Dr. Ajay Awati, development lead at DuPont subsidiary Danisco Animal Nutrition, presented on the topic “Benefits of Feed Additives Beyond Growth Related Performance for Animal Production” at the Animal Nutrition conference in Brussels, Belgium, on October 23.
Awati, a qualified veterinarian and doctor of Animal Sciences with over eight years healthy nutrition experience and an extensive back catalogue of peer reviewed publications, argued that while the role that feed additives play in achieving growth performance is extremely important, their use can also contribute to broader animal and consumer welfare. He used specific examples to demonstrate how enzymes, natural betaine, essential oils and Direct Fed Microbials (DFMs) can achieve strong long term profitability for animal producers by improving healthy performance parameters and positively impacting the environment, public health and animal product quality.
His presentation spanned the role of feed additives in supporting gut health, reducing dependence on antibiotics, achieving compliance with environmental and food safety legislation, and ultimately in achieving both commercial success and food security.
“The feed additive business has come a long way since the 1980s, when the emphasis was on using feed additives just to improve production performance of animals,” said Awati. “We understand a lot more today about the role of feed additives in animal gut health and others factors that can support healthy development. We can use that knowledge to achieve long term success and profitability for our customers in today’s challenging scenarios and help them feed the world in years to come.”