The purpose of this material is providing to readers a deeper understanding of what’s behind the consistent quality of animal feed and thereby to assist them with relevant information to evaluate and select suppliers. The ingredients quality is the subject for this article, which is the first in a series of three articles that will address the quality consistency of fish and shrimp feeds. In the next editions we will deal with the nutritional design and formulation process and, finally, the processing and quality control.
Alexsandra Caseiro
Business Strategy Consulting Firm
AquaConcept Consultoria em Gestão
[email protected]
Feed is the main cost factor of the aquaculture production chain, and unfortunately producers know little about what’s behind the quality consistency of this important input. The supply of consistent-quality feed is essential for meeting economic performance targets and avoiding surprises when calculating the bottom line of the fish and shrimp production cycle.
The consistency of animal feed quality depends on clear and well-structured processes for purchasing ingredients, nutritional design and formulation, manufacturing and quality control (raw materials and finished products). In addition, it also depends on well-defined contingency plans in case of unforeseen events during the production process.
Ingredients quality:
The ingredients are a complex mixture of nutrients, non-nutrients, bioactive compounds or even anti-nutritional factors (compounds that interfere with animal digestion or metabolism). Given their complexity, ingredients for shrimp/fish feed have both benefits and risks for fish and shrimps (Chart 1). Given the impact they may have on the performance and health of production animals, ingredient risks must be identified, controlled and closely monitored by feed manufacturers.
In an ideal world, purchases of ingredients for fish and shrimp feed should focus on using high-benefit, lower-risk ingredients, but this is not always possible. In general, the manufacturers select the ingredients to be used in the feed production at the criteria of cost, availability, palatability, criticality in formulation, quality and impact that have on the physical characteristics of the final feed product.
The first step for a manufacturer to ensure consistent quality of animal feed is to use ingredients with appropriate nutritional quality, free from contaminants (chemical, physical and microbiological) and with as little variability as possible. In other words, there is no way to produce a food product with consistent quality using ingredients of poor and varying quality.
Although this may seem difficult, there are several strategies that manufacturers can adopt to achieve the highest quality consistency of the ingredients used in their feed. This will only be achieved by implementing careful management of the following processes:
- Make purchases based on minimum quality specifications
- Evaluation and approval of suppliers
- Ingredient quality monitoring, verification and inspection
Make purchases based on minimum quality specifications
Considering that there is wide variation in quality for the same ingredient, the use of minimum specifications is a mandatory tool to ensure proper purchase of ingredients and to ensure compliance with nutritional composition and other quality parameters upon receiving the ingredients at feed factories.
For better understanding of the criticality of the subject by our readers, here is a more detailed explanation of possible quality variations in physical and visual appearance that can be observed for corn, an ingredient widely used in feeds for omnivorous tropical fish and terrestrial animals, besides being one of the most studied ingredients in quality. The damage to grains shown in Figure 1 may be due to the strategy and management used in the pre-harvest and post-harvest periods. Loss of grain quality is a trigger for loss in nutritional value of the ingredient (reduced content of carbohydrates, proteins and total sugars) and threat to the health of the production animals (risk of mycotoxins).
When negotiating the purchase, the feed manufacturer should present to the ingredient supplier a clear and objective specification explaining what is expected in terms of analytical results, visual appearance, physical characteristics, sampling procedures, tolerance limits, and criteria for approval or refusal of a shipment. There are several parameters specified, and it is required that the feed manufacturer has a detailed specification for each of the ingredients used. For an example of a quality specification for corn, see Chart 2.
Evaluation and approval of suppliers
Feed manufacturers have the duty to evaluate their ingredient suppliers in order to make sure they are able to meet the minimum expected quality and consistency requirements, from a technical, systemic, productive and technological viewpoint.
By using a methodology with clear and objective parameters, the evaluation verifies the risks inherent to the use of the ingredient and its suppliers. The process consists of using analyses, formal questionnaires and/or audit visits by the feed manufacturer’s purchasing and quality team. The outcome of the verification can result in the following statuses: qualified, conditional qualified, and unqualified.
To minimize risks of quality consistency due to inconsistent ingredients, feed manufacturers are expected to have 2 to 3 approved suppliers for each ingredient used. Since this is a dynamic and continuous process, ingredient suppliers are expected to be re-evaluated and re-validated within 12 months.
- Ingredient quality monitoring, verification and inspection
The receiving step is the last barrier to preventing entry of an ingredient with improper quality into the feed manufacturing process. Upon arrival of the shipment, the manufacturer’s quality control team is responsible for the sample and analysis of ingredients in order to verify whether or not they comply with the quality specifications previously agreed upon with the supplier.
The feed manufacturer should be aware and monitor the quality of the ingredients used in feed, ensure the supply of adequate nutrients and ensure that there are no toxic substances and/or anti-nutritional factors that cause damage to the performance and health of production animals. Quality monitoring, verification and inspection is equivalent to an analysis plan which will be developed by the feed manufacturer and aimed at evaluating critical parameters of each ingredient, providing clear definitions of what will be analyzed and the respective frequency of checking (Chart 3).
Through a visual and physical analysis, the feed manufacturer’s quality assurance team can identify most problems with ingredients. The laboratory and microbiological analysis will determine the quality and nutritional value of the ingredients, allowing the nutritionist to know the nutrient profile to be used in the formulation.
To perform ingredient quality monitoring, verification and inspection analysis, the feed manufacturer must have defined operating procedures, trained quality staff and the minimum quality laboratory and chemical analysis structure.
Upon receiving any ingredients that are outside the quality specifications, feed manufacturers are expected to notify the supplier and to return non-compliant ingredients shipments. Whenever there are ingredients with varying nutritional characteristics but are within tolerance limits, feed manufacturers are expected to adjust the nutritional matrices of the ingredient and formulation in order to ensure the nutritional consistency of the final feed product.
Final considerations:
Assuring the quality of ingredients used in manufacturing animal feed is the shortest pathway to reach producers’ expectations regarding performance on feed quality. Accordingly, it is necessary for feed manufacturers to make purchases based on the use of minimum quality specifications, to reduce variability through supplier approval efforts and to use a strict monitoring plan, thereby ensuring that the feed is produced with ingredients of suitable quality, with little variation, and with minimal risks to the performance and health of farmed fish and shrimp.
In the next article, the reader will learn more about the nutritional design and formulation process of this which is the main input for the fish and shrimp production success.
Versão em espanhol – versión en español
Portuguese version – Versão em Português
REFERENCES:
Agroceres Multimix. Qualidade da matéria prima: monitoramento e inspeção de ingredientes para nutrição Animal. 2016. https://agroceresmultimix.com.br/Painel/uploads/11072016095600.pdf
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PEREIRA, L.C. MACHADO, C. M. S. NORONHA. Controle de qualidade na produção de rações. PUBVET, Londrina, V. 4, N. 29, Ed. 134, Art. 909, 2010.
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S. FORMIGONI; G. CASTRO MARCELO; A. NATHALIE NUNES. Importância do programa de qualidade ―boas práticas de fabricação (BPF) na produção de ração. Nutri Time, Vol. 14, No 06, Nov./Dez. de 2017 ISSN: 1983-9006 www.nutritime.com.br
Fundação Rio Verde. Incidência de grãos ardidos na colheita do milho. 2015. www.fundacaorioverde.com.br/comunicacao/noticias/15
National Research Council. 2011. Nutrient Requirements of Fish and Shrimp. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/13039.
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F. J. A. Pinto. Grãos Ardidos em Milho. 2013. https://pt.engormix.com/micotoxinas/artigos/graos-ardidos-milho-t38000.htm
