Health assessment of residues in feed

Agricultural crops are fed to animals in part (e.g. cereal straw) or in full (e.g. fodder beet). If these plants have been treated with pesticides, pesticide residues may occur in the feed.

The residues in feed should be kept low enough not to impair the health or the yield performance of the animals. They should also not lead to residues in food of animal origin at a level that could endanger consumers.

Do the residues pass over into food of animal origin?

Before a plant protection product is authorised, the BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment checks whether and to what extent residues may occur in feed after the plant protection product has been used, whether these residues may pass over into food such as milk, offal, fat, meat, eggs or honey, and whether this results in a health risk for consumers.

The concentration of the residue in the feed is determined from studies in which the plant protection product was used under real conditions. Furthermore, it is deduced from metabolism and feed studies on the farm animal whether and at what level residues occur in animal products. If the occurrence of residues cannot be ruled out, maximum residue levels are set for the respective food. Such maximum levels must not pose any acute or chronic risk to consumers.

In the future, maximum residue levels will also be set specifically for animal feed in accordance with Regulation (EC) No. 396/2005. Annex I of the regulation, which regulates the products for which maximum levels are to be set, is currently being revised and will be extended to include the group of animal feeds, among other things.