Animal production agriculture: Is this a new frontier for nutraceuticals?

In simple terms, animal production is the business of producing animal protein products for use in the food industry. The livestock industries--poultry, pork, beef, dairy products and fish--are data-driven, making science-based decisions on nutritional solutions to increase the efficiencies of food production systems. Ingredients such as antioxidants, chelated minerals, direct-fed microbials and feed enzymes are a few nutritional solutions, which have been implemented to date. While not without hurdles, nutraceuticals appear to have tremendous opportunities within the animal production industries.

Regulatory Issues

The ingredients used in animal feed are regulated by the Center of Veterinary Medicine within the FDA as well as the State Feed Controllers. The State Feed Controllers follow the guidelines laid out in the official publication of the American Association of Feed Control Officials (AAFCO).

Not surprisingly, feed regulatory officials frown upon the term nutraceutical. If an ingredient is not listed as Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) for animal feed in the Federal Registry, or listed by AAFCO, it cannot be used in feed formulations. The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) and GRAS compounds for food have no bearing on feed regulations. As a rule of thumb, if the addition of an ingredient to animal feed cannot be justified by its role as a nutrient, it will be scrutinized to the level of a drug feed additive and will require the extensive testing associated with the approval of a drug feed additive.

An Industry Breakdown

In the United States, the largest animal production industries are beef cattle, dairy cattle, swine, broiler chickens, turkeys and laying hens. These are distinct industries each with their own unique production and nutritional challenges. On an annual basis these animal industry segments consume tremendous quantities of feed (see Table 1).

Animal production industries are driven to optimize their live production costs, which are typically measured as cost to produce a quantity of product (meat, milk, eggs, etc.). The largest contributor to cost is feed, which accounts for more than 50%. Thus, anything that reduces feed cost without suppressing productivity or increases the efficiency of feed utilization without drastically increasing cost will be readily embraced by these industries. The emphasis is on quantifiable returns on feed dollar investments.

The goal is to find the perfect balance of nutrients provided to animals in these production systems. This in him helps keep animals healthy, maximizes feed utilization and minimizes nutrients in animal waste. In fact, managing nutrients in animal waste is an area that is growing in importance within animal production agriculture.

Animal production industries can be categorized into meat production, including broiler, turkey, pork and beef, as well as product production segments, including breeding units, dairy and layers. The meat production segments have relatively short production cycles, as noted in Table 1, due to the emphasis on rapid and efficient growth. The animal units for product production place more emphasis on longevity in order to optimize the total productive life of each individual animal.

Examining Ingredient Crossover

Parallels can be drawn between the human nutraceutical market, in terms of health, fitness and lean muscle growth, and meat production segments to the degree that nutritionists responsible for formulating diets for animal production balance environmental, health and nutrition factors in order to efficiently convert feed into muscle and protein products. These livestock are managed to rapidly reach mature size at which point they are harvested. However, unlike the human nutraceutical segment and companion animal industries, geriatric concerns do not come into play within the animal production industry.

In meat production segments, rations (feed) are formulated to provide optimum nutrition for various phases of growth cycles (starter, grower, finisher, etc.). The goal is to match nutrients to growth demands in order to maximize lean tissue development. These rations are the only nutrients available to the animals, so this feed needs to be complete and balanced. In the U.S., most diets are corn and soybean meal-based and fortified with minerals, vitamins and amino acids. Other approved feed ingredients being utilized include direct-fed microbials and enzymes.

Feed enzymes, which breakdown anti-nutritional factors found in feed-stuffs, are being used to reduce feed cost by allowing the use of alternative ingredients and/or substituting for more expensive ingredients. Phytase is an example of a product that has been rapidly accepted by the market and it is being used in approximately 50% of swine and poultry feeds in the U.S.

Phytase functions to break down a phosphorus containing anti-nutritional factor, phytic acid, found in corn and soybean meal releasing previously unavailable phosphorus and allowing the reduction in supplementation of exogenous phosphorus. This results in a lower cost ration with the added bonus of reducing the phosphorus content in animal waste.

Direct-fed microbials are used to increase efficacy of growth and to help in waste management. The direct-fed microbials in the probiotic category are used to establish a gut flora, which may competitively exclude pathogens and less efficient flora. Other direct-fed microbials are used to reduce odors or improve manure handling characteristics by inoculating animal waste via the feed.

The antioxidant vitamins C, E and beta-carotene have been used at supranutritional levels in the feed industry to optimize performance of animals and animal products. Vitamin E has been target fed in starter rations to optimize immune function resulting in increased feed efficiency, lower mortality and reduced disease. Vitamin C fed during high stress periods can help animals to maintain growth and productivity (vitamin C is not an essential nutrient in poultry, swine and cattle, although under stress conditions supplementation can be beneficial).

Vitamin E fed at supranutritional levels during growth increases vitamin E content of final products (meat, milk, eggs). The higher level of antioxidant in the food reduces the degree of lipid oxidation, thus reducing discoloration, off-flavors and off-odors. This phenomenon is most obvious in red meats where vitamin E slows the formation of metmyoglobin effectively retarding discoloration due to this oxidative reaction.

The product producing segments of animal production have a greater emphasis on longevity. The nutritional programs focus on developing a sound skeleton and feet. In the area of skeletal development, vitamin D3 and its metabolite 25-OH vitamin D3 have received considerable attention. The B vitamin biotin, due to its role in epidermal integrity, has drawn attention as a nutrient essential for hoof and foot health in the swine, poultry and dairy industries. Beta-carotene's association with immunity and reproductive performance has been the driver for its use in dairy formulations.

The increased bioavailability and bioactivity of organic trace minerals has also prompted their use in product producing segments as well. Organic trace minerals, particularly zinc amino acid complexes, are used extensively in the dairy industry for improved foot health and immune function. Amino acid chelates are also used in breeding units for the swine and poultry industries. These products will likely take on greater significance as waste management practices begin to place greater emphasis on total nutrient outflow from production facilities.

Summary

Nutraceutical products marketed in the food and supplement industries are also currently being utilized by animal production industries. In many cases, the foundation science behind food and supplement marketing programs has arisen from research in production agriculture species, as well as, use in animal production industries. Animal production industries are distinct industries, however, they share common challenges. These industries are excellent markets for current and future products, which can increase animal productivity or reduce nutrient outflow from production systems in a cost effective manor.

Table 1

U.S. ANIMAL NUMBERS, FOOD CONSUMPTION & PRODUCTION CYCLES

Segment  Animal Units   Tons of Feed   Production
          (Millions)   (Million Tons)    Cycle

Broiler     9,031            44          7 weeks
Turkey       323            10.6        18 weeks
Layer        362            11.3        70 weeks
Swine       102.5           40.1        25 weeks
Beef         26.5           .33          2 years
Dairy        9.1            .21          5 years

Source: USDA; various industry sources

About the authors:

Dr. Jonathan Wilson is director--Technical Marketing and Dr. William Seymour is market development and technical support manager for Roche Vitamins, Parsippany, NJ. They can be reached at [e-mail] and [e-mail], respectively.