Additives in animal feed

According to Regulation (EC) No 378/2005 Wageningen Food Safety Research has been designated as an NRL for animal feed additives. Animal feed can be supplemented with additives for various reasons.

There are different categories of additives:

• technological (e.g. preservatives)
• sensory (e.g. aromatic substances)
• nutritional (e.g. vitamins) and
• zootechnical (e.g. digestive enzymes)

Other categories are occidiostatics and histomonostatics

Permission

Animal feed additives are only used if European permission has been granted. To obtain such permission, a file must be submitted for each application. The rules for registration are laid down in Regulation (EC) No 1831/2003.

Wageningen Food Safety Research supports the EU-RL in assessing the analysis methods by acting as a reporter for files and by commenting on assessments drawn up by other NRLs. The EURL is the Joint Research Centre, Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (JRC-IRMM), part of the European Commission.

Furthermore, Wageningen Food Safety Research advises the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation about quality and analytical aspects of animal feed additives with regard to safety, effectiveness and controllability. This contributes to the formation of the Dutch position regarding European permission for additives.