The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has reauthorized lignosulfonate products as feed additives for all animal species.
As the only lignosulfonate producer, Borregaard spearheaded the reauthorization process toward EFSA and the EU Commission over the past 13 years.
“We have compiled a thorough dossier, demonstrating the performance and safety of our lignosulfonates. We are therefore very pleased with this approval, which validates the efficacy and safety of our products as feed additives for the foreseeable future,” said Tom Stylo, business director, feed additives at Borregaard.
This approval applies to the use of Borregaard’s lignosulfonates as a technological additive (functional group: binders) for all animal species and underlines the company’s commitment to delivering sustainable solutions to the feed industry.
In two previous assessments, the EFSA Panel on Additives and Products or Substances used in Animal Feed (FEEDAP) concluded that the maximum level proposed of 10,000 milligrams of lignosulphonate per kilogram of complete feed is safe for weaned piglets, pigs for fattening, chickens for fattening, laying hens and cattle for fattening, but a margin of safety could not be identified. Consequently, these conclusions could not be extrapolated to other animal species/categories.
In the current application, the applicant, Borregaard, proposed to reduce the maximum content of lignosulphonate in feed for all animal species to 8,000 milligrams per kilogram of complete feed. The results of two newly submitted tolerance studies allowed the panel to conclude that 8,000 milligrams of lignosulphonate per kilogram of complete feed is also safe for dairy cows and salmonids, with a margin of safety of at least 1.25.
