WHAT ARE FEED ADDITIVES?

WHAT ARE FEED ADDITIVES?

Feed additives are products used in animal nutrition for purposes of improving the quality of feed and the quality of food from animal origin, or to improve the animals’ performance and health, e.g. providing enhanced digestibility of the feed materials.

There are four general types of feed additives:

– Sensory Additives - these stimulate an animals appetite so that they naturally want to eat more.

– Nutritional Additives - these provide a particular nutrient that may be deficient in an animal’s diet.

– Zootechnical Additive - these improve the overall nutritional value of an animal’s diet through additives in the feed.

– Coccidiostats and Histomonostats - these are feed additives which are antibiotics, intended to kill or inhibit protozoa (bacteria/micro-organisms). These have been banned in Europe since 2009 and replaced with probiotic alternatives.

Advantages

• Increase feed quality and feed palatability

• Improve animal performance

• Improve the final product

• Economise the cost of animal protein