ANIMAL FEED COMPOUNDERS ARE IN THE ‘HEALTH’ BUSINESS
“You are in the health business” This was the startling comment from Professsor Patrick Wall, University College, Dublin when he addressed a meeting of the UFAS ( Universal Feed Assurance Scheme) approved feed businesses in Northern Ireland. Professor Wall stated that the business of animal feed production was linked to many different aspects of food production. These aspects included animal health, animal nutrition, animal welfare, food safety, human nutrition, human health and the environment. He said “We need advanced animal nutrition, not only for increased efficiency of production from these animals but for better animal welfare, better food safety, better human nutrition and a better environment.
“Such advances in animal nutrition will also help us differentiate ourselves from the competition and increase market share. We have a lot going for our industry and we must capitalise on that. eg. We are often described as the back garden of Europe, the food island etc. Other countries are envious of our reputation.”
He cited the example of Pepsico purchasing the Ukraine’s largest dairy and noted that they will apply the same marketing strategies as they have done to the Pepsi drink in the past. To enable our industry to take advantage of all of the marketing strategies available we must be aware of the complexity of our industry and how it has changed in recent years.
The feed industry is now involved with pharmaceuticals from global companies., minerals and vitamins from China, multi ingredients sourced globally, co-mingling, additives etc. Added to this are official controls, traceability and global threats. The complexity and global aspects of the food chain mean that ingredients from all over the world can often be found in one single food product. However the food chain is only as strong as its weakest link and the feed industry is the first link in that chain and must not be found to be the weakest one.
Added to this is the power of analytical chemists who can now quote contaminants in parts per trillion thus causing more alerts. The news of such alerts spreads rapidly due to social media sources which can hit 900 million users immediately. The news of an alert can spread far and fast and the media is feeding off this news often resulting in food scares. In many instances such scares are unfounded since the level of contaminant, although above the legal limit may pose no threat to either animal or human health and when diluted in premixes and compound feeds may not even be detectable.
How can we protect our industry in Northern Ireland? Co-operation is the name of the game where early warning results are shared and co-operation on sampling and testing can provide a more detailed and accurate system . We need to take account of historical results, emerging threats, the increased number of co-products being used, the out of spec human foods which are in use, the by-products of ethanol production and the geographical risks ie. be aware of the controls in other countries.
IRISH ANIMAL FEED INDUSTRY’s QUALITY ASSURANCE SCHEME COULD BE A WORLD LEADER.
The enhanced quality assurance system being developed in Ireland has the potential to be a world leader if the entire industry is prepared to be involved. This was the message from Professor Chris Elliott, from Queens University when he addressed the meeting of all of the UFAS ( Universal Feed Assurance Scheme) approved feed businesses in Northern Ireland.
Chris pointed out that one of the biggest issues in food safety is feed safety and an early warning system for animal feed is vital for the future of the industry. He outlined the thousands of RASSFs (rapid alerts) which occur regularly throughout the world but pointed out that reacting to these is too late. The industry needs to be aware of emerging risks and be in a position to calculate the likelihood of that risk happening and the impact if it is detected. eg. The dioxin scare in Ireland had the potential to cause a meltdown of our industry if it had spread to other products. In addition to the harm to the industry other aspects which need to be capable of being assessed are the risk to human health, to animal health and the possible transfer of the contaminant to meat , milk, eggs etc.. The risks from particular geographic areas must also be considered.
Queens University is developing a system where they can press a button and find out emerging risks, the potential risks of the various contaminants and the geographic areas where they might occur. Now they need information from the trade in the island of Ireland to enable this system to be the best quality system in the world.
While Chris appealed to the trade to supply this information regarding the sampling they are carrying out and its results, he did acknowledge that it is very sensitive information, which companies wish to protect from competitors. In view of this a system has been set up whereby the information goes direct to Queens along with a confidentiality agreement which states that the information is always the property of the sender and the only people who can see it is the team at Queens involved in this project. Such information will never be given to anyone else but will be used to compile a picture of the sampling being done in Ireland and its results. This picture will allow Queens to see if the sampling could be done more efficiently (eg not everyone doing a certain sample at the same time of the year), and thus more cost effectively. In addition there is the major advantage that if an alert occurs then everyone can be informed immediately. When this information is added to what Queens has already compiled it will allow the industry to have a very valuable and effective quality assurance scheme.
Chris went on to point out that global changes will impact here eg. climate change, water shortages, alternative energy supplies, growing populations and food shortages. These changes will bring further threats. eg a water recycling plant had a minute amount of contaminant but after the water had been recycled many times the contaminant had built up so that a rice crop was found to have over 100 times the amount of arsenic that it should have, as this water was used to water the crop due to a water shortage.
Of course the expertise of the analytical chemist and the fact that a lot more monitoring is being carried out means that we are likely to find more, but that is not a reason for ignoring the facts. Apart from preventing a contamination risk this quality assurance work will also be a marketing advantage. eg. a company which manufactures infant formula milk only sells in China because of the greater profit margin from the higher price paid in China – and the higher price is paid because the company has detailed quality controls and traceability in place.
The very important aspect of this unique quality assurance scheme and the aspect that will determine its eventual success is that everyone must participate. If someone decides to be a passenger not only will there be no access to information for them but the data set will not be so robust and meaningful. Chris therefore appealed to everyone in the feed industry to help make this scheme, which could be a world leader, a unique success.
NIGTA Quality Assurance Roadshow June 2012
