VPT 421: Veterinary Toxicology (2+0)

TOXICITY OF FEED ADDITIVES

• Although tested for toxicity in animals, humans will be exposed to feed additives and preservatives for most, if not all of their lives and there are indications that some additives such as tartrazine, a common colouring agent, may lead to effects such as urticaria, in susceptible individuals.
• Testing additives such as the sweetener saccharin at high doses in animals, lead to pathological changes (bladder tumours) which were difficult to interpret as the kinetics are different at such high doses when elimination becomes saturated.
• Contaminants like products of mould growth may be toxic or even carcinogenic such as the aflatoxins from the mould Aspergillus flavus which grows on crops such as peanuts.