Feed safety breaches can threaten more than animal and human health. A product recall or regulatory violation related to feed or food safety can potentially erode customers’ trust in a business and even threaten its license to operate. In today’s global marketplace, companies and producers are increasingly required to demonstrate that they have used due diligence in terms of addressing feed safety and taken steps to guard against fraud.
By Trouw Nutrition
Across the supply chain, a wide range of risk factors can compromise the quality and safety of grains used in animal feed. Some risk factors include human behaviours as well as contaminants present at each link in the supply chain. A recent instalment in the global webinar series of Selko, the feed additive brand of Nutreco, convened experts from GMP+ and Selko’s raw material quality team to discuss the value of building a feed safety culture and mitigating potential risks to safeguard grains used in animal feed. Excerpts from the discussion are shared below and the webinar can be watched in its entirety here.
DEFENDING AGAINST LIABILITY RISK AND BUILDING STRONG CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS
Feed safety breaches can threaten more than animal and human health. A product recall or regulatory violation related to feed or food safety can potentially erode customers’ trust in a business and even threaten its license to operate. In today’s global marketplace, companies and producers are increasingly required to demonstrate that they have used due diligence in terms of addressing feed safety and taken steps to guard against fraud.
Implementing proactive steps to protect feed safety and assure quality may also help reduce liability risk. Being recognised as a supplier of consistently safe products can be more important than having the lowest cost ingredients. The ability to prove that feed inputs are safe, and that adequate due diligence protocols are in place to safeguard food safety can differentiate a trustworthy supplier from others in the marketplace.
ACHIEVING A FOOD SAFETY CULTURE: ABILITY, CAPABILITY AND WILLINGNESS
A company’s commitment to feed safety is reflected in its feed safety culture. For example, employees’ understanding that ingredients must meet quality parameters before being accepted – and their willingness to comply with these standards – is an example of a feed safety culture in action.
All team members should demonstrate the ability, capability, and willingness to support a feed safety culture. Achieving buy-in requires knowledge transfer across the organisation, developing employees’ technical skills and ongoing communication.
Sadly, there are some people who try to “game” the system to gain financial advantage. A few examples of feed fraud include substitution of ingredients, use of ingredients that arrive in a contaminated condition at the processing plant or are intentionally mislabelled. Fraud can occur at any point in the supply chain and employees should be alert to red flags. Potential signs of feed fraud include products being offered below normal market price, shipping from an atypical location or following a non-logical transportation route, products having a different look or smell, unexpected results in the finished feed analysis, or reduced production.
BEYOND CULTURE – PRACTICAL MEASURES TO ASSURE FEED QUALITY
A feed safety culture should be paired with mitigation efforts to address non-human risk factors. Early detection and intervention steps are essential to support the safety and quality of grain. The use of Selko’s feed additives to protect and preserve grain quality can address challenges that can damage quality or create conditions for contamination. Not only should these measures be in place, but companies should be able to demonstrate that the measures are implemented.
GRAIN QUALITY: PREHARVEST, POST-HARVEST, STORAGE AND TRANSPORT
Throughout preharvest, harvest, storage and transport, grains face both quantitative – loss from spillage, spoilage, or damage – and qualitative – loss of grain quality – damages.
Growing crops can incur damage from severe weather, pests, and inadequate soil quality and may see the beginning of problems like mould growth. Common challenges that occur post-harvest include contamination by foreign materials, mould or bacteria growth, mechanical damage, and issues with drying. Wet grain is at increased risk for mould growth and has a reduced shelf life. Couple that with sub-optimal storage practices and the risk for further mould and bacteria growth will increase significantly, while grain residue can contaminate clean grain coming into a storage structure. Transportation considerations include how the grain is being stored and the duration of transport.
Some considerations for preserving grain during storage and transport include making sure the optimal form of storage is selected, controlling moisture, and ensuring adequate ventilation to reduce moisture build-up. The capability to observe conditions within the storage facility or modify temperatures also can help maintain grain in reasonable condition.
MITIGATION EFFORTS
Actions to help check and protect the safety of grains include applying additives to protect grain quality, analysing ingredients, and using relevant maintenance tools.
Ingredient analysis can help identify safety issues like contamination by salmonella, mould or mycotoxins, while also assessing elements that can alter shelf life, like moisture and pH value, or conducting a shelf-life estimation test.
Grain quality also can be supported with additive use. Stored grain, especially when faced with variable storage conditions, may provide the perfect environment for microorganisms to grow, potentially altering grains’ nutritional value and reducing shelf-life. A new product launched by Selko, Fylax Grain, can help extend shelf-life by inhibiting microbial growth. The additive is a blend of free and buffered organic acids that provide broad spectrum protection against the growth of unwanted microorganisms including moulds, bacteria, and yeasts. Proper application is essential to assure accurate dosing.
In testing examining the growth of clostridium perfringens, salmonella typhimurium, or saccharomyces cerevisiae, populations of all unwanted microorganisms declined following the application of Fylax Grain.
Given the risk factors that can reduce the quality of grains, protecting quality and safety is essential. Implementing a feed safety culture is a foundational step in protecting grain, safeguarding feed, and consistently producing high-quality animal feed. Linking that to a raw material quality programme that provides grain monitoring, testing, and applying additives that inhibit microbial growth can help maintain grain quality.
There are risks faced throughout the supply chain and grain can be contaminated, noted Pieter Steyn, technical commercial manager for Selko’s raw material quality programme. “For all of us in the animal feed sector, it is our responsibility to maintain a feed safety culture across our organisation and show a willingness to provide our animals with quality ingredients,” he said.
