Vitamin A

We all know vitamins are essential for the health of our farm animals, but do you also know that of all vitamins, vitamin A may well be the most challenging to produce?

To prevent the highly instable vitamin A from degrading when exposed to light, oxygen or heat, this vitamin needs to be protected by encapsulation and stabilizers. EMQ used to be the perfect antioxidant for this job, but since its banning by the feed industry in the EU and other large markets in 2018, alternative solutions have had to be found to protect vitamin A.

Vitamin manufacturing and product formulation start with the use of safe and traceable ingredients and processes and involve a delicate balance in product form development between optimum handling, mixability, stability and bio-availability. Very few producers have mastered these skills as DSM did, as proved by recent quality issues on the part of large vitamin A suppliers.

This does not mean that vitamin A forms do not lose activity. They do, as used to happen in EMQ times, but with the right product form (ROVIMIX® A1000), loss of activity under mild conditions is negligible and, under much more stressing conditions such as complete premix including choline chloride and trace minerals with a long storage time, potential losses are minimized, being much lower than with other vitamin A products. Premixers, feed mills, integrators and farmers need to be aware of this situation and also of the large variations between products, so that they can make the right choice. 

For more information on DSM Vitamin Supplementation Guidelines.