs its own arrangements. Each section below names the body that applies.
Register as a feed business operator and control additives and the feed ban
Before you produce, store or place feed on the market you must register your establishment with APHA as a feed business operator. Registration is what brings your site into the feed inspection system. On top of registration, two product controls run alongside it: you may use only feed additives that are authorised, and only at the inclusion levels set for each one; and you must control the ruminant feed ban and the wider transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) cross-contamination rules, which restrict feeding processed animal protein to farmed animals and require you to keep banned materials apart from permitted feed. The snippet below sets out the registration route, the authorised additives and their permitted levels, and the feed ban controls.
Register your pet-food establishment for animal by-products
If you make pet food using Category 3 animal by-products as raw material, your establishment must also be on the APHA animal by-products register. The by-products rules govern how you source, handle, process and trace those materials so they do not re-enter the human or farmed-animal food chains. APHA registers and enforces these controls across Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales), and DAERA does so in Northern Ireland. Get this registration in place before you take in any Category 3 material.
Label feed and pet food correctly
Feed and pet-food labelling has its own statutory requirements, distinct from human food labels. A feed or pet-food label must identify the manufacturer, give the net weight, a best-before date and a batch reference, name the intended species, list the analytical constituents and any additives used, and carry the statement that the product is "for animal feeding only". The same labelling discipline that governs human food — accuracy, legibility and not misleading the purchaser — applies here too. Treat the label as a control document, because it tells the user which animals the feed is safe for.
Steps to set up
Work through these in order. Registration comes first because you cannot place feed on the market without it, and the additive and feed-ban controls must be in place before you start production.
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1. Decide what you make
Determine whether you make farm-animal feed (SIC 10.91), pet food (SIC 10.92), or both — this sets which registrations and controls below apply to you.
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2. Register with APHA as a feed business operator
Register your establishment with APHA (or Food Standards Scotland in Scotland) before you produce, store or place any feed on the market.
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3. Register for animal by-products if you use them
If you make pet food using Category 3 animal by-products, get the establishment onto the APHA animal by-products register before you take in any material.
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4. Use only authorised additives at permitted levels
Check every feed additive against the Great Britain register of feed additives and keep each one within its authorised inclusion level.
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5. Put feed-ban cross-contamination controls in place
Apply the ruminant feed ban and TSE controls: keep banned materials apart from permitted feed, and document how you prevent cross-contamination on your line.
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6. Label to the feed and pet-food rules
Label every product with the manufacturer, net weight, best-before, batch, intended species, analytical constituents and the "for animal feeding only" statement.
What to do next
This guide covers the feed-specific regime. On top of it, you still carry the duties every food and drink manufacturer shares — workplace health and safety, employers' liability insurance, and your site's environmental, trade-effluent and packaging obligations. Work through the universal spine guide, Register and run a safe food and drink manufacturing business, alongside this one. When you have worked through the relevant guides, run the food and drink manufacturing compliance checklist before you start production. If you are unsure whether a registration or control applies to your site, confirm it with APHA or your nation's feed authority before you commit.
Official sources
Statutory sources and regulators for running an animal feed or pet food business