10 years of the Food Fortress programme has delivered an unmatched level of security for the farming and food chain throughout Ireland, where the production of compound animal feed is concerned.
This was one of the key messages delivered by Food Fortress director, Robin Irvine, courtesy of his recent presentation to members of the Guild of Agricultural Journalists of Ireland.
He went on to outline significant changes to the governance of the network.
“Originally set up as a partnership between the Grain Trade Association and the Institute of Global Food Security at Queen’s University Belfast, we are pleased to announce that the Food Fortress network has now been established as an independent standalone business,” Irvine said.
“Our membership comprises 82 companies and eight million tonnes of feed production, with all of Northern Ireland’s compound production covered – with the comparable figure for the Republic of Ireland around 70% and growing.
“We are rapidly moving towards fulfilling the original vision of delivering a testing programme that comprehensively reflects the activities of the entire feed compounding sector across the island.”
Food Fortress
Food Fortress is a collaboration of businesses committed to improving the safety and security of the food chain, but is also producing significant economic benefits to producers.
It is promoting feed efficiency, and hence the performance and profitability of livestock systems, and is a contributor to the reduction of emissions.
Courtesy of a comprehensive programme of strategic sampling and testing – both compound feeds and the raw materials contained within these rations – Food Fortress operates to reduce the risk from the principal contaminants which threaten this chain.
These anti nutrients include mycotoxins, dioxins, heavy metals and pesticides.
According to Robin Irvine, the Food Fortress programme is the most advanced of its kind anywhere in the world and is supported by the Institute of Global Food Security at Queen’s University Belfast.
“The network was originally formed in the wake of various feed incidents – including the Irish dioxin crisis which caused significant damage to the reputation of our food sector,” he explained.
The required lessons were quickly learned and the result was a decision taken by Northern Ireland’s feed compounders, committing the industry to a comprehensive system of checks and state-of-the art analysis, where all raw materials and compound feeds are concerned.
“This has evolved into the Food Fortress system that we have in place today. It has been fully operational for the past decade,” Irvine continued.
“All the raw material importers and feed compounders are contributing to a risk management system that is recognised as best in class the world over.
“The comprehensive analysis of raw materials and compound feeds takes place on a regular and ongoing basis.
“Key to making this happen is the commitment of the feed compounding and raw material importing businesses that are involved.”
Taking this approach has allowed feed compounders to manage the risk, specifically where mycotoxin contamination threats in animal rations are concerned.
Regulation
Looking ahead, Irvine also predicted the introduction of tougher regulatory standards, where mycotoxin contamination levels in compound feeds are concerned.
“However, the very real, on-farm, challenge caused by mycotoxins when present at well below guideline limits must be actively addressed by the feed industry,” he explained.
“We know that mycotoxins contamination at levels that are well below EU recommended thresholds can still impact significantly on animal performance.
“A key aspect of the Food Fortress testing programme is the almost real-time communication link between the organisation and the individual feed compounding operations involved.
“This means that, in the event of elevated levels of a mycotoxin being identified, ration specifications can be changed accordingly,” he said.
The testing programmes also include the raw materials arriving at ports across the island of Ireland on an almost daily basis.
“We have now reached the situation where mycotoxin contamination levels within raw materials are driving the formulation of final ration specifications,” he continued.
International recognition
According to Robin Irvine, the work of Food Fortress is well recognised by statutory bodies in Ireland and beyond.
“Our role in delivering such high levels of feed security has also been a key factor in securing export markets for a number of businesses within the Irish food processing sector,” he explained.
“The existence of Food Fortress and the work it carries out also acts as a deterrent for grain suppliers in countries around the world not to try and supply knowingly contaminated raw materials to this part of the world.
“And there is a very simple reason for this – they know they will get caught out.”
Growing threat of mycotoxins
The Institute of Global Food Security was established by Prof. Chris Elliott, who also addressed Guild of Agricultural Journalists members.
He confirmed that mycotoxins are secondary metabolites, produced when fungi come under stress.
They are associated with several health and performance-related challenges that can arise within all aspects of livestock production.
“Fungal contamination is now apparent within 70% of the grain and protein crops grown around the world. And if the fungi are present, it is safe to assume that mycotoxins will present in equal measure,” Prof. Elliott explained.
“It used to be assumed that fungal infection of crops and the threat of mycotoxins were a feature of production agriculture of the southern hemisphere.
“However, the impact of global warming has ensured that the threat is now moving steadily northwards.”
According to the Queen’s University professor, fungal populations can build up while crops are growing and post-harvest.
“It is interesting to note that the use of fungicides can act to increase mycotoxins levels within cereal crops. This is a direct result of the fungi on crops [which] come under stress, following the application of a fungicide.
“Recent research carried out in the Republic of Ireland has confirmed that organic oats contain significantly lowers levels of mycotoxins than would be the case with conventionally produced oats.”
In addition, analysis carried under the aegis of Food Fortress indicates that distillers’ grains and soya hulls can – at specific times – contain raised levels of mycotoxins.
This is a consequence of the processing operations which the original maize grains and soya beans undergo.
The mycotoxins remain unaltered on the outside husk of each material. As a consequence, the levels of contamination can be actually enhanced within the products that are finally destined for the feed compounding sector.
The obvious starting point in this chain is the level of fungal contamination in the original corn and soya, which can vary widely from one harvest to the next.
Carbon footprint of livestock production
According to Chris Elliott, there is also a direct correlation between animal performance and the carbon footprint generated by a livestock enterprise.
“If performance levels are reduced in any way, the carbon footprint value of an enterprise will increase,” he said.
Recent research trials have indicated that even low level mycotoxin contamination can reduce the gross margins generated on a 100,000 bird broiler unit by up to £142,000/yr.
“The latest figures produced for the poultry sector indicate that mycotoxins can act to enhance carbon footprint values by 8.5%,” Elliott explained.
“There is clear evidence to confirm that mycotoxins will act to reduce both animal performance and environmental sustainability levels. These are critically important messages, which must be communicated to farmers.”
Staff at the Institute for Global Feed Security have also assessed a wide number of the mycotoxin binders that are currently available for both feed milling and on-farm use.
According to Chris Elliott, some of these products may also bind vitamins and other important micronutrents contained within a feed ration.
Artificial intelligence
Significantly, Robin Irvine believes that the information amassed by Food Fortress and the Institute for Global Feed Security over the past decade can be studied to predict the threat of future feed scares.
“We have the data; the trends are already there. Converting all of this into a form of early warning system for the feed industry can be achieved through the use of artificial intelligence,” Irvine said.
“And to this end we are already in discussions with scientists in Greece with an expertise in the use of artificial intelligence within the food sector.
“With their input, we should be able to identify potential feed scares six months, a year or even two years out.”
Meanwhile the European Union (EU) has recently introduced new legislation through which large fines will be imposed on food companies sourcing raw materials, such as coffee, palm oil and soya produced on land that has recently been de-forested.
The Institute of Global Food Security will soon be in a position to analyse soya to determine which country it actually comes from and whether or not it has been grown in a recently de-forested region.
“Crops have a very specific chemical footprint, depending on the area of the world in which they were grown,” Prof. Elliott said.
“In those instances of soya grown on recently de-forested land, it is possible to identify the chemical residues left by the smoke particles created when the original vegetation wsd burnt down.
“There is a strong likelihood that many other countries and regions of the world will follow the example set by the EU in deterring the use of crops grown on land that has recently been de-forested.”