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Belgian animal feed producer Dumoulin is set to launch a new, patented feed at the Agriflanders agricultural fair in January 2017. The new feeding concept has already been assessed at Royen farm in Thimister-Clermont, Belgium, in partnership with the Lovenfosse slaughterhouse in Aubel and the ILVO research institute. Named TAINTSTOP, the feed helps to reduce boar taint in pork and is being introduced as a viable alternative to castration – a practice that is set to be phased out in 2018.
Boar taint refers to an unpleasant odour that occurs in the pork from a percentage of male pigs (boars) when they reach sexual maturity. It is caused by two chemicals that occur naturally in the boar’s body: skatole and androstenone. Traditionally, physical or chemical castration has been used to prevent the occurrence of boar taint in pork. However, European pork producers have agreed, in principle, to abolish anaesthetic-free castration of male piglets from 1 January 2018 onwards.
The issue has long been of interest to the pork sector. Dumoulin – a Belgian feed company and member of the AVEVE Group with factories in Kortrijk, Andenne, Moorslede and Hombourg – has been studying the link between boar taint and feed for many years now. The company started developing a new feed concept in 2014 and, in September 2016, tested the product at the Royen farm (Thimister-Clermont), working with the Lovenfosse slaughterhouse in Aubel and the Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries Research (ILVO) on the sensory trials.
The feed was tested on two groups of entire (i.e. uncastrated) male pigs. In the three-week period before slaughter, one group received a specially designed feed to promote digestion in the large intestine and reduce boar taint.
A panel of ILVO experts carried out sensory tests and the results exceeded the expectations:
- 8% boar taint detected in the control group
- 0% boar taint detected in the test group.
The sensory test findings were confirmed by chemical analysis:
- 12% of the pigs in the control group showed a skatole value above the critical limit of 250 ppb
- 0% of the pigs in the test group exceeded this critical value
- similar results were obtained for androstenone, with all of the test group pigs having values below the critical limit of 3,000 ppb.
Supported by these outstanding results, Dumoulin has submitted a patent application for the new feed concept, based on its ability to stimulate intestinal digestion. The feed, which will be marketed by the name TAINTSTOP, will be launched at the Agriflanders agricultural show in January 2017.
January 12, 2017 Dumoulin
