According to AFIA vice president Richard Sellers the US government is facing a busy year with 15 food/feed safety bills that have been introduced in Congress.

The European Commission recently proposed simpler rules for the marketing of animal feed and pet food.

Cozen O’Connor attorney John J. McDonough recently spoke about the pet food recall for American Conference Institute (AMI).

The European Feed Additives and Premixtures Association (FEFANA) has recently established three new consortia in order to support the industry efforts in obtaining EU authorisation for existing additives under the Feed Additives legislation 1831/2003. These new consortia concern acids, silage additives and trace elements.

Procedures for sampling and submitting grains and feeds for laboratory analyses are important in confirming the presence of mycotoxins. It is crucial that representative samples be collected. Small samples of grain or complete feed should be taken at periodic intervals from a moving auger stream. Below some companies that offer mycotoxin testing or test kits.

The best method adopted till date to control the mycotoxins in animal feed is the use of clayey soil of specific nature. These clays have the capacity to bind mycotoxins in the GI tract, avoid their absorption and ensure their elimination.

The contamination of feeds and raw materials by mycotoxins is increasing on a global basis. While the effect of mycotoxins is well known in most terrestrial farm animals the effect of mycotoxins on aquaculture species has not been studied extensively. Nevertheless, several studies reported pathological signs of mycotoxin poisoning in fish and shrimp species which can cause economic losses to the industry.

When we include more cereals in dry pet food the risk of mycotoxicoses also increases. Most obviously affected are dogs and cats, but mainly because cases are identified.

Although the effects of mycotoxins in horses are not well documented in scientific literature, reports from practice may show a different picture. Mycotoxins have been implicated with various horse health problems, including decreased appetite, colic, abnormal liver function, hypersensitivity, neurological disorder, and brain lesions.

The effects of mycotoxins in cattle may vary from reduced weight gains or milk production, according to information from the Canadian Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural affairs.