ISSUE FOCUS 40 FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE March 2026 Feed safety starts with raw material intake and continues through every step of grinding, mixing, conditioning, pelleting, cooling, and handling. Hygienic equipment design matters - but consistent results increasingly depend on smart process integration, automation, and real-time data control. ROLE OF PROCESSING TECHNOLOGIES IN ENSURING FEED SAFETY There is no doubt that the processing technologies used to turn natural raw materials and by-products from other industries into compound feed play a crucial role in both, feed and food safety. At the same time, the use of additives such as vitamins, enzymes, probiotics, amino acids, and essential oils is constantly evolving. These additives support animal growth, health, and feed efficiency, and can help reduce the need for antibiotics. However, many of these bioactive ingredients are sensitive to processing conditions such as temperature and moisture. As a result, traditional hygienization steps need to be adapted - and carefully controlled with high precision. Producing safe compound feed essentially means: - removing contaminants, harmful substances, and pathogens from raw materials, - preventing cross-contamination and product carryover, - maintaining a high level of hygiene, and - minimizing the risk of recontamination. Given the increasing complexity of these challenges, end-to-end concepts must go beyond hygienically designed machines and equipment. They require the full potential of sophisticated process equipment combined with advanced automation and digital technologies to ensure safe, reliable, and efficient feed production. CONTAMINATED RAW MATERIALS: THE FIRST GATEWAY TO UNSAFE FEED Accepting raw materials contaminated with foreign and harmful substances - or pathogens - is often the first gateway to unsafe animal feed and must be addressed consistently. Disease outbreaks and costly recalls have led to stricter legal requirements and biosafety protocols, but also to a greater willingness to invest in advanced technical solutions. Modern raw material cleaning goes far beyond simple screening. It still includes aspirated screening machines and gravity separators to remove coarse particles, fines, broken or shrunken kernels, dust, and husks. Beyond that, optical sorting technologies are increasingly used to detect and remove, ADVANCED PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY FOR FEED SAFETY Gero Zimmermann M2M Principal Product Management Bühler Group
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