Undesirable substances in animal feed
Tuesday 13 September 2011
Undesirable substances – more commonly known as contaminants – are defined in legislation as 'any substance or product, with the exception of pathogenic agents, which is present in and/or on the product intended for animal feed and which presents a potential danger to animal or human health or to the environment or could adversely affect livestock production'.
Examples include arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury, aflatoxin B1 and dioxins.
Generally, these undesirable substances are either naturally-occurring environmental contaminants that are present at low levels in feed and food products, particularly vegetable crops drawing nutrients directly from the soil, or are process contaminants that may be introduced into the feeding stuff either during or as a consequence of its treatment, manufacture and storage.
The presence of undesirable substances in feed is controlled by European Parliament and Council Directive 2002/32/EC of 7 May 2002 (as amended), which sets maximum permitted levels (MPLs) for these substances and is given effect in England by regulations 8 and 9 of the Animal Feed (England) Regulations 2010. (Separate but parallel legislation applies in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.) Feed that contains a contaminant at a level above the relevant MPL is deemed to be unsafe and must be withdrawn and disposed of outside the feed and food chains, for example by sending it for alternative uses, for destruction, or returning it to the country of dispatch. (The 'blending down' of consignments of feed materials with levels of contamination above the MPL – mixing them with uncontaminated consignments in order to reduce the overall level of contamination to below the upper limit – has been prohibited since 2003.)
These controls apply to feed for both food-producing and non-food-producing animals – that is, feed for farmed livestock (including horses and rabbits), fish, pets, laboratory, zoo and circus animals, and creatures living freely in the wild.
The European Food Safety Authority's Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain (CONTAM) has now completed a review of existing controls for undesirable substances in feed. Where appropriate, these controls have been modified following the Panel’s advice. It is likely that further changes will be made in line with future advice from CONTAM.
The CONTAM Panel has also provided advice on the presence in feed of certain mycotoxins (toxins produced by certain fungi), which can sometimes occur in cereals grown or stored under adverse conditions. Following discussion with Member States on the incidence of these contaminants, the European Commission has adopted a recommendation setting out guidance values for deoxynivenalol, zearalenone, ochratoxin A and for fumonisin B1 + B2. These guidance values are not statutory limits, but are intended to help decide the acceptability of feed containing low levels of these mycotoxins. The Agency has published separate guidance on these mycotoxins (including aflatoxin B1).