Why is feed safety important?
Animal feed plays a leading role in the global food industry and it is the largest and most important component to ensure the sustainable production of safe and affordable animal proteins.
Rapidly growing populations, along with increased urbanization and income, is expected to rise the consumption of animal products by 70% in 2050. The increase in animal production will require an additional amount of feed to be produced. The challenge is not only to meet the growing demand for feed, but to ensure its safety.
Feed safety is a prerequisite for food safety and human health, as well as a necessity for animal health and welfare. It is a component of access to trade, income generation and economic sustainability. In addition, it contributes to feed and food security and decreases feed losses. In fact, feed is an integral part of the food chain and its safety has been recognized as a shared value and a shared responsibility. Feed production must thus be subject, in a similar manner as food production, to the quality assurance of integrated food safety systems.
The role of animal feed in the production of safe food is recognized worldwide, and several critical incidents have underlined its impact on public and animal health, feed and food trade, and food security. For instance, the following are all related to animal feeding: Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy; Foot-and-Mouth Disease; dioxin, mycotoxin, E.coli O157:H7 contaminations; and the development of antimicrobial resistance. Work on the application of the risk analysis framework provided by Codex in the field of animal feeding has facilitated the further understanding of the role of animal feed safety on public health and of the importance of risk-based measures to prevent and control hazards. Hazards may be introduced with source materials or via carryover or contamination of products during handling, storage and transportation.
In many countries adequate know-how and sufficient awareness are lacking to ensure feed safety among all operators along the whole value chain. Even where more knowledge is available and control systems are in place, new and unconventional feed ingredients are entering the production chain e.g. agro-industrial by-products (such as the ones of the biofuel industry), insects, food processing by-products, food wastes, etc., and with them, possibly new safety risks. Moreover, many countries still lack feed regulatory frameworks and fail to implement feed regulations harmonized with the Codex Alimentarius and other international standards.