BASF Launches Feed Additive for “Better and Safer Animal Nutrition”

BASF has launched Novasil Plus, a feed additive for achieving better and safer animal nutrition. As of January 2013 this product, which has been well-established in the feed market for years, is directly available from BASF.

17 Jan 2013 --- Novasil Plus can be used in two ways, depending on its registration status in each country: as an anticaking agent for enhancing the flow properties of feed or feed ingredients, or for specifically binding aflatoxins, which are the deadliest mycotoxins. Aflatoxins can occur in all grains, posing huge risks to animal health.

“BASF is striving to optimize animal nutrition,” commented Dr. Alexandra Brand, who heads BASF’s global Animal Nutrition business unit. “Novasil Plus helps feed producers to improve the technical properties of feed while enhancing animals’ health by relieving them of the negative effects of poisonous aflatoxins. This delivers major benefits for both farmers and consumers.”

Aflatoxins, which are produced by several species of the Aspergillus mold, can occur under certain temperature, moisture, and nutrient availability conditions both before and after crops are harvested. Contamination of grains with aflatoxins is usually particularly high during warm, humid weather conditions or after drought, as well as in subtropical regions. If animals ingest grain contaminated with aflatoxins, this can negatively impact their health with effects ranging from a weakened immune system to severe liver damage or even death. Metabolites of aflatoxins can also find their way into the human nutrition chain via milk, eggs, and meat.

Novasil Plus, which is easy to add to feed, effectively binds aflatoxins during the digestive process, which makes them largely unavailable for absorption by the animal. In contrast to other types of mycotoxin binders, the binding activity of Novasil Plus is absolutely reliable and independent of the pH value in the gut. It does not bind valuable nutrients, thus preserving the nutritional value of feed.

Novasil Plus: Safety and Efficacy Attested in More Than 60 Scientific Publications

“Novasil Plus is the platinum standard of aflatoxin binders,” stresses Professor Timothy Phillips of Texas A&M University. “As a clay product, it is absolutely stable during feed production and ingestion. More than 60 scientific publications attest to its safety and efficacy in animals.”

Novasil Plus consists of naturally occurring high-purity calcium bentonite clay. It has been available in the market since the early 1990s. BASF acquired the U.S. production site when it bought Engelhard in 2006. Until the end of 2012, BASF sold Novasil Plus exclusively to one customer only. Novasil Plus is currently registered as a mycotoxin binder in some but not all countries. In the U.S. and EU (27) it is also registered as an anti-caking agent.