Its Biostrong 510 EC received a zootechnical feed additive registration, in relation to safety and efficacy, for chickens and minor avian species, both for fattening and reared for laying.
It is Delacon’s second phytogenic feed additive to be approved as a zootechnical additive, a registration status it described as the “scientific gold standard” in the feed industry. It said its product, Fresta F, which is aimed at piglets, was the first phytogenic feed additive to get an approval under that functional category in 2012.
The European Commission published the Annex entry in the EU register of authorized feed additives on 9 March 2017. It follows the positive opinion on the additive from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) last summer.
Digestibility and performance parameters
CEO of the Austrian phytogenic feed additive producer, Markus Dedl, told us in November 2016 that because the registration process takes such a long time and is quite costly, the company applied for a zootechnical registration for BioStrong 510 encompassing digestibility and performance parameters, rather than the typical sensory additive registration route, which tends to be used more often for botanical compounds.
“It is a long and difficult process to get such an authorization, particularly in regard to botanicals. EFSA is more used to working with single substances, but not with plants.
“We had to show these products are efficient, that we proved the modes of actions, that we contribute and develop methods of analysis so that the active components can be evaluated in a repetitive way, and then show the repeatable and measurable success of this,” said Dedl.
The company carried out extensive trials and then put together a dossier, which “took years to compile.”
He also said that the firm was investing 10% of its annual turnover in research to boost the scientific knowledge around plant extracts.
Delacon said its recent consumer survey in the US showed high acceptance of phytogenic feed additives among millennial foodies, showing “an untapped opportunity to use phytogenics as powerful differentiator and purchase motivator.”
