Fefac announces action plan dioxin control
The European feed manufacturers association Fefac has announced the development of a dioxin testing protocol for the EU feed fat supply chain and calls for specific approval conditions for fat blending plants.
Fefac President Patrick Vanden Avenne confirmed the European compound feed industry “two pillar” action plan to tackle dioxin contamination risks linked to the feed fat supply chain which was submitted at the 2nd European Commission briefing for the EU feed fat chain partners:
- Pillar 1: Development of a testing protocol for a structured dioxin monitoring plan of the feed fat supply chain at EU level before the end of the month.
- Pillar 2: Review of the registration, i.e. approval requirements for fat blending businesses under the EU Feed Hygiene Regulation (EC) No 183/2005.
Vanden Avenne said that “although the German authorities consider fraud at the fat blending plant which mixed technical fats in feed fats as the most plausible road of the contamination, we, as customers, must take all necessary and effective action which can help preventing such incidents in the future”.
“In our view, this would require a combination of an industry-own structured monitoring plan and specific legal requirements for the approval of fat blending plants, which currently only have to be registered under the EU Feed Hygiene Regulation”.
He recalled that Fefac already requested in 2009 after the Irish dioxin contamination of bread meal, which occurred at a food waste recycling plant, that all premises having a separate “non-feed” related activity on the same site, must be seen as high risk plants and controlled accordingly.
The strict physical separation of technical fat production activities from the feed fat production should be required in this context.
Regular testing
He highlighted that the compound feed industry has implemented for many years at Member State level extensive, risk-based dioxin monitoring plans.
Fefac estimates that in total 25,000 samples are taken every year for dioxin and PCB testing, both at feed material and compound feed level.
This allowed a German compound feed manufacturer to detect the feed fat contamination in his own auto-control programme.
Feed fats & oils and products thereof are part of these programmes. The new draft testing protocol will for the first time propose an EU-wide structured dioxin monitoring plan for feed fats & oils and products thereof.
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