At the Mycotoxins and More session held during last week’s GLIMPSE 2020, Alltech’s 29th Annual International Symposium, a panel of mycotoxin industry and university experts from around the world (including Prof. Trevor Smith, Dr. Alex Yiannikouris and Nick Adams) tackled the subject of mycotoxin contamination – from identification to risk management to remediation. The consensus of that discussion was that a holistic mycotoxin control strategy is needed.
Animal health and performance remains intrinsically linked to feed quality. Safeguarding the quality and security of the feed supply is paramount to maximising production on farm and at the feedmill. Chief among feed quality concerns is the ongoing battle with mycotoxin contamination.
Produced by moulds or fungi, mycotoxins are an ever present threat. They can not only destroy the nutrient values in feed, they can permeate into the systems of the animals that come into contact with them. Once absorbed these toxic metabolites can have a severe impact on production levels, health status and result in substantial financial losses.
Last year’s growing and harvesting conditions provided optimal conditions for mycotoxin growth. Perhaps the most widely talked about has been the surge in levels of aflatoxin contamination – threatening the livelihoods of producers, the profitability of their milk processors and the security of the industry as a whole. This has been illustrated during the recent Balkan aflatoxin crisis. Due to the significant financial losses to producers associated with milk discards, as well as the animal and human welfare aspect, minimizing aflatoxin contamination continues to be a top priority in Europe.
To address this three major components of such a strategy were proposed:
This strategy represents a first step in assessing the expected toxic impact of the range of toxins present in a given sample on the animal. Challenges remain. Risk assessment must be extended to address the >30% of mycotoxins present as metabolites that remain masked using current detection methods. The presence of non-detectable (masked) mycotoxins is widespread and often leads to significant underestimation of the true level of mycotoxin contamination in feedstuffs.
Alltech’s MIKO Program (mycotoxin hazard analysis program), based on HACCP principles does just that. Alltech’s MIKO (mycotoxin hazard analysis program), based on HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points) principles, is a systematic audit used to evaluate and identify ways to reduce areas of future mycotoxin risk. This involves establishing the correct cleaning and monitoring procedures as well as identifying critical levels for the given species.
Alltech recently launched its second generation mycotoxin binder. Mycosorb A+ is the most advanced mycotoxin binder on the market and offers producers a solution that limits the effect of more mycotoxins. The next generation of mycotoxin binders, it offers superior binding capabilities, a broader adsorption profile and increased mycotoxin sequestration efficacy. Feedstuffs are naturally contaminated with multiple mycotoxins – a consideration that was fundamental to the development of Mycosorb A+. By understanding mycotoxin contamination better through the 37+ Program, Alltech have identified and developed enhanced binding technologies which have been proven to be effective under conditions far more relevant to commercial production.
Feeding Mycosorb A+, from Alltech, reduces mycotoxin absorption within the animal, thereby negating the damaging effects of mycotoxins on its health.
Mycosorb A+ is not for sale in the US or Canada.