Lactobacillus plantarum is a technological additive intended to improve the ensiling process at a minimum proposed dose of 5.0 x 107 colony-forming units (CFU)/kg fresh material. The bacterial species L. plantarum is considered by EFSA to be suitable for the qualified presumption of safety approach to safety assessment. As the identity of the strain has been clearly established and as no antibiotic resistance of concern was detected, the use of the strain as a silage additive is considered safe for livestock species, for consumers of products from animals fed the treated silage and for the environment. In the absence of data, no conclusion can be drawn on the skin and eye irritancy of the additive. The additive should be considered to have the potential to be a re spiratory sensitiser. Three studies with laboratory-scale silos were made using samples of forage of differing dry matter and water-soluble carbohydrate content. In each case, replicate silos containing treated forage were compared with identical silos containing the same but untreated forage. The results showed that the additive has the potential to improve the production of silage from easy, moderately difficult and difficult to ensile material by improving the preservation of nutrients. This was shown at the proposed application rate of 5 x 107 CFU/kg forage.
