Feed & Additive Magazine Issue 4 May 2021

SPECIAL STORY 38 FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE May 2021 ZNOWILL NOT BE BANNED IN ANIMAL NUTRITION IN 2022 IN EU "After the decision to ban the medicinal use of zinc oxide in piglet diets, feed formulators are seeking feed ingredients and additives which can reduce the risk of digestive disorders in critical phases like the post-weaning period. Specific potentiated form of zinc oxide can be used in premixes at nutritional levels without prescription and showed efficacy to modulate intestinal bacterial populations and to improve gut barrier function." W HICH FORMS OF ZNOTOBE BANNED? It is needed to remind everyone that only the pharmacological usage of zinc oxide in piglet di- ets is currently under pressure. This means that the ban of ZnO in the European Union is restricted to medicated feeds which are prescribed by qualified veterinarians. This does not apply to the nutritional usage of zinc oxide which is routinely included in premixes and remains the dominant source of zinc utilised by the feed industry. Medicated zinc oxide was diversely utilised in Eu- ropean countries for more than 15 years. On the contrary to feed regulation, veterinary regulation is country specific. Thus, pig producers, nutritionists and veterinarians face very heterogeneous regulatory situations. As example, Dutch feed manufacturers were nev- er authorised to use pharma ZnO in piglet diets. In France, it was only in 2016 that the French authori- ties gave permission for medicated use of ZnO. Since that authorisation, less than 20% of pig farmers have adopted it. This was a temporary period as in Jan- uary 2021 the only product authorisation available expired, preceding the ban at EU scale of 18 months. In Germany, the end of the use of ZnO at medical dosage is scheduled for June 2021, so 1 year before the European deadline. Outside EU, the situation is accelerating too. China has already implemented in 2018 a drastic reduction of authorised Zn supplementation level (from 2250ppm Zn to 1600ppm) in piglet diets. Pharmacological ZnO is as well under scrutiny in Jennifer Maurin Animine France Dr. Denise Cardoso Animine France