From February 20th to 22nd Pig Focus Asia will host Asia’s leading technical pig conference in Bangkok. Chr. Hansen has been invited to elaborate on the use and the future role of probiotics in pig production.

"The purpose of this conference is to provide Asian pig producers with a review of the current trends in all aspects of European pig production," explains Peter Kürti, Sales & Marketing Director with the global ingredients company Chr. Hansen. "It is a cutting edge conference and we are honored to have been invited to give a lecture."

It will be Jens N. Joergensen, Product Manager, Probiotics, at Chr. Hansen’s department for Animal Health and Nutrition, who will be presenting a lecture entitled "Probiotics – novel concept to reliable solution". The presentation will cover the use of probiotics in animal nutrition - an area where Chr. Hansen is a market leader, with its flagship product BioPlus®2B.

"In Europe probiotics are commonly supplemented to pigs as feed additives. After more than twenty years of development, the probiotic concept is now mature, provides reliable solutions to improve animal production and is therefore ready for launch," says Mr. Joergensen. "The constraining regulatory environment within the European Union has enabled only well documented products to enter the market, thus strengthening the probiotic concept vis-à-vis the customer."

More about Chr. Hansen’s lecture on probiotics

Probiotics are live microbial feed supplements that beneficially affect the host animal. The beneficial effect of live microorganisms has long been known due to their presence in fermented food for human consumption. Probiotics have similar beneficial effects in animals and can be used to improve animal production.

Efficacy and stability are key issues when developing in-feed probiotics. Without sufficient stability, consistent efficacy cannot be achieved under field conditions. Heat-treatment of feedstuffs and pelletization require the use of thermo-tolerant products. Once stability and efficacy have been achieved, probiotics can provide reliable solutions for pig producers and can sustainably improve production results.

A balanced intestinal flora - that can be reached by the use of probiotics – has a positive impact on the daily weight gain, feed conversion and enhances viability in pigs. These effects can be proven with statistical significance - even in field trials - when comparing negative controls against probiotically-supplemented pigs.

Efficacy trials performed in accordance with the registration schemes of the European Union will be presented in order to provide evidence that probiotics are reliable solutions to improve pig production.

Source: Chr. Hansen - 18th January 2006