FAO regards food safety as an essential component of food security. Animal feed or forage may be the source of a number of infections for Farm Animals that can lead to human illness. These include Salmonella enterica and Toxoplasma gondii, Trichinella spiralis and possibly the agent of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE).
Mycotoxins in animal feed can result in foods of animal origin containing these compounds. Pesticides, agricultural and industrial chemicals, heavy metals and radionuclides may pollute animal feed and forages and may result in contaminated food of animal origin.
The means exist to minimise the contamination of the manufactured feeds through appropriate technology, that is, through current good manufacturing practices (GMP), and careful handling of the feedstuffs.
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