Share your thoughts: Proposed new livestock feed ingredient – Pediococcus acidilactici culture dehydrated

Current status: Closed

This consultation ran from June 9, 2023 to July 9, 2023.

About the consultation

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is seeking comments on the following proposed new single ingredient feed (SIF) description for Pediococcus acidilactici culture dehydrated.

Background

The Feeds Regulations requires a proponent to submit a pre-market application for SIFs that are new, have been modified such that they differ significantly from a conventional SIF, or are for a new purpose. The CFIA evaluates the information in the application to establish that the SIF is safe, effective, and labelled correctly.

Approved SIFs are currently listed and defined in Schedules IV and V of the Feeds Regulations, with appropriate guarantees, standards, and labelling requirements. The CFIA will be transitioning to the Canadian Feed Ingredients Table (CFIT) that will be incorporated by reference into the Feeds Regulations, 2023 when they come into effect. In preparation for this new approach, the CFIA is consulting on new or amended SIFs so they can be added to the CFIT once it comes into effect. More information on this is available in the Notice to industry: Consultations on new or amended single ingredient feed descriptions.

About the assessment

The CFIA's Animal Feed Program has completed a detailed assessment of an application for the approval of a new SIF: Pediococcus acidilactici culture dehydrated.

The assessment considered information related to:

• the safety of feeding this SIF to livestock with respect to animal health
• the safety of people who consume food derived from livestock that eat this SIF
• the safety of workers/bystanders exposed to this SIF
• environmental safety
• an assessment of the fit-for-purpose and efficacy for this SIF, for the intended livestock species

The results of the CFIA's evaluation of available scientific data supports the safety and efficacy of Pediococcus acidilactici culture dehydrated for 2 intended purposes; as a source of viable organisms for use as a component of gut modifier products for livestock species, and as a source of viable organisms for use as a component of forage additives to aid in the production of organic acids or to lower the pH of the ensiled plant materials. Therefore, the CFIA recommends Pediococcus acidilactici culture dehydrated be approved as a new multiple purpose SIF and added to 2 different subclasses of the Canadian Feed Ingredients Table (CFIT).

Proposed SIF description

The CFIA intends to add Pediococcus acidilactici culture dehydrated to the CFIT under Subclass 6.19.2 (Viable microorganisms) of Class 6 (Non-nutritive ingredients) in part 2 of the CFIT with the following description:

Pediococcus acidilactici culture dehydrated

is the dried product composed of homofermentative, organic acid-producing Pediococcus acidilactici and its growth medium, which are dried in such a manner as to preserve the viability of the Pediococcus acidilactici bacteria. The fermentation process shall be conducted in accordance with good manufacturing practices using a non-pathogenic strain of Pediococcus acidilactici, which does not contain a novel trait. The microbial strain identification number shall be indicated on the label. It shall not contain other extraneous materials except in such amounts as may occur unavoidably during good manufacturing practices.

It shall be labelled with the following statement:

• "This ingredient is approved as a source of viable organisms for use as a component of gut modifier products for livestock species."

It shall be labelled with a guarantee for the minimum number of colony forming units per gram.

The CFIA also intends to add Pediococcus acidilactici culture dehydrated to the CFIT under Subclass 6.20 (Forage additives) of Class 6 (Non-nutritive ingredients) in part 2 of the CFIT with the following description:

Pediococcus acidilactici culture dehydrated

is the dried product composed of homofermentative, organic acid-producing Pediococcus acidilactici and its growth medium, which are dried in such a manner as to preserve the viability of the Pediococcus acidilactici bacteria. The fermentation process shall be conducted in accordance with good manufacturing practices using a non-pathogenic strain of Pediococcus acidilactici, which does not contain a novel trait. The microbial strain identification number shall be indicated on the label. It shall not contain other extraneous materials except in such amounts as may occur unavoidably during good manufacturing practices.

It shall be labelled with the following statement:

• "This ingredient is approved as a source of viable organisms for use as a component of forage additives to aid in the production of organic acids or to lower the pH of the ensiled plant materials."

It shall be labelled with a guarantee for the minimum number of colony forming units per gram.

Ingredient numbers will be assigned at the time this SIF is added to the CFIT; a different ingredient number would be assigned for each approved purpose.

Additional information

Pediococcus acidilactici culture dehydrated will be placed into part 2 of the CFIT because it is a viable microbial strain (a source of viable microorganisms) and each source must be approved and registered. This SIF is approved for 2 purposes. It is approved as a component of gut modifier products, and a component of forage additives to aid in the production of organic acids or to lower the pH of the ensiled plant materials. This SIF would likely be used between 105-108 colony forming units per gram of feed in gut modifier products or forage additive products.

Who was the focus of this consultation

Animal feed stakeholders, including:

• suppliers of feed ingredients
• commercial feed manufacturers
• feed importers, distributors and retailers
• industry associations
• other government departments
• international trading partners
• veterinarians

All comments are welcome from industry, governments, the public, or other organizations or individuals.

How to participate

The CFIA is seeking feedback on the proposed descriptions for Pediococcus acidilactici culture dehydrated. Stakeholders are encouraged to share comments if there are:

• concerns about the accuracy of SIF description
• additional scientific data that should be considered before the SIF is approved

Scientific questions or information will be reviewed by the CFIA evaluators for consideration in the assessment. Non-scientific input will be evaluated and appropriate ways of addressing it will be explored.

Comments can be sent by email to the Animal Feed Program at cfia.afp-paa.acia@inspection.gc.ca. Please use "Pediococcus acidilactici culture dehydrated" in the subject line of the email. The CFIA is asking for comments and feedback by July 9, 2023, 30 days from the date of this posting.

Next steps

The CFIA will review all of the comments received, if no significant scientifically valid concerns are raised, the CFIA will finalize the approval of Pediococcus acidilactici culture dehydrated for both intended purposes and issue the approval to the applicant. If there are significant concerns raised, the CFIA will evaluate the additional information and may, subject to the commenters consent, forward the comments to the applicant for their response. A what we heard report that summarizes the feedback received will be published.

The SIF will be added to the CFIT in 2 different subclasses at the next update, following publication of the Feeds Regulations, 2023.

Related information

• Feeds Regulations
• Feeds Act
• Consultations on proposed regulatory and policy changes
• Notice to industry: Consultations on new or amended single ingredient feed descriptions

Contact us

Animal Feed Program (AFP)
Canadian Food Inspection Agency
59 Camelot Drive
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0Y9
Email: cfia.afp-paa.acia@inspection.gc.ca