Safety Considerations

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People come into contact with probiotics used in animal nutrition in two ways, either as workers in the production of premixes and compound feeds, or as farmers during feeding. In both cases there are no hazards for the users. Comprehensive studies have shown that direct contact of the registered probiotic products with skin, mouth and nose do not compromise human health. In model trials it has been established that even long-term or increased exposure do not constitute a risk to health. In general, the microorganisms approved for animal nutrition have a very good safety record. Even in cases of overdoses of more than a thousand times the recommended levels in feed, there are no signs of dysbiosis in the gastrointestinal tract. Therefore, probiotics do not constitute any health hazard for the animal. Since they are not transferred from the intestine into the body of the animal, they do not affect any metabolic processes, nor do they have any negative impact on the animal. Having exerted their effect in the digestive tract, the probiotic reaches the exit of the intestine in the digesta, together with other intestinal microorganisms. On their way along the digestive tract the majority of the probiotic bacteria die off, since their growth and proliferation is severely restricted by competition from other microorganisms present in the large intestine. The development of yeasts is also suppressed by a lack of oxygen. The probiotics are already partly broken down and digested like other organic nutrients in the intestine so that only a small proportion is excreted viable in the faeces and survives in the manure to reach fields and grassland. Evidence of the harmlessness of the probiotic to the environment is one important subject for its registration. In general, any negative impact is highly unlikely since all these microorganisms are derived from nature.