IFFO and the Peruvian Instituto Tecnológico de la Producción (ITP) signed an agreement to jointly develop activities for the generation of R+D+i projects to screen the efficacy of a range of potential antioxidants in fishmeal.
With ethoxyquin’s future as an antioxidant in feed ingredients and feedstuffs remaining uncertain, IFFO is investigating the potential of other antioxidants for the stabilization of fishmeal. IFFO, together with the assistance of the ITP are developing a comparative study of new technologies related to the stability of the lipid component in fishmeal through the use of oxygen bomb methodology-based equipment, including the Oxytest and Rapidoxy 100.
The Rapidoxy 100 has been kindly supplied by Anton Paar and was delivered to the ITP in Lima personally by IFFO staff in December 2019. Anton Paar is supporting this work and will train the technical professionals of the ITP in the installation and operation of the Rapidoxy 100 equipment. The project shall start to produce data on a range of other antioxidants in fishmeal under controlled conditions in the laboratory in the early months of 2020.
RapidOxy 100 is a compact stand-alone instrument which allows the determination of the oxidation stability of products according to ASTM D8206. The instrument features a unique and extremely fast measuring principle to provide the induction period of samples as indication of the oxidation and storage stability. Due to highly accurate temperature control and the fully automatic measurement, an excellent precision of test results is guaranteed. The small sample amount of only 5mL or 4 g is beneficial, especially when it comes to the investigation of costly antioxidants to improve the lifetime of the sample.
What is the current status of ethoxyquin?
Currently ethoxyquin is not allowed to be used in the European Union. Ethoxyquin still awaits an updated scientific opinion by the European Food Standards Agency (EFSA) and a subsequent decision on reauthorization in the EU by the European Commission, with a decision now expected in 2020. In the meantime, ethoxyquin has been banned in the EU, after the “hard stop” written into the partial ban issued in 2015 came into effect in October 2019. Another synthetic antioxidant used in the stabilization of fishmeal, BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene) is also within a reauthorization process in the EU, with a decision expected in 2020 or 2021.
