When does an emulsifier pay in a broiler diet?

Nutritional emulsifiers are often presented as an easy way to recover dietary energy. The biological argument is reasonable, but the commercial response is less predictable.

Fat digestion requires dietary lipids to be dispersed, hydrolyzed and incorporated into micelles before absorption. Young broilers have a less mature capacity for bile secretion and lipid digestion. Long-chain saturated fatty acids are also generally more difficult to use than unsaturated fatty acids, particularly when a fat source contains substantial free fatty acids.