A scientific and technical seminar focusing on the use of zinc oxide in piglet diets will be held on December 10 in Breda, Netherlands. Guest speakers from Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain and Italy will come from various universities and organizations.
The seminar is being presented by Animine and the distributing company Speerstra. An update will be presented on HiZox, a potentiated zinc oxide product, which has shown great interest in countries with or without authorization of zinc oxide at the pharmacological level.
The usage of zinc oxide at pharmacological dosage in piglet diets has been debated for years in the European Union. It became a hot topic in western member states since the publication of the reports from the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety (ANSES), and from the Belgian working group AMCRA. In Belgium, the situation has accelerated since September 1 with the signature of the "Zinc convention" between the authorities and the feed industry. Some zinc oxide-based medicated premixes for piglets have been authorized under the condition of reduced zinc supplementation in the feeds for fattening pigs. This implies that the Belgian pig industry has now the choice to use or not to use, like in many other EU countries, pharmacological dosage of zinc oxide in piglet diets.
