"Feeding Fats Safety" Project. Improving the use of feeding fat materials coming from by- or co-products from the food chain: A quality and safety approach

FEEDING FATS SAFETY is a 6th EC Framework Programme, with the participation of eight research teams, which started on January 2005. Its primary aim is to fit animal nutrition requirements with a high level of safety and quality of some types of meat production, on the basis of the use of fats coming from by- or co-products of the food chain. This aim must be adequate to consumer satisfaction and health demands, and with environmental protection. There is a lack of information about different aspects related to these fats, and the project wanted to answer to the following questions: -Are fat by- or co-products materials really safe for animal production? -What are the main chemical characteristic of these fats? -How contribute these fats to the global intake of contaminants (dioxines, PCB, PBDE, PAH) through the diet? -What are the suitable analytical controls to assess quality and safety of these fats? -Are consumers confident respect to these systems of meat production ? -How standardisation and policy control of these fats could be improved? -Are these fats really available, useful and profitable for fat and feed producers? The main expected results of the project are: -Standardisation of quality and Guidelines for fat classification - Handbook of analytical methods suitable -Increased knowledge of critical points of the production chain -Definition of the potential risk for contamination and degradation of these fats -Programmes for analytical control -Improvement of the quality of these fat materials -Support for trading and use of fats for feed -Definition of the potential risk for animal and human health -Increase of the consumer confidence on the meat production chain