Novel feeds are a new source of feed materials rather than the “classical” one (forage and concentrate i.e. barley, corn, oats, wheat, canola meal and soybean in dairy cows diets and cereal grain for pigs). New animal feeds are for example by/co-products such as former food products (FFPs) or plants by products (PBPs).
FFPs and PBPs are feed ingredients composed by processed and ready to eat food products, no longer suitable for human consumption due to logistical, manufacturing or packaging defects.
- leftovers of bakery industry (i.e bread, crackers, crisps, pasta, etc.)
- leftovers of confectionary industry (i.e. chocolates, biscuits, etc.)
They are mainly used for pigs, which can be administered these products because of their omnivorous nature. In fact, swine gastrointestinal tract is able to turn human food into nutrients useful for their metabolism.
Different materials still under investigation are PBPs, also called IV range products, that are derived from fresh and cut fruits and vegetables. They represent a specific category of former foodstuffs and an important
human-inedible feed resource for livestock production.
Both by/co-products represent a way by which losses are converted from food sector into valuable ingredients for the feed one.
Thereby, it is possible to reintegrate ex-food, which are around one-third of all food produced (5 million tons/year), into the food chain. Using less food-competing feedstuffs in animal diets might be a potential strategy to reduce food-feed competition and mitigate the environmental impacts of livestock production systems.
