AGP ban spurs growth of the probiotics market

Probiotics represent one of the most promising alternatives to antimicrobials developed in recent years to protect animal health and increase the efficiency of nutrient utilisation. Probiotics have been demonstrated to have an equivalent efficacy to synthetic antimicrobial growth promoters (AGP), which were previously used as prophylactics to suppress growth and activity in all gut microflora species, before they were banned completely in Europe in January 2006.


Growth in monogastric feed market
In particular, the antimicrobial ban has left the EU monogastric animal feed industry at a financial disadvantage, as it competes with countries outside the EU that can still use in-feed antimicrobials to protect against diseases such as scour and necrotic enteritis. Accordingly, the animal feed probiotics market is poised for growth. In monogastric animals especially, the use of probiotics can help to reduce the significant increase in therapeutic antimicrobials administered since the antimicrobial ban. Moreover, the imminent ban on AGP in the United States is expected to augment the growth potential of the European animal feed probiotics market in the next five years.


Efficacy and reliability
The strategic positioning of feed additive products to target specific production problems or periods of stress will become more important and the choice of strain may increasingly become affected by changes in feed composition or quality. Although the acceptability of probiotics has risen in the last few years, concerns still exist regarding their efficacy and reliability. Hence, increasing end-user confidence in these products is essential.


Related website:
Summary of the report: Strategic Analysis of the European Animal Feed Probiotics Market


Related folder:
Dossier AllAbout Probiotics


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(Source: Businesswire.com)