Safety of Mintrex®Zn (Zinc chelate of hydroxy analogue of methionine) as feed additive for chickens for fattening1

Following a request from the European Commission, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) was asked to consider additional data provided by the applicant subsequent to its former opinion on the efficacy and safety of Mintrex®Zn for all animal species. The Panel on Additives and Products or Substances used in Animal Feed (FEEDAP) assessed the supplementary information supplied by the applicant on the safety of Mintrex®Zn for chickens for fattening. A tolerance study was provided. Due to the experimental design, it was difficult to attribute the findings to higher dietary zinc, either from Mintrex®Zn or sulphate, because potential interactions of high levels of zinc, copper and manganese given together could not fully be excluded. Considering the maximum authorised content (150 mg Zn kg-1 complete feed for foodproducing animals, except fish), a margin of safety for zinc from Mintrex®Zn could not be calculated. Zinc from Mintrex®Zn was tested under the same conditions as the authorised zinc source (zinc sulfate). No evidence was seen that an overdose of zinc from Mintrex®Zn could exert additional or different adverse effects than those observed for zinc from sulfate. Therefore, the FEEDAP Panel concludes that zinc from Mintrex®Zn is as safe as the inorganic sources of Zn for chickens for fattening when supplemented up to the authorised maximum total dietary Zn. This conclusion cannot be extended to other poultry categories or to other species because of the limitations of the experimental design.