A STAGGERING 20 per cent of of minerals, premix and complete feeds from 16 Asia-Pacific countries have been found to be contaminated with heavy metals.
Tara Jarman, the Asia-Pacific mineral manager for animal health company Alltech, said the contamination levels exceeded EU allowable limits for arsenic, cadmium and lead.
This is the sixth year Alltech has conducted the Asia-Pacific Heavy Metal Survey in the Asia-Pacific region. This year 1375 samples were tested.
“We have now analysed more than 3500 samples and our results continue to show that, on average, 20 per cent of materials are contaminated with these heavy metals,” Ms Jarman said.
“The results from this year’s survey were consistent with the results from the last five years.”
Results from the 2016 survey also indicated that 28pc of more than 500 complete feed samples tested were contaminated with heavy metal levels above EU allowable limits. Alltech found that 38pc of more than 100 samples of pig feed and 26pc of more than 200 samples of poultry feed were contaminated.
Samples were taken from feeds in: Australia, Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.
“The contamination of complete feed shown in this year’s survey is alarming,” Ms Jarman said.
“This is a strong indication that what we’re ultimately feeding our animals is posing an ongoing risk to both animals and humans.”
Arsenic, cadmium and lead are potentially toxic and can lead to decreased performance due to immune suppression or liver and kidney damage.
“We are concerned that these levels of contamination also indicate potential risks for human health through the contamination of meat, eggs and milk,” Ms Jarman said.
The 2016 Alltech Asia-Pacific Heavy Metal Survey highlighted the ongoing risk of contamination across a variety of materials, including inorganic trace mineral sources. Extremely high levels were seen in some mineral samples. Cadmium, a known carcinogen for humans, was detected at levels as high as 16,579ppm in a zinc sulphate sample, whereas the acceptable EU limit is just 10ppm.
“As we’ve seen in previous surveys, cadmium continues to be the main contaminant, which is likely attributed to the processes involved in the mining and manufacturing of inorganic mineral sources,” Ms Jarman said.
“We must ensure we have quality systems, like the Alltech Q+ program, in place to ensure security throughout the food chain.”
Alltech Q+ (Quality Plus), a mineral quality control program unique to Bioplex organic trace minerals, sets the industry standard, enabling Alltech to offer a global quality guarantee to customers using Bioplex minerals in over 85 countries around the world.
