September 9, 2010

 

Meat and bonemeal may be reintroduced in the EU

 

 

Meat and bonemeal (MBM) could be included in animal feed once again after the EU Commission proposed its reintroduction.

 

The proposals are included in its Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSE) Road Map 2 document which cites rising costs of feed and more pressing food safety concerns needing attention.

 

The document said the reduction in TSE diseases like BSE meant they were now a lower priority. It recommends refocusing resources to tackle rising threats to food safety such as antimicrobial resistance and salmonella.

 

"The balance of evidence is increasingly pointing towards the need to better prioritise actions towards diseases which may have a bigger impact than TSEs in terms of public health and to set out EU funding accordingly," the document stated.

 

The road map, published in July, also addresses the use of MBM in feed for non-ruminants, such as pigs and poultry, and is positive about the possibility regulations could be relaxed.

 

Lifting the ban on the use of processed animal proteins (PAP) from non-ruminants in non-ruminant feed could be considered. However, the existing prohibition on feeding MBM from one species to animals of the same species must remain, the proposals said.

 

The document also stated that the reintroduction of PAP in non-ruminant feed may enable the EU to decrease its dependence on other sources of proteins.

 

Protein in pig and poultry diets is drawn mainly from imported soymeal, which is increasingly expensive due to increased international demand and the EU restriction on the import of GM soy.

 

Martin Humphrey, director of Humphrey Feeds, Winchester, said his company supported the reintroduction of bonemeal in chicken feed if supermarkets and consumers would buy birds fed MBM. "It is a much more valuable ingredient in a diet than soymeal and it is greener because it's not from halfway around the world."

 

"But it needs to be correctly presented to the supply chain and it should be securely processed, and by that I mean there should be no opportunity for cross-contamination with other species," he added.

 

The document also emphasised the removal of specified risk material, such as spinal cords and intestines, from ruminant carcasses destined for human consumption will continue.