Processing technologies are central to ensuring feed safety and, by extension, food safety. Controlled thermal treatment, informed raw material selection, robust engineering design, advanced automation, and reliable data management must work together to achieve predictable pathogen reduction. Feed safety is not driven by single interventions, but by integrated systems that reduce variability, maintain process stability, ensure traceability, and protect animal performance while meeting regulatory and market expectations.
Head of Digital Solutions
Andritz Feed & Biofuel
Application and Technology Engineer for Animal Feed
Andritz Feed & Biofuel
FEED SAFETY IS FOOD SAFETY
Anders Lydom: When we talk about feed safety, we are in reality talking about food safety. Feed becomes meat, milk, and eggs, which ultimately reaches consumers. There is no separation between the two, and that connection fundamentally changes the level of responsibility we carry as technology providers and the responsibility you carry as feed producers.
Pathogen control in feed production is therefore not just an internal quality objective; it is a safeguard for the entire production food chain. At the same time, we must be precise in how we describe what we do. In feed production, we do not sterilize – we reduce. If we were to fully sterilize feed, we would damage valuable enzymes and nutritional properties that are essential for animal performance. The objective is controlled pathogen reduction to a level where organisms such as Salmonella no longer pose a risk.
That distinction matters, because feed safety is not about applying extreme measures. It is about disciplined, scientifically controlled processing.
WINNING THE WAR ON MULTIPLE FRONTS
Lydom: Many believe temperature alone solves the pathogen challenge. It does not. Yes, achieving 82°C with sufficient retention time, for example 60 seconds in a controlled long-term heat treatment system, provides high certainty that pathogen levels are reduced to a safe threshold. Systems operating on first-in, first-out principles ensure uniform exposure and consistent results, which are essential for reliable, predictable pathogen reduction.
However, feed safety is best understood as a strategic defense rather than a single intervention. I often compare it to a war: you do not win by attacking head-on alone; you must also protect your flanks. In practical terms, this means combining thermal treatment with raw material strategy and formulation decisions like inclusion of probiotics.
Nutritionists play a key role by selecting raw materials based on the plant’s technological capabilities. The more robust the thermal systems and automation controls, the more confidently higher-risk raw materials can be managed safely, like soybean meal or rendering products. In certain formulations, formic acid may be applied, as it penetrates pathogen cell walls, creates a hostile environment, and enhances the overall reduction effect. When combined with precise heat treatment by time and temperature, this creates a much stronger and more reliable safety barrier.
Temperature, chemistry, and raw material strategy must therefore work together within a controlled process framework. When these elements are aligned, feed safety becomes predictable rather than reactive.
ENGINEERING RESPONSIBILITY: PROCESS AND MATERIAL SELECTION
Lydom: Combining formic acid and steam introduces another important consideration: vaporized acids. These vapors can aggressively attack mild steel, leading to corrosion, hygiene challenges, and significantly reduced equipment lifetime. Feed safety therefore does not stop at temperature control. It extends into engineering design.
Selecting appropriate stainless-steel grades, such as SS304 or SS316 acid-resistant materials, ensures that equipment withstands chemical exposure for decades. When your feed mill invests in new machinery, you expect more than short-term performance. Naturally, you expect safe, stable, and hygienic operation for more than 20 years. In this sense, equipment either supports feed safety over its lifetime or gradually undermines it. The difference lies in engineering foresight.
THE FOUNDATION: STABLE EQUIPMENT ENABLES SAFE PROCESSING
Ivan Harjacek: With more than 20 years of industrial experience across multiple sectors, I have learned one simple principle: without stable equipment, there is no stable process. Feed safety begins with reliability. The main objective of any operation must be to run without unexpected downtime and in accordance with the highest safety standards. Only when operational stability is secured can we seriously discuss optimization or performance improvements.
Processing technologies must deliver predictable mechanical performance, hygienic design that allows efficient cleaning, and maintenance concepts that support long-term stability. For example, Andritz OptiMix uses dual rotation and a cylindrical design to achieve a high level of self-cleaning and avoid dead space to eliminate residue build-up. By reducing build-up and limiting cross-contamination, the system supports consistent, reliable, and safe processing. Mechanical predictability underpins biological certainty. When equipment performs consistently, safety margins become measurable and defensible.
IF YOU CANNOT MEASURE IT, YOU CANNOT DEFEND IT
Harjacek: There is a well-known management principle often attributed to Peter Drucker: “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” In feed production, I would extend that further – if you cannot measure it, you cannot defend it.
Authorities require documented proof of control. Temperatures must be logged, retention times recorded, moisture levels monitored and batch histories retrievable. This demands integrated sensor technologies such as NIR systems, particle size distribution measurement, infrared or microwave moisture analysis and high-speed inspection systems operating within a unified automation environment. But sensors alone are not enough. The real challenge is integration. Multiple vendors, multiple data streams, multiple communication protocols, all without a unified automation architecture, can create fragmentation instead of control.
As system integrators, our responsibility is to bring these technologies together into a secure and structured platform that ensures transparency, traceability, and reliability. Feed safety today depends not only on physical processing but also on structured and retrievable data.
VARIABILITY IS THE REAL ENEMY
Harjacek: In many feed mills, production operates at around 80% of nominal capacity. Operators are often blamed for not pushing further. In my experience across pulp & paper, malting & brewing, and feed & biofuel industries, that threshold reflects uncertainty – not reluctance.
Variability in raw materials, recipe changes, seasonal shifts, and operator differences all introduce fluctuations into the process. When conditioning parameters or other key upstream processes drift off, motor loads become unstable, forcing operators to maintain that safety margin because the system response becomes difficult to predict. This variability is not primarily a people issue; it is a control strategy problem. True improvement requires addressing core process-driven limitations and fundamental control constraints.
At Andritz, our ACE control suite is designed to reduce variability at its source by stabilizing key process parameters and aligning control strategies with physical process behavior. By reducing KPI variability by 40-60%, autonomous operations can be achieved, and we can operate closer to physical limits, without compromising safety margins. So, when variability is controlled, safety and performance move in the same optimized direction rather than competing with each other.
CYBERSECURITY IS PART OF FEED SAFETY
Harjacek: Feed safety today is not only biological and mechanical. It is digital. If a feed mill’s automation system is compromised, production can stop entirely, but animals still need to be fed. If feed cannot be produced, animal welfare is directly affected. Secure control systems protect recipe management, temperature regulation, dosing accuracy, and traceability databases, ensuring that production continues without disruption.
As one of the world’s leading system integrators and the first OEM provider to achieve IEC 62443 cybersecurity certification, we recognize that safety today is biological, mechanical, and digital. Cybersecurity is not an abstract IT concern. It is part of safeguarding operational continuity for tomorrow and, by extension, animal welfare.
TRACEABILITY AS A LEGAL AND OPERATIONAL SAFEGUARD
Harjacek: When deviations occur, and, in industrial environments, they sometimes do, response time is what truly matters. Integrated Track & Trace systems provide immediate insight into affected batches, enabling rapid isolation of risk and minimizing recall. Compliance with standards such as GMP+, ISO 22000, and FAMI-QS requires documented proof of control, and digital traceability ensures that data can be retrieved efficiently when required. Digital traceability therefore transforms feed safety from reactive investigation to proactive assurance. It allows producers not only to prevent risk, but also to demonstrate systematic control whenever required by authorities or customers.
SAFETY IS A SYSTEM, NOT A SINGLE TECHNOLOGY
Lydom: No single measure ensures feed safety. Not temperature alone. Not formic acid alone. Not automation alone. It is the combination that creates resilience.
The integration of process knowledge, raw material strategy, thermal treatment, material engineering, secure automation, and full traceability creates a resilient system. When these work together, feed safety becomes embedded in the plant itself rather than dependent on individual panic-driven interventions. That is how we protect animals, producers, and ultimately consumers.
A SHARED RESPONSIBILITY
Harjacek: There is no silver bullet in feed production. If there were, every plant would look identical. Because every plant operates under different raw material conditions, regulatory environments, and market pressures. What remains constant is the responsibility to design systems where safety is built into every feed mill.
Feed safety is built layer by layer: mechanical stability, biological reduction strategies, automation discipline, cybersecurity resilience, and documentation integrity. When these layers align, we move from risk management to risk prevention. In feed production, that level of control is not aspirational; it is essential!
CONCLUSION
Harjacek & Lydom: Feed safety is not about a single machine, a single process, or a single person- it is the product of a system working in harmony. When equipment runs reliably, processes are controlled, automation supports decision-making, data is secure, and traceability is built into every batch, safety becomes predictable rather than reactive.
Equally, skilled operators and nutritionists remain at the heart of that system. Technology amplifies their expertise, but it cannot replace it. The people on the floor, the decisions they make, and the knowledge they apply each day are what turn well-designed systems into consistently safe outcomes.
When these layers come together, feed safety stops being a box to tick. It becomes a living process. One that protects animals, secures the food chain, and ensures that every batch leaving the mill meets the highest standards. Feed safety isn’t an afterthought – it is present in every decision, every piece of equipment, and every batch we produce.
About Ivan Harjaček
Ivan Harjaček is Head Digitalization at ANDRITZ Feed & Biofuel, leading global automation and optimization technologies for the animal feed, aqua feed, pet food, and biomass industries. His work focuses on advanced process control, digital twins, data intelligence, and reliable plant-level optimization to improve quality, throughput, and energy efficiency while enabling the transition to autonomous feed production.About Anders Lydom
Anders Lydom is Application and Technology Engineer at ANDRITZ Feed & Biofuel. With 36 years of animal feed industry experience Lydom specializes in animal feed technology, supporting customers with performance optimization, and technology implementation.
