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Safety of feed ingredients derived from animal by-products
The rendering industry collects and safely processes approximately 56 billion pounds of animal by-products each year in the U.S. and Canada. Rendering plants process a variety of raw materials from animal agriculture, principally offal from slaughterhouses, but including whole animals that die on farms or in transit and other materials such as bone, feathers, and blood. By recycling these by-products into various protein, fat and mineral products, including meat and bone meal, hydrolyzed feather meal, blood meal, and various types of animal fats and greases, the sustainability of animal agriculture is greatly enhanced. The rendering industry is conscious of its role in the prevention of disease and microbiological control while providing safe feed ingredients for livestock, poultry, aquaculture, and pets. There are 117 rendering plants representing more than 95% of the total tonnage of rendered products produced in the U.S. and Canada that are certified in the voluntary Rendering Industry Code of Practice. In this program, plants determine whether physical, biological, and/or chemical hazards exist, and establish ways to monitor and control them within appropriate standards for animal feed ingredients. Preventive controls and good manufacturing practices (GMPs) ensure that cooking controls pathogenic microbial contamination, and that recontamination does not occur after the rendering process. Testing is used to spot check and verifies that rendering processes are correctly managed and operated. Each rendering plant develops a feed safety plan based on the raw materials processed and the products manufactured. Accurate records, product traceability, and documentation are also required. The program involves employee training and record keeping and is followed up by independent third party audits to make certain that plants are following their plans to ensure product safety. The Rendering Industry Code of Practice is updated as needed to reflect new regulations or new information on how to best produce safe rendered products. Rendering industry research continues to support the program and update documentation available to renderers on cooking temperatures and other important manufacturing practices to ensure product safety. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently proposed animal feed safety regulations to implement the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) passed by Congress. The rendering industry has updated its certification program to meet all expected FSMA requirements which including hazard analysis and prevention concepts similar to those renderers have used for several years.
Keywords: Rendering, By-products, Feed Safety