Testing animal feed for the presence of ruminant DNA using the official real-time PCR method

Feed has become liable to testing for the presence of ruminant DNA as part of the eradication process of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. For safety reasons, by the so-called total feed ban, meat and bone meal has been excluded from the diet of food chain animals for years. However, changes in EU regulations that led to relaxation of this ban began from mid-2013 with the introduction of animal proteins derived from poultry and pigs in feed for aquaculture. The EU published an approved PCR method for determining the species of animals from which the ingredients originate. The EU also validated a real-time PCR protocol for detection of prohibited ruminant DNA. As a result of harmonization with the EU legislation, in 2016, amendments to the Serbian TSE regulations were published and an identical method of feed control prescribed. In the same year, this procedure was implemented by the Institute of Veterinary Medicine of Serbia and accredited to the required standard, so adequate feed control started. The aim of this paper is to present the results of the first 50 animal feeds or feed materials tested for the presence of ruminant DNA using the official realtime PCR method. A high percentage (54 %) of the 50 feeds/feed materials studied contained ruminant DNA.