Raw Material Hygiene & Quality
Starting with high-quality raw materials sets the foundation for producing safe feed and ultimately, safe food. Challenges are numerous, ranging from moulds, which produce mycotoxins, as well as yeasts and enterobacteriaceae such as Salmonella. These microbes consume valuable components of the feed, which leads to a reduction of nutritional value and overall feed quality.
Along the production chain, raw materials are exposed to many factors that can promote the degradation of quality. Crops in the field are exposed to moulds which may lead to mycotoxins already being present by the time harvest takes place. After that, weather conditions, handling, and transporting are moments for microbes to take advantage and consume nutrients and degrade the quality of feed.
Challenges especially arise when feed raw materials undergo long periods of shipment across the globe, or when stored for significant periods of time. To name a few, materials undergo fluctuating temperatures, humidity and can be exposed to external influences such as bird droppings or contact with contaminated materials in storage facilities.
