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Feed flavourings can be added to animal diets or drinking water to stimulate intake during pre/postpartum transition periods, lactation and weaning. The feed flavour industry currently has two options for assessing the safety of a flavouring compound, but neither of these two assesses the target animal safety under representative conditions, namely that flavouring substances are added to commercial feed products as mixtures, rather than single compounds. A tolerance trial was carried out to evaluate the safety of feeding multifold doses of a model flavour containing a mixture of 20 chemically defined flavouring compounds to crossbred weanling piglets (Duroc × Landrace/Large White). Animals were weaned at 28 days and assigned to one of five treatments: a control (no flavour) or diets containing the model flavour at levels of 1×, 3×, 10× or 30× the typical commercial inclusion rate of 500 mg/kg feed. A pre-starter diet was fed to piglets from 28 to 42 days of age and a starter diet from 42 to 70 days of age. Parameters measured included average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI), feed conversion ratio FCR), haematology, serum biochemistry, general health and mortality.
The model flavour was well tolerated by the piglets at all four dosage levels. No differences in ADFI or FCR were observed between treatment groups during the pre-starter/starter periods or for the whole trial. The ADG of piglets in receiving 3× the normal dosage was less (P < 0.05) than that of the control animals, but not different from the other dosage groups. The group of piglets with the lower ADG had a higher incidence of diarrhoea than the other groups. Differences observed among treatments for the haematology and serum biochemistry parameters analysed were limited to piglets fed 3x the normal dosage. The importance of monitoring flavour content of the constituents present in the mixture and reducing losses due to volatility is highlighted.
Results obtained from the trial demonstrate the feasibility of tolerance testing in target animal species using flavour mixtures.
Solà, J., Ibañez, C., van Cauwenberghe, S., Oguey, S., Oguey, C., Franz, C., &Lützow, M. (2016). Assessing the tolerance of weanling pigs to a model feed flavour in the diet. Animal Feed Science and Technology, 216, 234-242. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.anifeedsci.2016.03.024
