PubMed Health⌕ Search

PubMed · 16907810

Do bacteria need to be regulated?

Abstract

Additives for use in animal nutrition are regulated under Regulation (EC) No. 1831/2003. The scope of this paper addresses the specific microbiological issues relevant to a microbial feed additive, containing a Bacillus spp. and uses as an example a product with the trade name, Calsporin. Bacillus subtilis C-3102 is the active ingredient in Calsporin and is added to animal feed to favourably affect animal production and performance (growth and feed efficiency), by modulating the gastrointestinal flora. It is not the purpose of this review to present the raw data for Calsporin but rather to use Calsporin as an example of the type of data required by the European regulatory authorities. At the time of preparation of this manuscript Calsporin has yet to be reviewed by the authorities. The regulatory system under the auspices of the EFSA FEEDAP Panel is clearly attempting to move in line with development of scientific opinion and is to be applauded for such efforts. Bacteria do need to be regulated, and the regulations clearly provide adequate and appropriate protection to human health and to environmental considerations.

Explore related subjects

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

P Silley. 2006. Do bacteria need to be regulated?. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2672.2006.02849.x

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related citations

The feeding dynamics of broiler chickens.

Contrary to a commonly held belief that broiler chickens need more space, there is increasing evidence that these birds are attracted to other birds. Indeed, commercially farmed birds exhibit a range of socially facilitated behaviours, such as increased feeding and preening in response to the presence of other birds. Social facilitation can generate feedback loops, whereby the adoption of a particular behaviour can spread rapidly and suddenly through the population. Here, by measuring the rate at which broiler chickens join and leave a feeding trough as a function of the number of birds already there, we quantify social facilitation. We use these measurements to parameterize a simulation model of chicken feeding behaviour. This model predicts, and further observations of broiler chickens confirm, that social facilitation leads to excitatory and synchronized patterns of group feeding. Such models could prove a powerful tool in understanding how feeding patterns depend on broiler house design.

Animal Feed↗

Survey of dioxin-like compounds in dairy feeds in the United States.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has completed a survey of dioxin-like compounds (including 17 dioxin and furan (CDD/F) congeners and 12 coplanar polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs) congeners) in dairy feeds from 10 dairy research facilities around the United States, sampling the overall mixtures and the major and minor feed components. Low levels of dioxin were found in all feed mixtures with an average concentration of 0.05 pg/g (ppt) toxic equivalent (TEQ) dry weight. This is lower than previously found in dairy feeds by about a factor of 4. While it is possible that generally lower levels of dioxins in the environment in recent years may explain this result, examinations of the data suggest that the oven drying used to prepare the wet feed samples could have resulted in a loss of dioxins from the feed materials. The percentage of the total TEQ due to CDD/Fs was about four times that of PCBs. Leafy vegetations in the feed (the silages and the hays) had concentrations about twice as high as nonleafy, protected vegetation of the feeds (the ground or meal corn, cottonseed, and others). Minor components did not significantly influence the final feed mixture concentration of dioxin TEQ. However, in one of the feed mixtures, a minor component with a high concentration of 38.5 ppt TEQ effectively doubled the concentration of the overall feed mixture.

Animal Feed↗

Depuration of PCBs and DDTs in mullet under captivity clean conditions.

Contaminated mullet (Mugil cephalus) from Douro estuary was allowed to depurate in clean water and fed with uncontaminated food. Levels of PCBs and DDTs in muscle and liver, and ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase (EROD) activity were measured at day 0, 21, 120 and 270. In specimens captured in the estuary total PCB and total DDT concentrations were 311 and 65 ng g(-1) in muscle and 686 and 115 ng g(-1) in liver, respectively. At day 21, after an initial 10-15 days period of starvation, organochlorines levels increased in both analyzed tissues. Thereafter levels of all PCB congeners and DDT compounds decreased in muscle, and at the end of the 270 days were 49 ng g(-1) and 13 ng g(-1), respectively. These decreases were correlated to the lipids consumption. In liver no relationship between those variables was observed, suggesting different elimination processes and eventual exchange of contaminants between muscle and liver. EROD activities decreased in the first days of depuration experiment, but showed no relations with analysed organochlorines.

Animal Feed↗