Animal Feed

“Feed additives are products used in animal nutrition for purposes of improving the quality of feed and the quality of food from animal origin, or to improve the animals’ performance and health, e.g. providing enhanced digestibility of the feed materials”, according to the European Commission.

There are five general types of feed additives:

1. Technological: favourably affect the characteristic of feed (e.g. preservatives, stabilisers, emulsifiers)

2. Sensory: stimulate animal appetite so that they naturally want to eat more (e.g. colorants, flavouring compounds)

3. Nutritional: provide a particular nutrient that may be deficient in an animal’s diet (e.g. vitamins, amino acids)

4. Zootechnical: improve the overall nutritional value of an animal’s diet (e.g. digestibility enhancers, probiotics, prebiotics)

5. Coccidiostats and Histomonostats: intended to kill or inhibit protozoa, micro-organisms responsible for enteric diseases in poultry.

Feed additives include substances, micro-organisms or preparations, which are intentionally added to feed or water in order to favorably affect the characteristics of feed; the characteristics of animal products; the animal production performance or welfare; the environmental consequences of animal production; and to satisfy the nutritional needs of animals.

Feed additives may not be put on the market unless authorisation has been given following a scientific evaluation demonstrating that the additive has no harmful effects on human and animal health and on the environment.

The Commission has established the European Union Register of Feed Additives, which is regularly updated, and it makes reference/links to the relevant authorisation Regulations.

Those Regulations include the specific requirements for placing the additives on the EU market.

Please watch the video presented above and share any thoughts that you have about animal feed or feed additives in the discussion area.

Remember that you can ask your Educators or Mentors if you have any questions during the course of the week.