Feed Additives for Swine National Swine Nutrition Guide

Feed additives are nonnutritive feed ingredients that are not required by swine. In the absence of feed additives in the diet, no deficiency symptoms will result. They may, however, enhance production and profitability under the right circumstances. Feed additives are regulated in the U. S. by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and it is very important that the regulations be followed. The official regulations can be found in the Feed Additive Compendium [1] for antibiotics and the AAFCO (Association of American Feed Control Officials) [2] guide which sets guidelines and definitions for animal feed use of additives that are generally regarded as safe (GRAS). For most users, the appropriate usage and withdrawal information is provided by the supplier and is on the feed tag. There are many classes of feed additives, including: antibiotics and antimicrobials, anthelmintics (de-wormers), direct-fed microbials (probiotics), prebiotics, pellet binders, flavors, enzymes, growth and feed efficiency enhancers, supplemental nutrients, mold inhibitors and preservatives, and a beta-adrenergic agonist (ractopamine).