Opinion of the Scientific Panel on Additives and Products or Substances used in Animal Feed on the safety of the enzyme preparation Bio-Feed Wheat for use as feed additive for ducks and pigs for fattening

The European Food Safety Authority received a request from the European Commission to assess the safety of product Bio-Feed Wheat for use in feeds for pigs for fattening and ducks for fattening. Bio Feed Wheat is an enzyme preparation based on endo-1,4-beta-xylanase produced by Aspergillus oryzae carrying a gene from Thermomyces lanuginosus. It is intended for improvement of the digestibility of feed rich in non-starch polysaccharides. This product has already been approved for use in chickens for fattening, turkeys for fattening and piglets, and the general safety for the user, consumer and environment established at this time. Two tolerance tests carried out with pigs demonstrated that 15-times the maximum recommended dose did not result in any adverse effects on the animal performance data, showing that Bio-Feed Wheat is well tolerated by the pigs for fattening. Another tolerance test in ducks showed the absence of negative effects on this target species when the diets were supplemented with 25-times the maximum recommended dose. Therefore, it is concluded that Bio-Feed Wheat can be considered safe for ducks and pigs for fattening.