Co-products from food industries

Co-products from the food and pet food industries have an appealing nutrient profile and cost-effectiveness to be incorporated into swine diets. Bakery meal and pet food rations are the most common co-products available for use in swine diets. The main challenge lies on managing the variability in nutrient composition and the often high levels of salt, fat, and sugar in the products (Liu et al., 2018). Variability can be reduced by single-sourcing from one factory and making separate batches for each co-product. Even so, co-products should be regularly sampled and analyzed to maintain up-to-date nutrient values for use in diet formulation.

The nutrient values should be incorporated with caution into the diet formulator considering there is an analytical variability in addition to the variation in ingredient composition. In that sense, allowing a margin of safety for nutrient values is advisable. Also, the variability can be managed by adopting a conservative approach in diet formulation and setting the amino acids and phosphorus levels slightly above the estimated requirements.

Composition of food ingredients found in the USDA Food Composition Databases website can be used for a reference to estimate nutrient values.

Fact Sheets:

Energy Sources for Swine Diets: Cereal Grains and Co-Products

Energy Sources for Swine Diets: Fats and Oils